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What to do about corruption? Focus on the process, says Paul Collier

March 25, 2012 by Connect@GDNet Leave a comment

By Dina Mannaa

During the first plenary session of the ERF 18^th annual conference, the measurement and consequences of corruption were addressed thoroughly. We had the opportunity to record a short interview Paul Collier, Professor of Economics - Oxford University after his presentation. In the video below, Prof. Collier pinpoints the major obstacles faced while attempting to limit the act of corruption. He underlines that it is very hard to catch people and set penalties that match their unlawful acts of corruption.

He suggests that good regulatory processes, as well as monitoring the implementation of public projects – which experience the most rate of corruption such as extortion, soliciting or offering bribery- might “squeeze the opportunity of corruption.” In conclusion, he recommends to combine both penalties and good processes together in order to put an end to the factors contributing to corruption.

Read more stories from the ERF Annual Conference on the ERF blog

Filed under 18th Annual Conference, Conferences and Events, ERF Annual Conference Tagged with corruption, economic development, ERF, erf2012, paul collier

ERF 18th Annual Conference on “Corruption and Economic Development” kicks off in Cairo

March 25, 2012 by Zeinab Sabet Leave a comment

Economic Research Forum (ERF) kick-started its 18th Annual Conference today with its first plenary session, featuring an impressive line-up of speakers. The focus was on the issue of measuring corruption and its consequences, framing the discussion that will be further explored at the plenary sessions over the next two days of the conference.

ERF 2012 Conference - Opening and Plenary session 1

Following the opening remarks of Ahmed Galal, ERF Managing Director, and Abdlatif Al-Hamad (Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development), Professor Paul Collier highlighted how the costs of corruption are hard to measure and greater than it is possible to imagine. He provided examples of both ‘grand’ and ‘petty’ corruption and contrasted commercial public sector corruption with the type found in the private sector.

Daniel Kaufmann (Brookings Institution) discussed the many different measures of corruption and their relationships, underlining the importance of the interactive relation between transparency, freedom of speech and association, democratic accountability and the fight against corruption. According to him, transparent countries do better in terms of fighting corruption. However, the impact remains limited when the rule of law is weakly implemented. “One does not fight corruption by ‘fighting corruption’, voice and democratic accountability matters” he stated.

Finally, Serdar Sayan (TOBB University of Economics and Technology) underscored new approaches to gauging corruption in different parts of the world, using survey-based measures to assess perceptions.

A pre-Conference workshop exploring aspects of the Arab awakening took place yesterday in an attempt to assess where the Arab mass movements came from, understand the changes that have emerged in the region over the past year and identify lessons learned from other countries/regions which experienced a political transition in the recent years.

Panel session 1: Political Economy Settlements

Videos interviews with workshop speakers and participants are available on ERF blog and ERF 2012 playlist onYouTube

Filed under 18th Annual Conference, Conferences and Events, ERF Annual Conference Tagged with accountability, annual conference, Arab awakening, arab region, corruption, economic development, ERF, erf2012, transition, transparency

“Corruption and Economic Development”: Focus of ERF’s 18th Annual Conference

March 22, 2012 by Zeinab Sabet Leave a comment

Corruption is unethical. It is often associated with violence, crime and, in extreme cases, may result in popular revolts, a fact experienced by this region first hand. This year the Economic Research forum (ERF) Conference on Corruption and Economic Development will be held on March 25-27 2012 in Cairo. The conference comes at a time when MENA region is undergoing significant political transformation and many sociopolitical changes.

The definition of corruption and the extent to which corruption is the product of the rules governing economic transactions will be discussed at the plenary sessions, which will feature renowned economists and opinion makers.

Follow proceedings from the ERF conference on the ERF blog. Social Media coverage will be provided by the GDNet team.

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@ERF latest

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#ERF2012

Filed under 18th Annual Conference, Conferences and Events, ERF Annual Conference Tagged with arab region, corruption, economic development, ERF, erf2012, MENA region

“Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in the Arab World” was the theme for the ERF & AFESD Conference

January 23, 2012 by Zeinab Sabet Leave a comment

Organized jointly by the Economic Research Forum and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the conference “Understanding and Avoiding the Oil Curse in the Arab World” was held in Kuwait on January 15-16, 2012 and convened around 100 regional and international researchers.

Eleven countries of the twenty-two members of the League of the Arab States are oil exporters and they account for approximately 55 percent of global oil reserves and 29 percent of natural gas reserves. The hydrocarbon sector dominates these economies, contributing about 50 percent to GDP and 80 percent to government revenues. Neighboring countries are also impacted by oil, through its impact on labor earnings, capital mobility and trade in goods and services between oil and non-oil exporters. If the region does not harness the power of natural resources, it is likely to experience extreme volatility, post-boom growth collapses, Dutch disease, weakened institutions and rent-seeking behaviors: the so called “oil curse.” The reverse also holds.

In this context ERF has initiated a major research undertaking on “understanding and avoiding the oil curse in the Arab world,” which aims at understanding the macroeconomic challenges related to oil dependency as well as exploring options to address those challenges including fiscal, financial, monetary and exchange rate policies.

Bringing together renowned academics and policy makers, the primary objective of this conference was to initiate discussions on the macroeconomic challenges posed by oil dependency in Arab countries, and of policies for harnessing the power of natural resources. The conference was preceded by a workshop, which was held in Cairo on October 7- 8 2011 to discuss draft papers.

To view posts from the Conference, check the ERF blog

Download the conference agenda

Follow-us on twitter @ERFlatest

Filed under Conferences and Events Tagged with AFESD, Arab World, economic development, ERF, oil, Oil Curse, Oil Dependency, social development