Silent or Quiet Corruption

What is 'quiet corruption'?

Various types of malpractice by frontline providers (teachers, doctors, inpectors) that do not involve monetary exchange, including observable deviations and bending of rules for personal advantage.

What are the 3 types of quiet corruption?

Low effort due to absenteeism, low effort on the job, resource leakage

What are some sectors affected by quiet corruption?

Education, health care, agriculture, and the private sector.

What are the long-term consequences of quiet corruption?

It affects households, farms, and firms, leading to harmful outcomes over time.

What are the long-term direct consequences of quiet corruption?

Lower productivity and lower human capital

What are the long term indirect consequences of quiet corruption?

Markets concentration, poor resources allocation, disbelief in public institutions

What is 'petty corruption'?

A form of corruption involving minor infractions, such as absenteeism among teachers, inspectors, and doctors.

How did poor controls affect fertilizer quality in West Africa during the 1990s?

43% of analyzed fertilizers lacked expected nutrients, rendering them ineffective.

What was a significant finding from a survey of malaria fatalities in rural Tanzania?

Nearly four out of five children who died of malaria sought medical attention, with quiet corruption contributing to the problem.

What are some manifestations of quiet corruption in health care?

Absence of diagnostic equipment, drug pilfering (stealing), provider absenteeism, and low levels of diagnostic effort.

How does big-time corruption influence low-level officials?

It encourages opportunistic behavior among low-level civil servants by reducing available resources and compromising monitoring and enforcement of conduct. "Justified"

What is the relationship between big-time corruption and service delivery?

Big-time corruption begets corruption at the frontlines, creating challenges for governance and accountability.

What effect does poor service delivery have on child development?

It can have permanent effects on educational attainment, cognitive skills, and health.

What are the main determinants of vulnerability to quiet corruption?

Level of transparency and accountability, asymmetry of information, discretion and monopoly power of service providers, socioeconomic influence and political power of the main clientele

How does quiet corruption in education impact poverty eradication efforts?

It undermines efforts to eradicate poverty and improve the competitiveness of African economies.

What does 'capture' refer to in the context of corruption?

A situation where key actors alter rules, such as the conditions of service or the allocation of expenditure in the sector, to their advantage at the expense of service beneficiaries and the society at large

What was found regarding teacher attendance in Uganda?

Nearly one-third of teachers found were not in the classroom during learning periods.

What percentage of resources intended for schools reached them in Uganda during the 1990s?

An average of only 13 percent of the resources intended for schools actually reached them.

What does evidence of resource leakage in Zambia suggest?

Resources meant for renovation were more likely to go to schools in the middle of the wealth distribution, indicating collusion.

What is the impact of increased absence duration on student test scores?

An increase in absence duration of one day per month reduces test scores by about 4-8 percent of average annual gains in English and mathematics.

What correlation was found in a study in Brazil regarding resource leakage?

Higher levels of resource leakage at the municipality level were associated with lower learning gains of pupils.

What is the 'vicious circle'?

Poor quality of health care services in Uganda created a downward spiral of underutilization of public health facilities. Lower demand for services led to even lower staff attendance and to shorter opening hours of health care facilities