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Corruption scandals and their investigation have been shown to undermine support not only for the allegedly involved public officials but also for political actors and institutions more generally. However, we know little about what happens when those investigations end up failing to result in punishments. Is citizens' trust in the legal authorities in charge of prosecuting and punishing corruption also undermined? Do those effects spill over to political actors, institutions, and even the political regime? We address these questions by taking advantage of an April 2021 judicial decision to drop corruption charges against former Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates during the fieldwork of a public opinion survey. We show that the decision had a substantial negative impact on public trust in the courts. Furthermore, although political trust was not immediately affected, its overall levels also became lower in comparison to periods before the judicial decision, suggesting a spillover effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE PRESENT PAPER AIMS AT DEMONSTRATING THAT COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WHICH IMPACTED THE WORLDWIDE IN ALL ITS ASPECTS, WAS, IN FACT "AN UMBRELLA", WHICH THE CORRUPTION FOUND "FERTILE SOIL" TO FLOURISH. THIS WAS THE CASE, MAINLY OF THE CORRUPTION IN THE HEALTH SYSTEM, WHICH THROUGH THE ACQUISITIONS OF SO-CALLED COVID-19 MEDICAL PRODUCTS FOR PRICES WAY BEYOND USUAL LED TO ENRICHING SOME AND IMPOVERISHING OTHERS. THUS, THE AUTHORS BRING TO THE READERS' ATTENTION, THROUGH SOME OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS, A REPORT OF TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, AN AGENCY INTENDED TO FIGHT CORRUPTION. AFTER DOING RESEARCH ON THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, ON BOTH GOOD PRACTICES, ASSESSING THE RISKS OF CORRUPTION AND THE INVESTIGATION JOURNALISM, WE REACHED THE CONCLUSION THAT THE EMERGENCY DECLARED IN MARCH 2020 FACILITATED THE CORRUPTION, BOTH THE CORRUPTION AT POLITICAL LEVEL AS WELL AS THE PETTY CORRUPTION. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has dramatically expanded its use of inspections (巡视). Existing scholarship largely portrays inspections as an anti-corruption mechanism. However, based on an examination of hundreds of post-inspection reports from party organs, provincial and municipal governments, central state-owned enterprises, and other institutions, this article argues that while inspections initially focused on curbing corruption, in recent years the Xi administration has used them to advance a wide range of governance objectives. Besides curbing corruption, inspections also promote organizational management reforms, improve policy implementation, support party-building measures, and monitor loyalty to the party leadership. The article's findings help resolve a puzzle about the Xi era: how does the Xi administration simultaneously pursue both power centralization and more effective governance? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes a single-stranded degradable modular grafting probe for analyzing microRNA-21. In the system, the exonuclease activity of phi29 polymerase restrains the SYBR Green I/ssDNA induced background. The palindrome activation caused remarkable target fluorescence. The detection limit was achieved as 0.26 fM, showing potential in biochemical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the impact of the disclosure of the participation of Brazilian firms listed on the Bolsa Brasil Balcão (B3) in corruption scandals through media scrutiny and by disclosure of independent auditors on the quality of accounting information, measured from the perspective of accounting conservatism. We examine the possible theoretical link between the disclosure of corruption scandals and the quality of accounting information in the Brazilian context. Brazil has gone through successive corruption scandals involving firms and government entities in different levels. Accounting can be an important tool to mitigate said risks based on the artifacts it has to inform key stakeholders. However, it is necessary to identify the extent to which these artifacts can be influenced by the actors involved in these scandals. The research places accounting as an instrument subject to pressures from different interests and that may be shaped to them. Although accounting is an instrument that must aim to reduce information asymmetry, preventing the harmful effects of corruption, in specific contexts, it can be used in the opposite direction, such as in cases of corruption and economic crises. We used the model based on Ball and Shivakumar (2005) with specific modeling characteristics for corruption and crisis. The models were estimated using the Stata 13 software using the pooled approach using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation method, clustered by year and economic sector, and the Generalized Least Squares (GSL) estimator. The results point to the presence of conservatism when disclosing involvement in investigations of corruption crimes in Brazil. This behavior was less intense in firms effectively mentioned in these events. These results highlight the relevance of studies aimed at clarifying the connections between corruption and accounting reports, enabling the development of measures to curb corruption in the business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the guiding principles for transnational anti-corruption investigations and resolutions developed by enforcement agencies. Topics discussed include the necessity for increased clarity in transnational anti-corruption investigation and settlement, lessons from corruption settlement cases including the bribery issue faced by Airbus SE in January 2020, and the significance of the personal relationships developed by anti-corruption prosecutors with their foreign counterparts.

Considering the growing trend towards the accountability of legal persons and their managers, compliance programs have assumed great relevance within the life of companies. These programs include in-house investigations, which aim to ascertain / confirm the practice of certain unlawful acts. With the present text, we intend to summarise the main limitations that this type of investigations face in light of Portuguese Law, highlighting that, within a "business criminal law" context, these investigations are becoming a previous or parallel phase to the "formal" criminal proceeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring institutions are usually perceived as efficient instruments for improving governance. This article evaluates the link between corruption monitoring and the supply of politicians in nondemocracies. Using China as a case, I show that corruption monitoring pushes capable young elites away from seeking government positions. This effect may be driven by two possible mechanisms: economic returns and career prospects. Specifically, corruption investigations may reduce the expected economic returns for government officials, undermining capable young elite' willingness and efforts to become government officials. In addition, corruption investigations may indicate that there are potential uncertainties and risks involved when taking on a political career, which reduce capable young elites' desire to pursue a political career. The empirical analysis confirms these two mechanisms and provides unique evidence for the unintended negative impact of corruption monitoring institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the market reaction, using the event study method, at the non-financial company, which announced the signing of Leniency Agreements with the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) and the Ministério Público de São Paulo (MPSP), due to the corruption investigations in Operação Lava Jato, from March 01, 2018 to December 31, 2019. The company formally designated the execution of the Autocomposition Term and Leniency Agreement according to the relevant facts disclosed on the Official website, CVM and other media in general. Based on the calculation of the risk and market-adjusted return, the abnormal return (AR) and cumulative abnormal return (CAR) of the common shares of the analyzed company. In short, this study shows evidence that the capital market reacts differently for each event disclosed, considering the context, the characteristics of the company, and, especially, the amount of the fine. The results demonstrate that the disclosure of the punishment due to corrupt acts committed by the company is not perceived in the same way by the market. Thus, this study contributes to improving our understanding of the impacts of disclosing the practice of acts of corruption and their investigation on the returns of shares of publicly traded companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of irregularity and corruption was initiated in 1920 on Mehmet Ragıp Zorbazzade, who served as the Mayor of Muğla between 1914 and 1928, due to causes such as excessive spending, illegal consumption, off-the-books and incomplete treatments, extra-budgetary spending and conducting transactions without the approval of the town council. In the investigation process, the file of Zorbazzade, who replied to all claims and accusations of the civil inspector, was sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for investigation, and after the lawsuit, the decision of dismissal was made on the grounds that he had committed illegal acts. As the investigation was initiated when Zorbazzade organized the National Forces in Muğla, represented Muğla in local congresses organized in İzmir and Nazilli and supported the National Struggle; it gave rise to the suspicion that the real aim was to prevent him from. supporting the National Struggle. Although the decision of dismissal was taken, he was not unseated and served as the mayor until 1928, which reinforced the suspicions about the investigation. In this article, after examining the grounds of the investigation and the defense of Zorbazzade, some evaluations were made on the investigator's claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of the analysis of the reporting information of international organizations to counteract medical corruption, a review of modern scientific sources on corruption in the healthcare sector, the types of corruption abuses in the medical industry are identified. The classification of corruption abuses is presented taking into account the method of committing the offense and its subject - a certain worker of the medical field. It was found that there is insufficient coverage in world information sources of procedures for investigating corruption abuses in the medical industry. There are revealed features of the investigation of corruption abuses of medical workers committed with the use of their official position, using the preparation of medical documentation, and cases of extortion and obtaining unlawful benefits. There are presented sources for obtaining information and the types of data that are necessary to prosecute a medical worker who committed offences involving corruption. Among the complex of forensic methods for investigating medical corruption, the authors focused on the consideration of key and important for proof procedural actions - examination of medical documents; examination of the place where the medical professional was given of an undue benefit; the work of the accuser (informant) of medical corruption, his interrogation; simultaneous interrogation of participants in a corruption offense in the medical industry. There was proposed procedure and tactics for interrogating the accuser, who reports about obtaining unlawful benefit by a specific medical professional. Caveat has been identified that must be applied when conducting the simultaneous interrogation of two or more persons when investigating corruption in the medical industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses an investigation-trigger framework to explain the process that stimulates investigations of corruption in China, which has been treated more as a black box in the past. Reviewing China's current anticorruption system, we argue that local party leaders' decisions directly trigger corruption investigations, and that power competition between political elites is a major catalyst of the trigger. Moreover, drawing upon rarely accessible documentation and interviews addressing the successive downfall of two public security bureau chiefs in City H, we identify two channels through which the investigation-trigger catalyst works: the diminished patronage of corrupt officials after patron turnovers, and government insiders' unconventional provocation of political opponents. The cases analyzed in this article also show that outside intervention may rupture the local protection of corruption and facilitate investigations. This finding supports the 2012 reform of China's corruption control system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption crime has recently received more attention from the police. The management of investigating corruption cases is an interesting problem and it has had a big influence on both political and state life. The purpose of this study was to explain and identify the leadership of the team of investigators in the corruption cases investigating management. This research used a qualitative approach combined with a descriptive research method. The results of this study concluded that leadership is a process used by leaders to direct the organization and to provide examples of behavior for their subordinates in the investigation team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission affect China's capacity to curb corruption? Using published materials and fieldwork data, this article addresses this question by comparing the newly established anti-corruption agency with the previous dual-track system. It first examines the previous system by focusing on four dimensions of the interaction between the Commission for Discipline Inspection (CDI) and the People's Procuratorate: complementarity, convergence, competition and conflict. Although the CDI and the procuratorate compensated for each other's deficiencies, competition and conflicts between the two institutions were rife, reducing the efficiency of China's anti-corruption work. The article then investigates what impact the establishment of the National Supervisory Commission has had on China's capacity to combat corruption. This new model strengthens the Party's capacity to curb corruption, and the focus of the anti-corruption work has shifted from punishment to prevention, but the Party still needs to resolve three types of unbalanced power relations: between supervision, prosecution and trial; between central and local authorities; and between the state and citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This article explores the phenomenon of massive corruption in Indonesia, from the perspectives of "mental health", "spirituality", and "leadership". The extensive corruption in Indonesia becomes a contradiction, considering Indonesia is known as a country with largest number of Muslims in the world. Methods: This study used qualitative method through discourse analysis in trying to explain what is really happening? Why is the country that supposedly promoting religious, moral, and spiritual values; yet trapped in extensive "culture of corruption"? Why are the components of "mental health", "spirituality", and "leadership" important in the context of corrupt behaviors and corruption eradication efforts? What is the position of "mental health" if associated with corruption. Results: Specific behaviors of corruptors in Indonesia: repetitive pattern of lies and manipulative behavior; campaigning opposing corruption while doing it behind the curtain; smile, calm and composed, even after committing crime; showing no signs of remorse and degree of arrogance; surprised when sentenced; stating the belief in legal process, yet playing with the very same legal process. Conclusion: This study's highlights "spirituality" as pivotal factor affecting the components of "mental health" also "leadership"; and ultimately influencing behavior of leaders. As a country with substantial "spiritual capital" of largest Muslim population in the world, it is time for "spirituality" to no longer dwell at level of "religious rituals", but internalized deeper into values that transform behaviors of government officials/bureaucrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This article explores the phenomenon of massive corruption in Indonesia, from the perspectives of "mental health", "spirituality", and "leadership". The extensive corruption in Indonesia becomes a contradiction, considering Indonesia is known as a country with largest number of Muslims in the world. Methods: This study used qualitative method through discourse analysis in trying to explain what is really happening? Why is the country that supposedly promoting religious, moral, and spiritual values; yet trapped in extensive "culture of corruption"? Why are the components of "mental health", "spirituality", and "leadership" important in the context of corrupt behaviors and corruption eradication efforts? What is the position of "mental health" if associated with corruption? Results: Specific behaviors of corruptors in Indonesia: repetitive pattern of lies and manipulative behavior; campaigning opposing corruption while doing it behind the curtain; smile, calm and composed, even after committing crime; showing no signs of remorse and degree of arrogance; surprised when sentenced; stating the belief in legal process, yet playing with the very same legal process. Conclusion: This study's highlights "spirituality" as pivotal factor affecting the components of "mental health" also "leadership"; and ultimately influencing behavior of leaders. As a country with substantial "spiritual capital" of largest Muslim population in the world, it is time for "spirituality" to no longer dwell at level of "religious rituals", but internalized deeper into values that transform behaviors of government officials/bureaucrats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents and summarizes some results from extensive cross-national content analysis of media coverage of corruption. The authors examined a sample containing 12,742 articles published in France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and the United Kingdom from 2004 to 2013. A limited number of studies have been done thus far to reveal how the media deals with corruption cases in certain countries, and cross-national comparative analyses are exceedingly scarce. The core focus of the study is to reveal the significant differences in the corruption cases covered by the media according to the countries under analysis. We assume that some differences exist between the media coverage of corruption in the new and the old European Union member states and also that by classifying countries into groups based on their perception of the level of the corruption, some dissimilarities will be revealed between them. We conclude that the distinction between countries based on whether they are old or new European Union members does not wholly determine the nature of reporting on international or national corruption cases, for example, Italy was more similar to the old European Union member states in this sense. Considering the level of institutionalization of corruption cases, Italy appears to be more similar to the other old European Union members, but we should clarify that differences based on this feature of the cases are not clearly highlighted in the interaction model. However, if we use the variable perceptions of corruption to classify countries, we find that countries with a ‘cleaner’ environment (the United Kingdom, France) place more focus on reporting corruption cases in the international arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies show a clear link between women in government and reduced concerns about corruption. Until now, it remains unclear which underlying attitudes about women explain the perception that they will reduce corruption. Using a survey question about adding women to a police force, with an embedded experimental treatment, we examine three distinct stereotypes that might explain the power of women to reduce concerns about corruption: gender stereotypes of women as more ethical and honest, the perception of women as political outsiders, and beliefs that women are generally more risk averse. We find that people do perceive women as more effective at combating corruption, and these perceptions are greatly enhanced when information about women's outsider status and risk aversion is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amir Temür's social and cultural aspects are as important as his military aspect, although he is known mostly with his military aspect. He did not only win the wars, but also used to show respect to religious scholars, save scientists, encourage in writing historical events at his period, and construct cities. Amir Temur constructed a new city called Shahrukhiyya at the western shore of Sîr Darya River in name of his son Mirza Shahrukh. The city of Ashpara, he had constructed on the border with China, took a considerable place among his construction activities. One of the most important activities of Amir Temür was the reconstruction of Beylaqan city that was demolished and became deserted in the Mongols period. The engineers of the period were charged in the construction of the city. Amir Temür, principally, mirzas and the notables of the period contributed to the construction activities. The period's historians reported that Baylaqan's construction was completed within one month despite bad weather conditions and water was brought into the city. Amir Temür paid attention to establish social justice and punished severely corrupt officials. The fact that corrupt officials in Shiraz were punished severely during Baylaqan's construction is a case in point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A trait-environment-state model of Unethical Business Decisions was developed and tested in two studies in a Pacific Islands setting (i.e., Fiji and the Marshall Islands). In Study 1 ( N = 212), we conceptualized and operationalized the environment using two situational variables named ‘Perceived Environmental Corruption’ (PEC) and ‘Perceived Environmental Normativeness’ (PEN). Both environmental variables were (respectively positively and negatively) related to Unethical Business Decisions through the states Felt Lure, Perceived Risk, and (to a lesser extent) Negative Affect. In Study 2 ( N = 235), we replicated these findings and additionally showed that HEXACO Honesty-Humility was negatively related to Unethical Business Decisions through Felt Lure and Negative Affect. Furthermore, an interaction between Honesty-Humility and Perceived Environmental Corruption on Felt Lure was observed, indicating that the negative relation between Honesty-Humility and Felt Lure was stronger when the environment was perceived to afford corruption than when it was not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the determinants of corruption in Africa and focuses on the effect of ICT diffusion on corruption. Using a sample of 47 African countries over the period from 1996 to 2014, empirical findings provide evidence of high corruption inertia in Africa and show that the rule of law is the strongest factor determining the level of corruption. Results reveal that African economies can benefit from the anti-corruption effects of ICT adoption only once a threshold of rule of law is reached. Thus, policies based on the use of the internet and mobile phones are effective in combating corruption in Africa but need to be strengthened by greater law enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of cost-effective sensing system for Hg2+ quantitation is highly demanded for environmental monitoring. In this work, we reported an on-site, rapid and portable smartphone-based Hg2+ sensing system integrating coumarin-modified paper as a probe and smartphone readout device as a processing platform. For fluorescent sensing of Hg2+, the modified paper was fabricated by chemically grafting a coumarin-based probe N-((7-hydroxy-coumarin-3-yl)carbamothioyl)acetamide (HCCA) onto paper, and its physicochemical properties and sensing performance were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, XPS, SEM, and fluorescence spectral analysis. The modified paper displayed high selectivity and sensitivity for Hg2+, accompanied with a distinct fluorescence color change. For portable detection of the fluorescent sensors, a smartphone readout device was designed, consisting of a removable 3D-printed hardware device and an application. Remarkably, the smartphone readout device in cooperation with the modified paper is highly selective and sensitive to Hg2+ with the limit of detection (LOD) of 0.46 ppb, which avoids the requirement of sophisticated equipment and complex operation. The cost-effective sensing system based on smartphone shows a great potential for monitoring of Hg2+ in environmental water. [Display omitted] • A coumarin-modified paper was fabricated by chemical grafting. • The modified paper showed good fluorescent sensing performance for Hg2+. • A smartphone readout device was designed containing hardware and software. • The smartphone-based sensing system could quantify Hg2+ reliably and portably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces and analyzes the longitudinal changes in the operative structure, rules, and practices of the Chinese Communist Party’s disciplinary institution not for the purpose of appraising its performance in corruption control but to demonstrate how the party regulates its own enforcement agency through institutionalizing the disciplinary decision-making process. To that end, this article identifies and explains the exact measures the party has used to delegate authority to the party’s disciplinary institution in a systematic and institutionalized manner without losing control over disciplinary outcomes. It also identifies three features of the institutionalization process: concentration and centralization of disciplinary power and further depoliticization of disciplinary activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on FIFA's World Cup of corruption and mentions need for international corporate governance standards. Topics discussed include subjecting FIFA officials to the U.S. Criminal Law, crime charges including bribes paid for the sale of marketing and broadcast rights for FIFA events, and views of Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney General, on securing guilty pleas from corporate legal entities.

The article focuses on the political and governmental issues in Timor-Leste in 2014. Topics discussed include Prime Minister José Alexandre Gusmão's intention to resign from his office, renewal of national leadership, and corruption cases of government officials. Information regarding the 2015 budget in the country is also provided.

The article focuses on the political and governmental history in Papua New Guinea. Topics discussed include the challenges face by the government of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, arrest of O'Neill after the Investigation Task Force Sweep (ITFS), and National Executive Council (NEC) decisions regarding the ITFS disbanding.

Systemic corruption in developing countries often seems intractable. Yet most countries that currently have relatively high public integrity were, at an earlier point in their history, afflicted with pervasive corruption. Studying the history of these countries may therefore make a valuable contribution to modern debates about anticorruption reform. This paper considers the experience of the United States, focusing principally on the period between 1865 and 1941. We find that the U.S. experience calls into question a number of commonly-held views about the struggle against corruption in modern developing countries. First , although some argue that entrenched cultures of corruption are virtually impossible to dislodge, the U.S. experience demonstrates that it is possible to make a transition from a systemically corrupt political system to a system in which public corruption is aberrational. Second , although some have argued that tackling systemic corruption requires a "big bang" approach, the U.S. transition away from systemic corruption would be better characterized as incremental, uneven, and slow. Third , although some have argued that fighting corruption requires shrinking the state, in the U.S. reductions in systemic corruption coincided with a substantial expansion of government size and power. Fourth , some commentators have argued that "direct" anticorruption measures that emphasize monitoring and punishment do not do much good in societies where corruption is pervasive. On this point, the lessons from U.S. history are more nuanced. Institutional reforms played a key role in the U.S. fight against corruption, but investigations and prosecutions of corrupt actors were also crucial, not only because of deterrence effects, but because these enforcement efforts signaled a broader shift in political norms. Progress against corruption in the United States involved a combination of "direct strategies," such as aggressive law enforcement, and "indirect strategies," such as civil service reform and other institutional changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]