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Why do anti‐corruption laws fail in Central Eastern Europe? A target compliance perspective

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  • Agnes Batory

Abstract

The Central Eastern European member states of the European Union have introduced a host of anti‐corruption measures in the past two decades, yet corruption is still prevalent. Rather than asking what is wrong with the letter of the law, which has traditionally been the focus of analysis, this article identifies some of the reasons why those whose behavior the law seeks to change fail to act as expected. Drawing on theoretical insights from implementation studies and using Hungary as an illustrative example, the article finds that both incentives and normative judgments are skewed towards non‐compliance with anti‐bribery laws. The main policy implications are that anti‐corruption interventions should pay more attention to raising awareness among target groups, take existing social norms into account, and rely on positive incentives as well as, or rather than, increasing penalties.

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  • Agnes Batory, 2012. "Why do anti‐corruption laws fail in Central Eastern Europe? A target compliance perspective," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 66-82, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:6:y:2012:i:1:p:66-82
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-5991.2011.01125.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tim Haughton, 2011. "Half Full but also Half Empty: Conditionality, Compliance and the Quality of Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe," Political Studies Review, Political Studies Association, vol. 9(3), pages 323-333, September.
    2. Gerda Falkner & Oliver Treib, 2008. "Three Worlds of Compliance or Four? The EU‐15 Compared to New Member States," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 293-313, March.
    3. Steunenberg, Bernard & Dimitrova, Antoaneta, 2007. "Compliance in the EU enlargement process: The limits of conditionality," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 11, June.
    4. Levin, Mark & Satarov, Georgy, 2000. "Corruption and institutions in Russia," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 113-132, March.
    5. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:46:y:2008:i::p:293-313 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Treib, Oliver, . "Implementing and complying with EU governance outputs," Living Reviews in European Governance (LREG), Institute for European integration research (EIF).
    7. Sebastian Wolf, 2010. "Assessing Eastern Europe's anti-corruption performance: views from the Council of Europe, OECD, and Transparency International," Global Crime, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 99-121, April.
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    1. Buntaine, Mark T & Bagabo, Alex & Bangerter, Tanner & Bukuluki, Paul & Daniels, Brigham, 2022. "Recognizing Local Leaders as an Anti-Corruption Strategy: Experimental and Ethnographic Evidence from Uganda," OSF Preprints x86q3, Center for Open Science.

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