LATEST FROM SOAS-ACE
Peer-to-peer enforcement among businesses to assure electricity payment in Nigeria: a lab-in-the-field experiment
Authors: Pallavi Roy, Mariona Tres Vilanova, Miguel Nino Zarazua, Adebayo Olajide, Najim Animashaun, Henry Adigun, Rahila Thomas
Publication date: March 2025
Since its privatisation in 2013, the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) has been constrained by persistent inefficiencies, corruption and liquidity challenges. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have faced high operational costs from the unreliable grid supply, they have been ...
Resource leakages in primary schools in Bangladesh: Do horizontal checks have an effect on the quality of governance?
Authors: Mushtaq Khan, Mehnaz Rabbani, Faruq Hossain, Rabeena Sultana Ananna
Publication date: March 2025
Bangladesh has successfully increased spending on primary education and achieved impressive improvements in enrolment rates; however, the quality of learning outcomes remains a serious concern. The governance of schools is an important determinant of poor learning outcomes as it can ...
Process Mapping Report: Documenting the Health Intervention of the Anti-Corruption Partnership in Bangladesh
Authors: Md. Noorunnabi Talukder
Publication date: March 2025
Despite progress on several key health indicators, Bangladesh’s health sector remains underfunded, overburdened, and vulnerable to various forms of corruption and abuse. These include illegitimate out-of-pocket expenses, procurement irregularities, absenteeism, the overpricing of medicines and the supply of some lower-quality ...
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH
The SOAS-ACE approach represents a comprehensive methodology for understanding and addressing policy-distorting corruption, developed through years of rigorous research and practical application. It is marked by its commitment to crafting politically feasible reforms that can be effectively implemented within specific political economies.
Rather than merely advocating for stricter enforcement mechanisms, it prioritises a systemic perspective that aligns incentives and reinforces relationships essential for sustainable solutions. By employing a theory-driven framework, the approach acknowledges that the behaviours and relationships of actors are significantly influenced by their relative powers, capabilities, and interests.
Through its systemic lens and commitment to political feasibility, the SOAS-ACE approach stands poised to support sustainable development initiatives that address the root causes of corruption.
CASE STUDIES
Case Study: Mini-Grid Solution to Corruption in Nigeria’s Electricity Sector
Nigeria’s electricity sector, plagued by inefficiency and corruption, poses a daunting reform challenge. This case study demonstrates how an analysis of the sector’s political economy dynamics led to a solution to bypass the current corruption-ridden power network and establish a reliable electricity supply for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Case Study: Reducing Corruption in Bangladesh’s Climate Adaptation Projects
This case study delves into Bangladesh’s political settlement and sectoral dynamics to identify opportunities for reducing corruption in climate adaptation investments. It highlights how ‘dual-use’ climate adaptation projects offer opportunities for reduced corruption through stronger monitoring by influential actors.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Bangladesh Student Uprising: Successful Collective Action against State Capture
The 2024 student-led uprising in Bangladesh was the first successful Generation Z-led political movement that resulted in a successful overthrow of a repressive and corrupt autocracy. This research documents and analyses the factors that enabled a successful popular collective action to overthrow a highly repressive regime that had engaged in state capture over fifteen years.
Tracking Research to Policy and Implementation in the Pharmaceutical Sector in Bangladesh
SOAS-ACE research on pharmaceutical sector overpricing and health workers’ absenteeism has been adopted by a multi-partner coalition pushing for health sector anti-corruption in Bangladesh The coalition is implementing our recommended strategies, and we are tracking this process to produce lessons on converting research into practice.
Electricity in Nigeria: Finding Feasible Solutions to a Complex Challenge
This project investigates the complex story of corruption that straddles the entire electricity value chain Nigeria. It seeks to identify pockets of the sector where coalitions could be built to reduce corruption and increase reliable electricity supply.
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