Public sector reforms and their impact on the level of corruption: A systematic review.

Background: In spite of the large number of anti-corruption reforms implemented in different countries, there has been little research that empirically and systematically assesses the impact of these efforts. Objectives: The main objective of this review is to identify what works in curbing corruption in the public sector, by meta-analyzing the findings of published and unpublished evaluations of different types of anti-corruption interventions in different countries. The focus of this review is administrative corruption, namely corrupt acts involving civil servants in their dealings with their superiors, during the implementation of public policies, or while interacting with the public for service delivery. Political corruption (in the adoption of laws, regulations, and policies), and private-to-private corruption (involving only private actors) are excluded from this review. Search methods: The literature search was conducted by querying three widely recognized electronic databases: RePEc, SSRN, and Web of Science. These databases are considered the most comprehensive in the socio-economic field of research. The main grey literature repositories were also queried. Both published and unpublished studies were searched on the basis of specific combinations of keywords. The terms used to define queries were based on the "types of corruption", "types of interventions/policies/reforms" and "study design" search strings. Specific conventions were used to "explode" or "truncate" keywords as appropriate. Screening of the references (i.e., snowballing) of the identified studies was also performed, and a reverse snowballing approach on Google Scholar was used. In order to ensure replicability, all searches were stored into Covidence, an online software developed by the Cochrane community for screening studies and extracting data for systematic reviews. Selection criteria: Any study that included experimental evaluations (randomized controlled trials) of interventions developed for use in the public sector (e.g., public administration, education, health, etc.) to curb administrative corruption has been included in this review without any geographical or temporal limitations. Only studies written in or translated into English have been considered. Data collection and analysis: Two review authors read the titles and abstracts of identified studies in order to determine their eligibility against the inclusion/exclusion criteria. When a title or abstract could not be included or rejected with certainty, the full text of the article was reviewed. In case of disagreement about whether or not a study should be included, the lead author (Giulia Mugellini), together with Martin Killias acted as arbitrator. The relevant information from identified studies was extracted independently by two review authors, following the guidelines of the Campbell Collaboration. The studies were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias checklist as a basis.The effect size selected for the analysis was the Fisher's z-score transformation of the partial correlation coefficient. For the meta-analysis, random effect(s) models were estimated. Meta-regression analysis models were then used to investigate the determinants behind the observed between- and within-study heterogeneity. Ten different covariates were included in the meta-regression models in order to control for the type of intervention, the type of corruption, the level of national income, the quality of the study and the type of participants involved in laboratory experiments. Results: The initial literature search led to the identification of 70 studies. Approximately one-third of the studies were excluded at the title/abstract stage because they either did not evaluate any anti-corruption intervention but simply assessed the relationship between corruption and other phenomena, or because the study design was not based on randomized controlled trials. Another 14 studies were excluded only after a full-text assessment. At this stage, the main reasons for exclusion were related to an unsuitable type of corruption (e.g., when the focus of the paper was political corruption, or private-to-private corruption instead of administrative corruption), the lack of regression output, or an unsuitable study design. At the end of the selection process, 29 studies resulted as eligible for inclusion.All the selected studies were written in English. The publication years ranged from 2007 to 2018. The majority of the selected studies (20) investigates the effect of anti-corruption interventions in high- and upper-middle income countries (Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Nine studies focused on low- and low-middle income countries (Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Uganda). All of them were randomized experiments. Twenty-five of these experiments were conducted in a laboratory, while four of them were field experiments.As to the type of outcome, the majority (18) of the selected studies addressed bribery (either active or passive), while 11 studies considered misappropriation of public resources (embezzlement). In terms of anti-corruption interventions, 19 studies tested the effect of deterrence interventions, while 10 studies focused on policies based on organizational and cultural change.Overall, the meta-analysis' findings indicate that the identified interventions decrease the level of corruption. Results are statistically significant (p < 0.01) and robust to different heterogeneity estimators-that is, (restricted) maximum likelihood and method of moment estimators. The observed high level of heterogeneity- I 2 is equal to 92.36%, of which 43.78% is due to between-study heterogeneity and 48.57% to within-study heterogeneity-albeit in line with other meta-analyses in economics, suggests the need for meta-regression analyses.To investigate the determinants behind the between- and within-study heterogeneity of the observed effect, both a random effect model and a multilevel model were adopted.The results of the multilevel model show that: 1)Control and deterrence interventions are more effective than organizational and cultural reforms in reducing corruption in the public sector.2)Combining different interventions reduces corruption more than single interventions.3)Interventions are more effective in preventing misappropriation of public resources (embezzlement) than passive or active bribery. Finally, the Funnel Asymmetry Test (FAT), conducted with both additive and multiplicative dispersion terms, shows no evidence of a strong publication bias in the literature. Authors' conclusions: The results of this systematic review, based on a combination of laboratory and field experiments, demonstrate that increasing the expected monetary costs (e.g., sanctions) of corruption or the probability of detection (e.g., audit risk) is more effective than organizational, cultural and educational interventions in curbing administrative corruption, at least in the short term. However, this result might be due to the fact that the majority of selected studies are based on lab-experiments, where the assessment of the intervention is almost concurrent to its development. Short-term evaluations might fail to identify the effect of organizational and cultural interventions. Indeed, these interventions are based on structural changes in the organization of the system and the ethical and cultural education of public officials and might, thus, entail long periods to display their results on the level of corruption. Nevertheless, a combination of different interventions proves to be more effective than single interventions. For example, policies guaranteeing impunity to officials or citizens who report corrupt practices (principal witness/leniency treatment) are more effective if associated with a high probability of audit than leniency alone. A low probability of detection can be compensated by the threat of high fines in reducing both the amount and the likelihood of bribe demands. To the contrary, a high probability of detection had no effect in the absence of severe sanction threats.The importance of the organizational and cultural environment in which the intervention is implemented clearly emerged in the literature. When possible, the characteristics of the settings where the interventions were developed were included in the meta-regression analysis (such as the level of income of the countries). When it was not possible to measure contextual factors and their interaction with the main intervention, a qualitative analysis was performed to reveal the complexities of these interactions.This additional analysis shows that the impact of the interventions was found to be affected by the likelihood of the continued interactions between bribe takers and givers, the amount and probability of fines, and the size of the bribe, among others. For example, reporting mechanisms and leniency policies increase their potential in combination with interventions that limit agent's exposure to one another - such as staff rotation. The success of audit risk on corruption is strongly dependent on the seriousness of the potential sanction and the probability that a sanction is applied. Some differences also emerge between high- and low-corruption countries regarding the effectiveness of anti-corruption interventions. For example, measures tending to increase social blame of corrupt practices work in low-corruption countries. Adding punishments in environments where actors' behavior is tightly monitored increases compliance, but more so in environments where corruption is the exception rather than the rule.In terms of implications for research, the fact that control and deterrence turns out to be more effective than organizational andcultural interventions in curbing administrative corruption confirms the importance of economic theories (and cost-benefit analysis). However, the meta-analysis also demonstrates the effectiveness of combining different types of interventions.This is true not only when combining policies reinforcing control and deterrence (monitoring frequency, detection probability and amount of fines), but also when policies based on organizational and cultural change are added (e.g., staff rotation and leniency). In particular, the role of moral levers in preventing corruption emerges, and especially the importance of strengthening professional identity and values in order to avoid conflicts between an individual's private interests and his/her public role. These results highlight the importance of going beyond economic models for explaining corruption, and considering the moral and cultural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.It also emerges the need to understand how different forms of corruption operate in practice at macro- (cross-country), meso- (country/nation-state) and micro- (individual) level. In particular, individual-level factors, such as the strive for power, low self-control, loss aversion and risk acceptance would need to be addressed.It would be interesting to distinguish, when more experimental studies will be available, between top-down (from supervisors to officials) and bottom-up (from citizens to officials) interventions.From a methodological point of view, it could be tested whether the results change according to the types of games used as a basis for the corruption experiments (e.g., behavioral game theory, trust game, etc.) and according to the setting in which the experiment was conducted (e.g., context-free versus in-context presentation of experimental tasks).Considering the effect of sensitization messages in reducing bribery demand, we would encourage researchers to develop other corruption experiments that explore the impact of interventions in fostering professional self-identity, as well as the impact of organizational family culture on corruption. Furthermore, this review highlights the need for a comprehensive classification of anti-corruption policies that distinguishes interventions by type of corruption, risk factors, type of policy tool and administrative sector.

Homicide clearance in Western Europe.

This study provides an overview of homicide clearance in four West European countries: Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Using data from the European Homicide Monitor, employing similar definitions and uniform coding schemes, this study allowed for unique cross-country comparisons in factors influencing differences in homicide clearance rates. Findings based on homicides occurring in the period 2009-14 revealed overall low homicide rates in all countries, with a wide variety in homicide clearance rates, ranging from 77 percent in the Netherlands to 98 percent in Finland. Results further showed that both event-based as well as victim-based characteristics significantly influenced the likelihood of homicide clearance, suggesting that homicide clearance rates can, for a large part, be attributed to the prevalent types of homicide in each of these European countries.

Homicide-suicides compared to homicides and suicides: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Homicide-suicides, the murder of one or several individuals followed by the suicide of the perpetrator, are rare but have devastating effects on families and communities. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing perpetrators of homicide-suicides with perpetrators of simple homicides and suicides and examined the proportion of firearm use and its correlation with firearm availability. We searched Medline and Embase from inception to July 2012 and identified 27 eligible studies. Perpetrators of homicide-suicides were older and more likely to be male and married to or separated from their victims than perpetrator of simple homicides or suicides. Influence of alcohol and a history of domestic violence or unemployment were less prevalent in homicide-suicides than in homicides. The proportion of firearm use in homicide-suicides varied across countries and was highest in the USA, Switzerland and South Africa, followed by Australia, Canada, The Netherlands and England and Wales, with a strong correlation between the use of firearms and the level of civilian gun ownership in the country. Our results indicate that homicide-suicides represent a distinct entity, with characteristics distinguishing them both from homicides and suicides.

[Violence-related injuries in an urban environment-view from an accident and emergency department]. / Gewaltbedingte Verletzungen in einem städtischen Umfeld aus Sicht einer unfallchirurgischen Notfallaufnahme.

Violence is a growing problem worldwide. In Switzerland, interpersonal violence seems to be an increasing problem as well. The aim of the current study was to describe a comprehensive picture of violence in a swiss city with regard to medical and social aspects. A total of 1740 patients injured by violent crimes between April 2004 and January 2011 were enrolled into this study. Most of them were male. There were no relevant changes regarding the number of within the observation period. However, the proportion of affected females increased. Especially at the weekend, there is a need for preventive measures to reduce the high number of affected patients and the associated costs.

La violence est aussi un problème en augmentation en Suisse. Le but de cette étude est de pouvoir se faire une image de la violence dans une grande ville en mettant l'accent sur les aspects sociaux et médicaux. Entre avril 2004 et janvier 2011, 1740 patients se sont présentés à l'hôpital, victimes d'un accident dû à la violence. Pendant cette période, le nombre de ces patients n'a pas varié. Bien que le nombre de femmes ait augmenté, ce sont les hommes qui sont en majorité. Les statistiques des jours, des semaines et des horaires montrent que des mesures préventives surtout les week ends sont indispensables afin de réduire le nombre de victimes.

Incidence and risk factors of homicide-suicide in Swiss households: National Cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Homicide-suicides are rare but catastrophic events. This study examined the epidemiology of homicide-suicide in Switzerland. METHODS: The study identified homicide-suicide events 1991-2008 in persons from the same household in the Swiss National Cohort, which links census and mortality records. The analysis examined the association of the risk of dying in a homicide-suicide event with socio-demographic variables, measured at the individual-level, household composition variables and area-level variables. Proportional hazards regression models were calculated for male perpetrators and female victims. Results are presented as age-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). RESULTS: The study identified 158 deaths from homicide-suicide events, including 85 murder victims (62 women, 4 men, 19 children and adolescents) and 68 male and 5 female perpetrators. The incidence was 3 events per million households and year. Firearms were the most prominent method for both homicides and suicides. The risk of perpetrating homicide-suicide was higher in divorced than in married men (HR 3.64; 95%CI 1.56-8.49), in foreigners without permanent residency compared to Swiss citizens (HR 3.95; 1.52-10.2), higher in men without religious affiliations than in Catholics (HR 2.23; 1.14-4.36) and higher in crowded households (HR 4.85; 1.72-13.6 comparing ≥2 with <1 persons/room). There was no association with education, occupation or nationality, the number of children, the language region or degree of urbanicity. Associations were similar for female victims. CONCLUSIONS: This national longitudinal study shows that living conditions associated with psychological stress and lower levels of social support are associated with homicide-suicide events in Switzerland.

Homicide-suicide and other violent deaths: an international comparison.

Homicides followed by the suicide of the perpetrator constitute a serious form of interpersonal violence. Until now no study has directly compared homicide-suicides to other violent deaths from multiple countries, allowing for a better understanding of the nature of these violent acts. Using country-specific data, this study describes and compares the incidence and patterns of homicide-suicide as well as the relationship between homicide-suicide, homicide, suicide and domestic homicide in the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. The results indicate that cross-nationally, homicide-suicides are more likely than other types of lethal violence to involve a female victim, multiple victims, take place in a residential setting and to be committed by a firearm. Although homicide-suicides display many similarities across the different countries, differences exist regarding age and the use of firearms in the offence. This study indicates that homicides followed by suicides differ from both homicides and suicides in similar ways internationally. Cross-national differences in the availability of firearms may explain the international variation of homicide-suicide rates and patterns.

Homicide-suicide cases in Switzerland and their impact on the Swiss Weapon Law.

Homicide followed by the suicide of the offender is a well-known phenomenon. In most cases, it takes place in the context of the so-called "family tragedies." A recent series of such family tragedies in Switzerland prompted an intensive debate in the media and the Swiss government concerning the Swiss Weapon Law, in particular the requirement to keep personal army weapons at home. The present study of Homicide-Suicide cases in Switzerland, thus focuses on the role played by guns, especially military weapons, in such crimes. We investigated retrospectively 75 cases of Homicide-Suicide, comprising 172 individuals and spanning a period of 23 years in western and central Switzerland. Our results show that if guns were used in 76% of the cases, army weapons were the cause of death in 25% of the total. In 28% of the deaths caused by a gunshot, the exact type of the gun and its origin could not be determined. Thus, the majority of Homicide-Suicide cases in Switzerland involve the use of guns. The exact percentage of cases were military weapons were involved could not be defined. In our opinion, a stricter weapons law, restricting access to firearms, would be a factor of prevention of Homicide- Suicide cases in Switzerland.

The effects of custodial vs non-custodial sanctions on reoffending: Lessons from a systematic review / Los efectos de las penas privativas vs no privativas de libertad en la reincidencia: lecciones de una revisión sistemática

Based on a systematic review of some 23 (out of 300 originally located) studies, it is concluded that most studies show lower rates of re-offending following a non-custodial compared to a custodial sanction. However, this outcome may be biased because, in most quasi-experiments of this kind, subjects with the worst prospects of rehabilitation are likely to be sent to prison. In a meta-analysis limited to five randomised controlled trials and one natural experiment, it is concluded that custodial and non-custodial sanctions do not differ significantly in terms of re-offending. Lessons from this review include, in view of future evaluations, the need to increase randomised controlled trials, to use broader measures of re-offending and rehabilitation, to look at long-term effects, and to deal with possible Hawthorn effects. Equal rates of re-offending do not mean that «nothing works» or «nothing matters», but that criminal justice policies should not be based on the belief that short-term confinement will be damaging (AU)

En una revisión sistemática de 23 estudios se concluye que la mayoría de las investigaciones muestra una tasa más baja en la reincidencia de los delincuentes condenados a cumplir una condena alternativa a la prisión, comparados con los que son condenados a penas de reclusión. No obstante, esta estimación puede estar sesgada, debido al hecho de que los sujetos que tienen el peor pronóstico de rehabilitación son los que suelen ingresar en prisión. En un meta-análisis que realizamos de cinco estudios que incluían diseños experimentales con asignación al azar, más un experimento natural, obtuvimos el resultado de que las condenas de reclusión y las penas alternativas no difieren de modo significativo en cuanto a la reincidencia. El artículo a continuación deriva algunas conclusiones de la investigación, entre las cuales se citan las siguientes: la necesidad de aumentar el número de experimentos con asignación al azar, emplear medidas más inclusivas de la reincidencia y la rehabilitación, y estudiar los efectos de las sanciones a más largo plazo. Que se obtengan tasas iguales de reincidencia no significa que «nada funciona», sino que la política criminal no debería asumir que, necesariamente, la reclusión breve en la cárcel tendrá efectos negativos en el interno (AU)

The effects of custodial vs non-custodial sanctions on reoffending: lessons from a systematic review.

Based on a systematic review of some 23 (out of 300 originally located) studies, it is concluded that most studies show lower rates of re-offending following a non-custodial compared to a custodial sanction. However, this outcome may be biased because, in most quasi-experiments of this kind, subjects with the worst prospects of rehabilitation are likely to be sent to prison. In a meta-analysis limited to five randomised controlled trials and one natural experiment, it is concluded that custodial and non-custodial sanctions do not differ significantly in terms of re-offending. Lessons from this review include, in view of future evaluations, the need to increase randomised controlled trials, to use broader measures of re-offending and rehabilitation, to look at long-term effects, and to deal with possible Hawthorn effects. Equal rates of re-offending do not mean that <> or <>, but that criminal justice policies should not be based on the belief that short-term confinement will be damaging.

Changing times: a longitudinal analysis of international firearm suicide data.

We investigated changes in the proportion of firearm suicides in Western countries since the 1980s and the relation of these changes to the change in the proportion of households owning firearms. Several countries had an obvious decline in firearm suicides: Norway, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Multilevel modeling of longitudinal data confirmed the effect of the proportion of households owning firearms. Legislation and regulatory measures reducing the availability of firearms in private households can distinctly strengthen the prevention of firearm suicides.