CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Stefani, Benedict Paul Michael |
|---|---|
| Title | Can impartiality be enforced when corruption is systemic? The impact of the National Anticorruption Directorate on favouritism in local public procurement |
| Summary | Can increased judicial and electoral accountability in the form of strong anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) have a profound effect on corruption when it is systemic? Empirical evidence is mixed. Where success is absent, it remains unclear whether this is due to an insufficient implementation of ACAs and the legal framework they operate in or, as other scholars suggest, a misconceptualisation of systemic corruption. The present work addresses this controversy by bringing the deterrence effect and the political selection effect that the predominant principalagent- theory based literature suggests to an empirical test in the critical case of Romania. This is done by assessing the impact of National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) prosecution in two forms – the announcement of investigations and the announcement of the final sentence – on favouritism in local public procurement. Based on 1.4 million public procurement contracts, Propensity Score Matching is employed to estimate the Average Treatment Effects on the Treated (ATTs) and the Conditional Average Treatment Effects on the Treated (CATTs) for Romanian localities affected by DNA prosecution concerning a composite risk score based on three red flags in the tendering process and a market domination indicator. The data reveals that the theoretical predictions cannot be confirmed. These findings may suggest that systemic corruption requires a more comprehensive approach which goes beyond currently predominant policies. |
| Supervisor | Enyedi, Zsolt |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/stefani_benedict.pdf |
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