Research cited in Government’s anti-corruption strategy
The SOAS Anti-Corruption Evidence Research Consortium (SOAS-ACE) has been mentioned in the UK government’s new Anti-Corruption strategy.
The government strategy was launched last month and referenced SOAS-ACE work as receiving Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) investment to help strengthen understanding in the scale and harms of corruption, and assessing the effectiveness of policy responses.
It is very heartening that the report recognises the importance of policy making that focuses on actors who might lack influence in policy design.
Led by Professor Mushtaq Khan and Professor Pallavi Roy, SOAS-ACE is a research programme launched in 2017 that develops innovative evidence-based approaches to identify high impact anti-corruption strategies in countries with a fractured rule of law.
The government strategy also cited SOAS-ACE’s research authored by Professor Pallavi Roy, entitled ‘Improving energy access for SMEs in Abuja through horizontal checks and cooperative ownership’. The report explores the challenges facing Nigeria’s SME energy sector, and how energy access can be achieved at a low ‘cost’ of corruption.
The research revealed the interconnectedness of corruption in the electricity sector as a result of Nigeria’s political structure, and the ways in which SMEs can be facilitated to overcome the economic and social incentives that results in their “reasonable” but corrupt behaviour.
Speaking on the research, Professor Roy added:
“Responses to corruption too often include only solutions for increasing transparency and accountability without much thought on how to enforce such policies, especially given how ambitious such aims are.
It is very heartening that the report recognises the importance of policy making that focuses on actors who might lack influence in policy design, yet have a material interest in implementation.”
SOAS-ACE works across Asia and Africa, with a focus on nations including Nigeria and, Bangladesh, among many others. The report is available to read in full.
