Don´t miss: Next CEPA-Talk on 28th May 2025 with Prof. Dr. Johann Graf Lambsdorff (22nd May 2025)
As part of our research colloquium, the next CEPA-Talk will take place on 28th May 2025. Prof. Dr. Johann Graf Lambsdorff (Universität Passau) will be a guest at our faculty and will speak on the topic
"Intrinsic Motivation vs. Corruptibility: Experimental Insights into Methods to Improve Bureaucratic Performance".
All interested parties are cordially invited!
When: Wednesday, 28th May 2025, 3 pm s.t.
Where: Campus, building 22, room A-225 (Fakultätszentrum)
This is what it´s all about:
What drives bureaucratic performance: intrinsic motivation or methods for deterring corruption? We address this question using data from a novel laboratory experiment conducted in Germany, England, Colombia, and Indonesia, involving nearly 1,500 participants and over 11,000 pairwise observations. The experimental design mirrors real-world governance settings by integrating ambiguity, discretion, and income disparities between businesspersons and officials. It captures not only bribery but also harassment and favouritism, allowing us to assess their combined impact on performance. We show that intrinsic motivation plays a substantially stronger role in determining performance than corruptibility. Crucially, these two dispositions are not simply opposite ends of a single behavioural trait but operate independently. We compare four anti-corruption approaches: punishing bribe-giving, bribe-taking, abuse of office, and confiscating illicit gains. Among these, only punishing abuse of office substantially improves performance by avoiding favouritism toward unqualified businesspersons and harassment of deserving ones, bringing outcomes close to those of a corruption-free benchmark. Together, our findings suggest that fostering intrinsic motivation and holding officials accountable for abuse of office may be the most effective strategies.
Here you find all upcoming CEPA-Talks.