News and Insights
Global Programme on Measuring Corruption
new episode of our podcast Measurement Matters
The Global Programme for Measuring Corruption (‘GPMC’) recently held a ‘think-in’ in Vienna, to examine how we measure state capture.
State capture is a systematic type of corruption with the potential to transform the state or parts of it by shaping the rules of the game to benefit vested interests.
However, existing measures of corruption are inadequate to discern the prevalence of state capture from that of petty forms of corruption, suggesting that a change of course is needed if the aim is to produce appropriate policy responses to the phenomenon.
State capture may also have particularly long term and harmful consequences, so measuring it is important to ascertain its costs, as well as to assess trends and the effectiveness of remedial actions.
So the GPMC assembled a team of practitioners and academics to debate and discuss the topic over three days in Vienna, in May 2023.
In this podcast, the co-organisers of the ‘think-in’ Liz David-Barrett and Daniel Kaufmann reflect on what they learnt from the event, and how it could affect future work in the field.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Agencies – Expert meeting 1
The International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) convened its first expert meeting to pioneer a standardized methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies (ACAs).
Measuring the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Agencies – Expert meeting 2
Building on the first expert meeting, the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) convened its second expert meeting to transition its ACA effectiveness methodology from concept to a proven, practical tool.
New York Recommendations on the Future of Corruption Measurement
New York Recommendations on the Future of Corruption Measurement. Second Global Conference on Harnessing Data to Improve Corruption Measurement. United Nations Headquarters. New York, 2–4 December 2025
Global Trends in ACA Effectiveness
This report shares initial reflections based on the analysis of data from 50 anti-corruption agencies collected by IACA through a survey administered in the summer of 2025. The analysis shows a number of positive correlations underlining the importance of operational independence, oversight, financial resources and prompt investigations among others.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Anti-Corruption Agencies
This research methodology underpins IACA’s research on measuring the effectiveness of anti-corruption agencies. The methodology has been developed with contributions from over 100 experts worldwide.
Architecture of Corruption Measurement
This research paper provides a critical analysis of corruption measurement pracitces until now, identifies challenges and gaps, and suggests a way forward that is respectful of the complexity of corruption.
Phase I Synthesis Brief
This Synthesis Brief brings together the main findings of Phase I of the Global Programme on Measuring Corruption, based on research conducted in the period May 2022-September 2023. This includes a mapping of existing corruption indicators, research into the use of corruption measurement, and innovation in methodologies for measuring four aspects of corruption and corruption control.
Measuring state capture
State capture is a systematic type of corruption with the potential to transform the state or parts of it by shaping the rules of the game to benefit vested interests. However, existing measures of corruption are inadequate to discern the prevalence of state capture from that of petty forms of corruption, suggesting that a change of course is needed if the aim is to produce appropriate policy responses to the phenomenon.
Country Insights Brief South Africa
This brief presents the key insights from our country research visit to South Africa which took place in April 2023. The research visit involved consultations with a purposively selected sample of in-country stakeholders from government, civil society, the private sector, and academia. The brief explores their interests, needs, and uses for corruption measures, as well as current measurement approaches.