IOS/UUCePP Transactional Talk: Construction-based corruption

In this Transactional talk, organised by UUCePP and IOS platform The Transactional State, Saverio di Giorno will present his paper on Construction-based corruption.

Saverio's paper aims to create a new measure for construction-based corruption. Construction-based corruption can happen when public procurements are corrupted. There is an increasing interest in corruption indicators, reflecting a growing awareness of their importance in understanding and combating corrupt practices. The literature highlights potential failures of the current indicators in certain contexts, such as high levels of corruption or intense competitiveness, which require more sophisticated strategies. One such scenario is the infiltration of local governments by organized crime, showing the complexity of corrupt mechanisms.

The paper explores a novel analysis of satellite data to investigate the correlation between extreme urban land consumption and potential corrupt activities in the construction sector. Drawing inspiration from well-documented cases of land misuse in infiltrated areas, our study aims to discern whether excessive land consumption, not justified by genuine needs, serves as an indicator of construction-based corruption. Preliminary findings suggest that residual regression patterns—representing unexplained use of land—relate to organized crime presence. This underscores the utility of satellite data in uncovering clandestine activities within urban development processes.

One of the primary advantages of this method is its adaptability to diverse contexts, including those with limited measuring of organized crime presence, while providing high-granularity data for nuanced analysis. By shedding light on the intricate relationship between urban development and corruption, this research contributes to the advancement of anti-corruption efforts and underscores the potential of innovative methodologies in detecting and addressing systemic issues.

Registration 

You can register for this Transactional Talk by sending an email to t.s.huisjes@uu.nl.