ERF 18th Annual Conference discusses determinants of corruption
March 26, 2012 1 Comment
Today was the second day of the ERF’s 18th Annual Conference. Chaired by Rima Khalaf (UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia), the second plenary session provided an overview on the determinants of corruption through three key speakers who shared their perspectives on the issue.
Panel plenary session 2 - ERF 2012 Annual Conference
Lisa Anderson (American University in Cairo) highlighted the importance of understanding the notion of “modern corruption” being the diversion of goods from the public sphere to private gain. “There is a political and administrative system from which things should not be diverted to personal gains” she said.
The diversity of corruption drivers in developing countries was addressed by Mushtaq Khan (University of London), who insisted on the importance of their selection and prioritization.
The session ended with a focus on the situation in the MENA region by Jeffrey Nugent (University of Southern California). In his presentation, Nugent referred mainly to the situation in Egypt, which is “not one of the better performers” as there seems to be a “fair amount of corruption” in the country.
Read more about the session on ERF Blog
The Annual Conference of the Economic Research Forum (ERF) has evolved over the past 18 years to become one of the most important regional platforms for ERF and non-ERF affiliates to discuss frontier thinking about economic development. The upcoming conference comes at a time when ERF’s region is undergoing significant political transformation.