Public service innovation to fight corruption: metrics and policy in Mexico 2019–2022

The purpose is to identify and analyze some innovations in public services, PSI, between 2019 and 2022 to evaluate their attempts to deter corruption in a context where the current government’s Mexican public sector has been improving its capacity to fight corruption as the most critical problem. The research is designed to describe 12 PSI selected from the national level. Their innovativeness is measured through an INDICO index adapted from technology firms, which mainly has added a perception of its public value besides their use value. Corruption is measured based on the neo-institutional approach on three axes: public–private relations, its organization, and the agents’ behavior. The question is to measure the impact of the innovations in deterring corruption, which is estimated by the difference in magnitude between the current and the previous one. The findings are: 1. The neo-institutional theory highlights corruption-related aspects rooted in public–private relations, however, complemented with social and management approaches. 2. The INDICO index measures, based on a pre-established 10-point quantitative maximum scale distributed between components on capacity -knowledge of the service, training, design, peer evaluation through external links- and on innovation results in public services—its legitimization through public value, and its possible replication (diffusion), which an expert in the field of innovation qualitatively evaluates. 3. The impact of the selected Public Service Innovations shows that there is a positive effect in reducing the level of corruption. The more systemic or institutionalized corruption is, the more difficult it is to develop effective strategies proving their long-term value. The PSIs have been managed by the government’s leadership founded on legitimate authority, secured from the victory in the 2018 elections in Mexico, enabling it to put forward its top-to-bottom anti-corruption program. A more extended period, a group of experts, and more cases are desirable to assess PSI sustainability. However, the methodology could be extended to other contexts for policymakers or practitioners in public services and corruption.