Research case study 2
Research case study 2
This research explores how informal networks between citizens, businesspeople, and public officials in Uganda and Tanzania are strategically built to navigate and overcome shortcomings in public service delivery and business access. Rather than viewing corruption as the behaviour of isolated individuals, the study frames it as a systemic, networked phenomenon. Through ten mini-case studies, it shows that these informal relationships, often maintained through bribery and personal connections, enable access to services and opportunities. However, conventional anti-corruption strategies—such as adding regulations—can sometimes worsen the problem. The study suggests that tackling root issues like bureaucratic red tape and leveraging positive informal networks (e.g., collective action initiatives) could offer more effective, context-sensitive solutions to corruption.
Схема на раздела
-
February 2023
Leveraging informal networks for anti-corruption in East Africa
Citizens and business people may invest significant time and money in building informal networks with public officials to overcome public service delivery shortcomings and access business opportunities. Understanding these networks better can strengthen anti-corruption efforts.
What's the problem?
Corruption is frequently associated with money alone and the behaviours of a few individual “bad apples” operating in otherwise healthy governance systems.
This is too simplistic. Corruption is a networked phenomenon.
Citizens and business people often face challenges accessing public services or competing for contracts on an even playing field. Building informal networks with public officials through connections and corruption helps to solve this problem.
Informal networks work well in these constrained environments. In such contexts, conventional anti-corruption measures, such as introducing more regulations, policies or controls, can backfire and increase corruption. More people are coopted and bribed to achieve the same goals.
By examining these informal networks, could we find better ways to fight corruption?
What we did
Where?
Uganda and Tanzania
Who?
Interviews with citizens, entrepreneurs and low-level public officialsWhy?
To explore when, how and why informal networks are built and used to access public services or business opportunities corruptly.
How?
Development and analysis of 10 mini-case studies (six from Tanzania and four from Uganda) that describe informal networks associated with bribery and procurement fraud.
What we found
- Citizens and business people build informal networks with public officials as a strategic tool to “get things done” with and within government departments.
- Informal networks ease access to public services, help to secure business opportunities with the government and help businesses run smoothly.
- These informal networks are held together by personal relations, corruption and other monetary exchanges.
- Conventional anti-corruption measures that seek to strengthen rules and increase regulation can, in some contexts, lead to more corruption as more people need to be coopted and bribed.
- Addressing hurdles in accessing public services or government contracts – i.e. addressing red tape – can be a way to tackle corruption both from the demand and the supply sides.
- Social norms that govern the networks, including solidarity and reciprocity, can actually be targeted to support anti-corruption.
- We can also go further and harness the power of informal networks for anti-corruption. One example is anti-corruption Collective Active initiatives, which can help bring multiple stakeholders together in a “network of the good” to tackle corruption in specific contexts.
Why it matters
- Informal networks can drive privileged or undue access to public resources
- Those without money or connections bear the costs, and trust in institutions weakens further, creating a vicious cycle.
- Anti-corruption practitioners could achieve a lot more by shifting their focus to addressing the problems that corruption solves.
- “Good” networks involving stakeholders from business, government and civil society can also be a powerful force against corrupt informal networks
Where to learn more
Introductory webinar
How can you harness informality to design anti-corruption interventions?Policy briefs for practitioners
Informal networks and what they mean for anti-corruption practiceField research
Informal networks as investment in East AfricaAbout this Research Case Study
This publication is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Research Case Study series. It is licensed for sharing under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Suggested citation: Baez Camargo, Claudia, Jacopo Costa, and Saba Kassa. 2023. ‘Leveraging informal networks for anti-corruption.’ Research Case Study 2, Basel Institute on Governance. Available at: baselgovernance.org/publications/research-case-2.
This research project was funded by the Global Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence Programme (GI-ACE), funded with UK aid from the UK government. The project implementation was a collaboration between the Basel Institute on Governance (Claudia Baez-Camargo and Jacopo Costa), the University of Basel (Lucy Koechlin), the University of Dar es Salaam (Richard Sambaiga and Danstan Mukono), Makerere University (Paul Bukuluki), SOAS University of London (Scott Newton) and independent consultant Robert Lugolobi.
Keywords
Informal networks, Informal governance, Social norms, Anti-corruption, Behavioural research, Tanzania, Uganda