NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

This month’s issue of Development Outreach–a World Bank Institute magazine–focuses on the private sector’s role in stemming corruption. Articles range from general overviews of related issues to academic discussions of corruption measurement to specific reports from the field, such as this article by Celtel founder Mo Ibrahim. An excerpt:

Celtel’s rigorous stance against corruption is not drawn from a purely moral motive?it is also good business practice. For corruption, like blackmail, is insidious. Once started it is very difficult to stop paying. Far better to pass up, as Celtel has done, a few business opportunities which, while superficially attractive, involve partners or governments about whom one has major doubts.

I enjoyed this issue of Development Outreach because it explicitly connects good governance–a public good–to economic growth and poverty reduction. Not only that, but it identifies private sector engagement as a key lever in reducing corruption and creating enabling environments for business. It is a nice follow-up to the Doing Business report, which came out last week and about which we wrote here.Via Poverty and Growth Blog