Has globalization made corruption worse?

By Leonard McCarthy

"This summer I contacted 25 anti-corruption leaders and asked them what had been the biggest change in the anti-corruption movement in the past 15 years. Most of them pointed to the shift in thinking that placed fighting corruption on the global agenda, along with the work of international bodies and NGOs to raise awareness about corruption. Indeed, the past few decades have seen a rise in international anti-corruption legislation, such as the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention, as well as regional and national laws. International civil society – such as Transparency International, Global Witness, Global Financial Integrity and more recently the Volcker Alliance – have all had a great influence. However, many also cautioned that while increased international attention has helped move the anti-corruption agenda forward, globalization is responsible for an increasingly sophisticated form of corruption. We have to ask whether corruption-fighting solutions have kept pace with the integration of financial systems, global supply chains and multi-jurisdictional entities."

Read the full post by Leonard McCarthy in the World Economic Forum blog page.