PAST RESEARCH COUNTRIES

SOAS-ACE has been exploring the dynamics of corruption, including the role of actors’ power, capabilities and interests in maintaining corrupt systems, in countries spanning from West Africa through the Middle East, to Southeast Asia. We have worked closely with local research partners, to develop the SOAS-ACE approach and to explore its utility in diverse contexts, with a variety of governance systems and economic realities. Some of the research was conducted through our grants scheme, which focused on tackling corruption in the private sector.

SOAS-ACE is currently undertaking research in Bangladesh and Nigeria, including in the education, health and power sectors, as well as on successful collective action that overthrew a corrupt autocracy. Moving beyond pure research, we are also monitoring the implementation of anti-corruption strategies our research has recommended, such as a strategy to reduce pharmaceutical companies’ overpricing of medicines.

The research project studied lending corruption’s effects on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMSEs) in Ghana and Nigeria, focusing on women entrepreneurs. It employed a mixed-methods approach to understand how corrupt practices influenced loan contracts, aiming to inform policies that enhance credit access and promote inclusive economic growth.

The oil and gas industry is vital for Indonesia’s revenue through taxes and production sharing contracts (PSCs), which can be prone to corruption. The project aimed to understand the risk factors for corruption and explore solutions, such as investigative audit methods and anti-bribery management.

Lebanon faced significant corruption in its energy sector, leading to blackouts and reliance on costly private generators. However, the town of Zahle collectivised its electricity supply, reducing corruption and costs. The research explored this transformation, examining the role of local women’s groups and the potential for replication in other locations.

This research examined collusive arrangements in the steel industry in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. It aimed to understand how these arrangements work, their relationship with industrial development in these countries, and how the current political settlement is sustaining them. Additionally, it explored how new coalitions could emerge to disrupt existing arrangements, and create the conditions for development.

Corruption in the pharmaceutical’s sector adversely affects economic growth, increases out-of-pocket consumer healthcare costs, and puts pressure on health care services through repeat patients stretching scarce resources. Our research focused on identifying feasible anti-corruption strategies to enhance pharmaceutical quality, which took advantage of bigger firms, which are more rule-following than others and have greater economic power.

The project examined corruption in and by corporations. Its aim was not to identify specific corrupt acts but to analyse corporations as social organisations, to understand how opportunities to engage in corruption, pressures to do so, and rationalisations for doing so, may evolve within the organisation. It also examined the gender dynamics within these complex organisations.

Our research in Tanzania included multiple projects over the years. It covered various forms of corruption and inefficiencies in sectors such as electricity, health, and commodities.

In Uganda, about 60% of sick individuals rely on “Class C drug shops” for care, but these shops often provide substandard services, with common violations like operating without licenses. The project sought to develop the first bottom-up approach to tackling rule violations among these actors by identifying the incentives that could change their practices, to improve the quality of drug shop service provision and health outcomes.

This research examined collusive arrangements in the steel industry in Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania. It aimed to understand how these arrangements work, their relationship with industrial development in these countries, and how the current political settlement is sustaining them. Additionally, it explored how new coalitions could emerge to disrupt existing arrangements, and create the conditions for development.