Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences and Reform
STIAS Fellow Susan Rose-Ackerman
Abstract Corruption is the misuse of public power for private gain. It involves the illicit buying and selling of government benefits or payoffs to avoid costs. The talk will explore the economic roots of corrupt transactions and their negative political and economic consequences. It will conclude by considering some of the distinctive features of the current explosion of corruption scandals in South Africa and allegations of state capture. Susan Rose-Ackerman is the Henry R. Luce Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University. She is currently a fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study writing a book on policymaking and comparative administrative law. She has written widely on the political economy of corruption and has advised the World Bank, the IMF and the InterAmerican Development Bank on anti-corruption policy. Her recent books are Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences and Reform, 2d edition with Bonnie Palifka, (the first edition from 1999 was translated into 17 languages); Due Process of Lawmaking: The United States, South Africa, Germany and the European Union (with Stefanie Egidy and James Fowkes, 2015); Greed, Corruption, and the Modern State (co-editor); and International Handbook on the Economics of Corruption (vols. I and II, co-editor). She directs the program in Comparative Administrative Law at Yale Law School, and she holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.