Corruption and Development

Aims of the course

In the last decade corruption became an extremely important issue in development economics. Corruption is recognized as a major obstacle to the economic development as well as to making effective use of development aid in many undeveloped countries. Moreover, corruption is considered as a factor that negatively affects economic growth in developed countries .

The course intends to examine the reasons for corruption occurrence and its social, political and economic consequences. The course has three objectives. First, to consider a theoretical framework, forms and consequences of corruption for economic development. Secondly, to study domestic and foreign corrupt cases in order to examine specific forms of corruption and the difficulty in identifying phenomena and in obtaining and analyzing data. And thirdly, to examine best practices in detecting and preventing corruption worldwide.

Course syllabus

In the last decade, development scholars and practitioners have increasingly focused on corruption as development issue. Corruption has been identified both as an obstacle to development and to the effective use of development assistance.
We will examine the literature on the causes and consequences of, and solutions to, corruption with three aims. First, to understand the theoretical background, forms of and (social, political and economic) effects of corruption. Second, we will study a number of case studies in Slovenia and other countries; and examine some of the problems with collecting and using data on corruption. And third, we will also analyze the normative part in order to study the best practice and good governance in fighting corruption in a modern world.

A lack of accountability in government are concerns in all countries, we will examine the case of Slovenia. In our daily work, we will encounter corruption at some point and will need to make ethical and management decisions about how to work within corrupt systems and how to prevent corruption from occurring.

This course is designed to introduce students to the problem of corruption, with case studies, and provide them with the skills for assessing vulnerabilities to corruption in public and private sector.

This course also builds confidence, knowledge, and skills needed to become an effective advocate for systems that promote personal and institutional integrity, accountability and transparency in business processes.

At the end of this course the students will be able to:
1. Define corruption and the types of corrupt activities that occur in business sector.
2. Explain why corruption occurs.
3. Assess vulnerability to corruption
4. Discuss cultural differences in defining morality and corruption, including distinguishing corruption from activities like trading favors, giving gifts, and using contacts.
5. Describe the costs of corruption and why corruption’s effects are more damaging to poorer countries.
6. Describe the core elements of corruption prevention programs.
7. Examine how corruption can be reduced in financial systems, informal payments, and other specific areas of business process
8. Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of whistle-blowing as an anti-corruption strategy.
9. Become an effective advocate for anti-corruption strategies and reforms to promote ethics, accountability and transparency in business transactions.

Topics:
1. Course overview, corruption in business sector
2. Costs of Corruption, Assessing vulnerabilities
3. Social, political, and economic effects of corruption
4. Culture and corruption (cultural differences in defining morality and decision making in business transactions)
5. Good governance and corruption prevention programs
6. Multinational business and anticorruption agreements
7. Integrity and leadership.
8. Case studies. Course wrap up.

Course director(s)

No description

 
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