World Bank Anti-Corruption - Essay Example

Across several studies it has been shown that one standard deviation above the mean of corruption lowers investment rates by approximately three points, and lowers the average growth by almost one point per year (Kaufmann & Vicente, 2005). The World Bank (WB) seeks to monitor corruption across aided projects and developing nations (WB, 2006 a, b). To enable this to occur, the WB employs a multi-disciplinary staff with almost half of its employees located in country offices, who actively contribute to international policy formation (WB, 2006b).

This paper is a formal application to the WB to demonstrate understanding of corruption issues and commitment to upholding anti-corruption business practices as determined by the WB. Firstly, a clear definition of corruption for this paper will be presented. Secondly, developing countries that currently experiences corruption will be highlighted. Thirdly, WB anti-corruption policies and protocols will be discussed, including a brief about anti-corruption considerations as a WB staff member. Next, the ability of the WB to address corruption will be debated, and best practices from around the globe will be outlined.

Then, suggestions as to how the WB could effectively tackle corruption will be proposed. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesize the main points and demonstrate that this application aligns with the WB ethos of anti-corruption. Traditionall Traditionally, corruption has been defined in terms of 'the abuse of public office for private gain' (Kaufmann & Vicente, 2005). In this regard, corruption is viewed illegal, such as in the form of administration bribery, fraud or misappropriation of resources (Kaufmann & Vicente, 2005; WB, 2006a).

Recently though, the term corruption has become associated with other less obvious acts, such as complicity between representatives of both the public and the private sectors. Further, collusion between parties may be considered a legal activity in some countries, such as lobbying contributions that allow legislations to be passed. Kaufmann and Vicente suggest an alternate definition to clarify corporate corruption, which in turn affects public corruption. Corruption can thus be described as "a collusive agreement between a part of the agents of the economy who, as a consequence, are able to swap [over time] in terms of positions of power (i.e. are able to capture, together, the allocation process of the economy) (2).

In this form, corruption represents high-level 'influence,' extending on the act of bribery and reflects "a particular sharing pattern of the joint payoff from the referred relationship" (3). They provide the example of a politician with strong business relationships within the private sector that are exploited for the benefit of each party, also known colloquially as "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours". Kaufmann and Vicente's comprehensive and salient definition will be used for this paper.

With regard to nations that are acknowledged to have experienced widespread corruption, they include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Chile, Paraguay, Lithuania and Russia, as just a few of the countries noted by the WB to have had extensive corruption practices (WB, 2006e). These nations have firms and individuals listed as ineligible for future WB aid for a proscribed period as they were identified as having broken anti-corruption standards as determined by the Procurement Guidelines or the Consultants Guidelines,