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Penalties for corrupt acts are a vital component of integrity management systems within bureaucratic organizations, yet systematic inquiry into specific interventions is lacking. Drawing from the principal–supervisor–agent model, this article explores the criteria for imposing penalties on corrupt bureaucrats at the street level. We examine the impact of various factors on the severity of penalties for corruption, highlighting the influence of top-down anticorruption reform and local enforcement capacity. Utilizing text mining techniques, we build a comprehensive dataset containing 4025 cases of punishing corruption among grassroots officials in China from 2015 to 2023 and use multilevel analysis to explore these dynamics. Findings suggest that anticorruption reform directly led to an increase in the severity of penalties, but with substantial variation across practices. In particular, the analysis reveals a positive correlation between enforcement capacity and the severity of penalties. Moreover, while the relationship between harm and penalty severity represents a generalizable observation, significant disparities exist in the penalties imposed across various types of corruption. This study contributes to understanding the dynamics of multiple punitive measures and the factors leading to penalties imposed on corrupt street-level bureaucrats.

Abstract This article seeks to understand the reasons for the persistence of corruption in the Brazilian federal government, despite strong public accounting and financial control systems in the country. More than two-thirds of the states in the world, including Brazil, face the challenge of plundering public finances by political, economic, and bureaucratic elites. In this context, the exclusive use of the dominant approach of economic theories for the structuring of public control systems is limited. It is more appropriate to consider corruption as a problem of collective action. Hence, the theoretical reference chosen includes Bourdieu’s theory of practice and Tocqueville’s and Ostrom’s collective action theories, as they have been understood respectively by Mungiu-Pippidi and Rothstein. The methodological strategy adopted is an exploratory analysis of the cases of contemporary day Brazil, based on the lessons learned from nineteenth-century Sweden, and Italy in the 1990s. The results indicated that overcoming systemic corruption requires more than control systems. It demands, at least, a trigger to disrupt the perverse social imbalance, institutional capacity to offer normative effectiveness and a cohesive and active civil society. Resumen El artículo se propone a comprender las razones de la persistencia de la corrupción en el gobierno federal brasileño, aunque este ya cuente con comprensivos sistemas de contabilidad pública y control financiero. Más de dos tercios de los estados del mundo, incluso Brasil, enfrentan un alto nivel de desvío de dinero público por parte de las élites políticas, económicas y burocráticas. En este tipo de contexto, es muy limitado el uso exclusivo del abordaje dominante de las teorías económicas para la estructuración de los sistemas de control público. El artículo argumenta ser más apropiado buscar soluciones derivadas del enfoque de las teorías de acción colectiva. Él utiliza la teoría de la práctica de Bourdieu y las teorías de la acción colectiva de Tocqueville y Ostrom, conforme adoptadas por Mungiu-Pippidi y Rothstein, respectivamente. La estrategia metodológica es un análisis exploratorio del caso brasileño, a la luz de las lecciones de Suecia en el siglo XIX, e Italia en la década de 1990. Los resultados indican que superar la corrupción sistémica puede requerir más que establecer sistemas de contabilidad y de control fuerte. Es necesario, por lo mínimo, un gatillo que desestabilice el equilibrio social perverso existente, cierta capacidad institucional para conferir efectividad normativa y una sociedad civil activa y cohesiva. Resumo O artigo busca entender as razões para a persistência da corrupção no governo federal brasileiro, apesar de este nível de governo já contar com robustos sistemas de contabilidade pública e de controle financeiro. Mais de dois terços dos estados do mundo, incluindo o Brasil, enfrentam elevado nível de desvio de dinheiros públicos por parte de elites políticas, econômicas e burocráticas. Neste tipo de contexto, o uso exclusivo da abordagem dominante das teorias econômicas para a estruturação dos sistemas de controle público é muito limitado. O artigo defende que é mais adequado buscar soluções derivadas de abordagem das teorias de ação coletiva. Para isso utiliza a teoria da prática de Bourdieu e as teorias de ação coletiva, de Tocqueville e Ostrom, conforme acolhidas respectivamente por Mungiu-Pippidi e Rothstein. A estratégia metodológica é de análise exploratória do Brasil atual, à luz das lições da Suécia do século XIX e da Itália da década de 90. Os resultados indicam que a superação da corrupção sistêmica requer mais do que a constituição de sistemas de contabilidade e de controle fortes. Exige, no mínimo, um fator desencadeante que desestabilize o equilíbrio social perverso vigente, capacidade institucional para conferir eficácia normativa, além de uma sociedade civil coesa e ativa.

This essay identifies trends and actors involved in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in two of Southeast Asia’s regional seascapes (the South China Sea and the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape), explores the political and socioeconomic factors that enable IUU fishing, and offers recommendations to governments and other stakeholders. main argument IUU fishing threatens the food, ecological, and economic security of coastal communities in Southeast Asia’s seascapes. The region is home to incredible marine biodiversity that supports commercially important fish stocks. However, IUU fishing, poor fisheries management, and bad governance—coupled with environmental degradation and a lack of monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement capacity—leave these stocks in a precarious position. The clandestine nature of IUU fishing can also attract crimes of convergence, including forced labor and trafficking of humans, arms, drugs, and wildlife. To counter IUU fishing, national governments in Southeast Asia should take steps to improve cooperation, build cohesiveness, and share data and relevant information with each other and with regional organizations. Likewise, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and regional fisheries management organizations should take a greater leadership role to facilitate data and information sharing between Southeast Asian governments. policy implications • Cooperative and joint stock assessments in the South China Sea and the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape by governments, scientists, NGOs, and other stakeholders, with a focus on transboundary stocks, would significantly improve the monitoring and management of fisheries. • To bridge gaps in enforcement capacity, fisheries enforcement authorities should work with nontraditional partners, including local communities and trusted nations in the Indo-Pacific, such as the U.S., Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. • Southeast Asian coastal states should work together to settle remaining maritime boundary disputes they have with each other and develop a cohesive regional bloc that strengthens their collective commitment to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and efforts to combat IUU fishing. • National governments and law enforcement should increase their capacity and technical capabilities to stop labor and human rights abuses on the water and in seafood processing facilities by working with NGOs, survivors, and other relevant stakeholders with expertise in the field.

The aim of this paper is to explore the connection between stateness (and its constituent attributes) and democracy by conceiving the effective state as an independent variable and a prerequisite for the success of a well-functioning democracy. Such a conditioning relationship between the state and the regime has often been subject to being neglected among many scholars of democratization , who have not considered the state as an important explanatory or at least obstructive variable for the success of democratization. This paper argues that the existence of an effective and legitimate state is essential to build a well-functioning democracy. Herein, the variable of stateness is analysed in terms of four attributes: that of monopoly on the legitimate use of force; citizenship agreement; infrastructure capacity of the state; and law enforcement capacity.

The Schumpeterian process of 'creative destruction' is an essential ingredient of a dynamic economy. In many countries around the world, however, this process is weakened by pervasive regulation of product and factor markets. This book documents the regulatory obstacles faced by firms, particularly in developing countries, and assesses their implications for firm renewal and macroeconomic performance. Combining a variety of methodological approaches--analytical and empirical, micro and macroeconomic, single- and cross-country-- the book provides evidence that streamlining the regulatory framework would have a significant social pay-off, particularly in developing countries that are also burdened by weak governance. The book's chapters trace out analytically and empirically the links between microeconomic policies and distortions, on the one hand, and aggregate performance in terms of productivity, growth and volatility, on the other. The volume adds to a novel but increasingly influential literature that seeks to understand macroeconomic phenomena from a microeconomic perspective, and derive the relevant lessons for development policy. Such literature is still fairly scarce in the case of industrial countries, and virtually in its infancy for developing countries.

This paper studies how the transition from self-employment to employee employment share over the development path can explain growth in personal income tax (PIT) capacity. Proxying for development using either 84 household surveys across countries today or 140 years of historical data within-US (1870-2010), I first establish two new stylized facts: 1) within-country, employee share is increasing in through the income-distribution, and the profile moves leftward with development; 2) the PIT exemption threshold moves down the income-distribution with development such that the employee share above the threshold is high and constant. These findings are consistent with a model in which high employee share is a necessary condition for taxation and the rise in third-party income through increases in employee shares drives growth in tax capacity. To provide more conclusive evidence, I use quasi-experimental variation in industry-subsidy policies in the U.S. in the 1940-60s that generated exogenous changes in employee share. I find that the exogenous increase in employee share is associated with a lower State PIT threshold. I find that an expansion of the State PIT base is associated with an increase in personal income tax revenue and a substitution away from 'distortive' taxes, including selective sales taxes. This last finding is consistent with the model where growth in employee mass lowers the marginal cost of funds of PIT and increases tax-reliance on PIT, and leads to substitution away from distortive tax-sources that have high marginal cost of funds. My model and empirical findings therefore address both the observed increase in PIT take and the observed variation in tax-mix over levels of development.

This study determined relationships between an agency-specific fitness test battery (PT500), and a work sample test battery (WSTB) in law enforcement recruits. Retrospective analysis on 219 males and 34 females from one agency was conducted. The PT500 comprised: push-ups, sit-ups, and mountain climbers in 120 s; pull-ups; and 201 m and 2.4 km runs. The WSTB comprised: 99 yard (90.53 m) obstacle course (99OC); body drag (BD) with a 165 pound (75 kg) dummy; 6 foot (1.83 m) chain link fence (CLF) and solid wall (SW) climb; and 500 yard (457.2 m) run (500R). Partial correlations, controlling for sex, calculated PT500 and WSTB relationships (p < 0.05). Stepwise regression determined whether fitness predicted WSTB performance. The 500R related to all PT500 assessments (r range = −0.127–0.574), 99OC related to all bar push-ups and mountain climbers, and BD related to none. The CLF related to sit-ups, pull-ups, and 2.4 km run; SW related to mountain climbers, pull-ups, and 2.4 km run (r range = −0.127–−0.315). Push-ups, pull-ups, and 2.4 km run were involved in predictive relationships for 99OC, CLF, SW, and 500R (r2 range = 0.217–0.500). To perform better in the WSTB and job-specific tasks, developing upper-body strength and aerobic fitness may be beneficial.

Implementation of effective cross-sectoral nutrition policies remains a challenge worldwide. By reviewing reports from World Health Organization meetings and consultations - convened for policy-makers representing Member States of the Western Pacific Region - we provide an insight into how national policy-makers and external actors can support different dimensions of nutrition policy implementation. Key insights of policy-makers attending food and nutrition-centred meetings include that country-level implementation of nutrition policy relies on strong policy design, organizational planning and governance mechanisms that promote collective responsibility across multiple sectors. Policy-makers responsible for implementing nutrition policies face major challenges resulting from limited capacity, both within and external to government, particularly in relation to monitoring and enforcement activities. Successful implementation of nutrition policy measures will require greater political will to provide the requisite resources and institutional structures to ensure sustained policy effectiveness. Nongovernmental partners, including international agencies and researchers, have an opportunity to support policy implementation by providing technical support to Member States to frame action on nutrition in a more compelling way. They can also help policy-makers to build the organizational and structural capacity to coordinate cross-sectoral policy. Improved policy design, planning and governance and strategic capacity-building, supported by external partners, can strengthen the sustained implementation of cross-sectoral nutrition policy and improve nutrition outcomes.

Effective states govern by some combination of enforcement and voluntary compliance. To contain the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical decision is the extent to which policy makers rely on voluntary as opposed to enforced compliance, and nations vary along this dimension. While enforcement may secure higher compliance, there is experimental and other evidence that it may also crowd out voluntary motivation. How does enforcement affect citizens’ support for anti–COVID-19 policies? A survey conducted with 4,799 respondents toward the end of the first lockdown in Germany suggests that a substantial share of the population will support measures more under voluntary than under enforced implementation. Negative responses to enforcement—termed control aversion—vary across the nature of the policy intervention (e.g., they are rare for masks and frequent for vaccination and a cell-phone tracing app). Control aversion is less common among those with greater trust in the government and the information it provides, and among those who were brought up under the coercive regime of East Germany. Taking account of the likely effectiveness of enforcement and the extent to which near-universal compliance is crucial, the differing degrees of opposition to enforcement across policies suggest that for some anti–COVID-19 policies an enforced mandate would be unwise, while for others it would be essential. Similar reasoning may also be relevant for policies to address future pandemics and other societal challenges like climate change.

In environments of seemingly intractable conflict, how should we understand the role of state capacity building and security-sector reform in transitions to peace? Prevailing wisdom suggests that a strong state security apparatus mitigates cyclical violence and aids in transitions to predictable, rule-governed behavior. Yet growing attention to police brutality in institutionalized democracies calls this assumption into question. Drawing on a multiyear study of war making and state making in eastern DR Congo, this article interrogates logics of police capacity building, analyzing how and why reform efforts intended to bolster the state’s monopoly on violence frequently fail to curb the unrest they seek to disrupt. I argue that enhancing the coercive capacity of the police can entrench a wartime political order that makes peace more elusive; when police deploy the image of the state toward destabilizing ends they reinforce the institutions of everyday war, undermining the stability a monopoly on violence is intended to build.