Caryn Peiffer
Biographic Data
| ID | 1117266 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Caryn Peiffer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Caryn |
| FAMILY NAME | Peiffer |
| SIGNATURE | PEIFFER C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3445-3748 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 164 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Corruption and informal welfare regime
This paper examines the relationship between corruption and informal security welfare regimes, where weak formal welfare systems drive reliance on community and patron-client networks. While scholarship on corruption suggests that corruption likely plays a crucial role in shaping and navigating these regimes, this relationship remains underexplored in research on social welfare. Using Pakistan as a case study, we focus on three core concepts incl…
Gendered Corruption
There is a growing recognition that corruption not only exacerbates gender inequality, but that gender inequality undermines anticorruption efforts. As such, anticorruption policy actors are increasingly asked to ‘mainstream gender’ into their work. Doing so effectively requires an understanding of how and why experiences of corruption are gendered in specific contexts. Drawing on findings from a series of 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) held i…
Opening the door to anti‐system leaders? Anti‐corruption campaigns and the global rise of populism
Almost all anti‐corruption drives contain an awareness raising element. However, recent research reveals that anti‐corruption awareness raising messages can backfire by triggering a sense that corruption is too big of a problem to tackle, thus encouraging resignation rather than resistance. We advance this literature by exploring another potential unintended impact. Corruption scandals have played a prominent role in the rise of many populist lea…
Practical Challenges Mitigating Strategic Corruption
This article contributes to the expanding literature on strategic corruption in two significant ways. First, it addresses conceptual challenges that complicate defining strategic corruption, shedding light on how definitional ambiguities hinder practical efforts to address it effectively. Second, it examines operational challenges associated with addressing strategic corruption in practice and incorporating concerns related to strategic corruptio…
Getting the message right
Counter-serious and organised crime (SOC) strategies often include an awareness-raising element. Such messaging aims to build support for counter-SOC efforts, and intolerance for organised criminal activity. However, a growing body of research suggests that raising awareness to ‘social bads’ like SOC may risk backfiring by encouraging pessimistic attitudes about whether they can be controlled and could even nudge people to agree with populist nar…
Why efforts to fight corruption can undermine the social contract
Anticorruption awareness raising efforts are designed to encourage citizens to resist and report corruption but have been found to either not work or have unwanted effects—including increasing bribe payment. This article represents the first test of whether these efforts also undermine critical aspects of a society's social contract, namely, willingness to pay tax. Using a household level survey experiment in Lagos, Nigeria, we assess whether exp…
Getting the (right) message across
The Curse of Good Intentions
Awareness-raising messages feature prominently in most anticorruption strategies. Yet, there has been limited systematic research into their efficacy. There is growing concern that anticorruption awareness-raising efforts may be backfiring; instead of encouraging citizens to resist corruption, they may be nudging them to "go with the corrupt grain." This study offers a first test of the effect of anticorruption messaging on ordinary people's beha…
Lessons from reducing bribery in Uganda’s health services
Message Received? Experimental Findings on How Messages about Corruption Shape Perceptions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Bad Governance and Corruption
This book explains why the role of corruption varies greatly between public services, between people, between national systems of governance, and between measures of corruption. In developing countries, corruption affects social services and law enforcement institutions. When public officials do not act as bureaucrats delivering services by the book, people can try to get them by hook or by crook. The book's analysis draws on a data base of sampl…
Thinking politically about corruption as problem‐solving
Searching for success
The impacts of education and institutional trust on citizens’ willingness to report corruption
Educated citizens are often considered more likely to report corruption; this belief shapes anti-corruption campaigns. However, we know little about how other factors may interact with education’s impact on willingness to report corruption. This article examines data from a household survey undertaken in Papua New Guinea. We find considerable support for the notion that education encourages a greater willingness to report various types of corrupt…
Grappling with the "real politics" of systemic corruption
A growing body of research argues that anticorruption efforts fail because of a flawed theoretical foundation, where collective action theory is said to be a better lens for understanding corruption than the dominant principal-agent theory. We unpack this critique and advance several new arguments. First, the application of collective action theory to the issue of corruption has been, thus far, incomplete. Second, a collective action theory-based…
Why Are the Poor More Vulnerable to Bribery in Africa? The Institutional Effects of Services
Whereas most studies find the poor in Africa to be more vulnerable to bribery because of their lower socio-economic status, this paper proposes institutional differences as an alternative explanation. Because poor people are unable to afford privately provided services, they must use public services. In relying on the state more often, the poor become more vulnerable to bribery. Analyses of Afrobarometer data show that the poor are not more likel…
Who Will Be the “Principled‐Principals”? Perceptions of Corruption and Willingness to Engage in Anticorruption Activism
Many anticorruption campaigns aim to encourage citizens to demand better control over corruption. Recent literature suggests that perceived high levels of corruption and government effectiveness in controlling corruption will limit citizens' willingness to actively oppose corruption. UsingTransparencyInternational's 2013GlobalCorruptionBarometer, we test these ideas across a 71‐country sample. We find that perceived government effectiveness tends…
Paying Bribes for Public Services
Why do 1.6 billion people annually pay bribes to use basic public services, while more than 5 billion people do not? Why does bribery differ between education, health care, the police and courts? Is the idea that bribery is wrong common to cultures on every continent or a luxury value of prosperous Western countries? This cutting edge Palgrave Pivot answers these questions by drawing on sample surveys of the experience of grass-roots public servi…
Paying Bribes for Public Services
This book documents what happens when people encounter public officials. It draws on multi-national Barometer surveys asking questions about corruption and bribery in 119 countries. Clear prose, table
Extraversion, vulnerability to donors, and political liberalization in Africa
In seeking to maintain their power, many African regimes rely on strategies of extraversion, converting their dependent relations with the external world into domestic resources and authority. This article assesses the relationship between extraversion and political liberalization, a dimension of African democratization that has been somewhat underappreciated in recent empirical studies. African countries vary in their extraversion portfolios, or…
Health, Need and Politics
Over the last 10 years foreign aid for HIV/AIDS control has grown from ‘millions to billions’. This study investigates donor motivations in the targeting of bilateral HIV/AIDS assistance. Are donors selecting recipients primarily based on level of need or are political and merit-based considerations at play as well? The results of our two-stage statistical analysis of bilateral HIV/AIDS assistance flows over the period 2002–2007 suggests that rec…
Foreign Assistance and the Struggle Against HIV/Aids in the Developing World
The few studies that have examined the systematic determinants of HIV/AIDS policy cross-nationally have left the possible impact of foreign aid out of the equation. At a time when developed nations are critically reassessing their foreign aid commitments a deeper understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS foreign aid on policy outcomes in the developing world is vital. This study expands the present literature by analyzing the role of foreign fundin…
Grappling with the "real politics" of systemic corruption
A growing body of research argues that anticorruption efforts fail because of a flawed theoretical foundation, where collective action theory is said to be a better lens for understanding corruption than the dominant principal-agent theory. We unpack this critique and advance several new arguments. First, the application of collective action theory to the issue of corruption has been, thus far, incomplete. Second, a collective action theory-based…
Who Will Be the “Principled‐Principals”? Perceptions of Corruption and Willingness to Engage in Anticorruption Activism
Many anticorruption campaigns aim to encourage citizens to demand better control over corruption. Recent literature suggests that perceived high levels of corruption and government effectiveness in controlling corruption will limit citizens' willingness to actively oppose corruption. UsingTransparencyInternational's 2013GlobalCorruptionBarometer, we test these ideas across a 71‐country sample. We find that perceived government effectiveness tends…
The Curse of Good Intentions
Awareness-raising messages feature prominently in most anticorruption strategies. Yet, there has been limited systematic research into their efficacy. There is growing concern that anticorruption awareness-raising efforts may be backfiring; instead of encouraging citizens to resist corruption, they may be nudging them to "go with the corrupt grain." This study offers a first test of the effect of anticorruption messaging on ordinary people's beha…
Extraversion, vulnerability to donors, and political liberalization in Africa
In seeking to maintain their power, many African regimes rely on strategies of extraversion, converting their dependent relations with the external world into domestic resources and authority. This article assesses the relationship between extraversion and political liberalization, a dimension of African democratization that has been somewhat underappreciated in recent empirical studies. African countries vary in their extraversion portfolios, or…
Message Received? Experimental Findings on How Messages about Corruption Shape Perceptions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Why efforts to fight corruption can undermine the social contract
Anticorruption awareness raising efforts are designed to encourage citizens to resist and report corruption but have been found to either not work or have unwanted effects—including increasing bribe payment. This article represents the first test of whether these efforts also undermine critical aspects of a society's social contract, namely, willingness to pay tax. Using a household level survey experiment in Lagos, Nigeria, we assess whether exp…
Thinking politically about corruption as problem‐solving
The impacts of education and institutional trust on citizens’ willingness to report corruption
Educated citizens are often considered more likely to report corruption; this belief shapes anti-corruption campaigns. However, we know little about how other factors may interact with education’s impact on willingness to report corruption. This article examines data from a household survey undertaken in Papua New Guinea. We find considerable support for the notion that education encourages a greater willingness to report various types of corrupt…
Opening the door to anti‐system leaders? Anti‐corruption campaigns and the global rise of populism
Almost all anti‐corruption drives contain an awareness raising element. However, recent research reveals that anti‐corruption awareness raising messages can backfire by triggering a sense that corruption is too big of a problem to tackle, thus encouraging resignation rather than resistance. We advance this literature by exploring another potential unintended impact. Corruption scandals have played a prominent role in the rise of many populist lea…
Searching for success
Getting the message right
Counter-serious and organised crime (SOC) strategies often include an awareness-raising element. Such messaging aims to build support for counter-SOC efforts, and intolerance for organised criminal activity. However, a growing body of research suggests that raising awareness to ‘social bads’ like SOC may risk backfiring by encouraging pessimistic attitudes about whether they can be controlled and could even nudge people to agree with populist nar…
Foreign Assistance and the Struggle Against HIV/Aids in the Developing World
The few studies that have examined the systematic determinants of HIV/AIDS policy cross-nationally have left the possible impact of foreign aid out of the equation. At a time when developed nations are critically reassessing their foreign aid commitments a deeper understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS foreign aid on policy outcomes in the developing world is vital. This study expands the present literature by analyzing the role of foreign fundin…
Health, Need and Politics
Over the last 10 years foreign aid for HIV/AIDS control has grown from ‘millions to billions’. This study investigates donor motivations in the targeting of bilateral HIV/AIDS assistance. Are donors selecting recipients primarily based on level of need or are political and merit-based considerations at play as well? The results of our two-stage statistical analysis of bilateral HIV/AIDS assistance flows over the period 2002–2007 suggests that rec…
Extraversion, vulnerability to donors, and political liberalization in Africa
In seeking to maintain their power, many African regimes rely on strategies of extraversion, converting their dependent relations with the external world into domestic resources and authority. This article assesses the relationship between extraversion and political liberalization, a dimension of African democratization that has been somewhat underappreciated in recent empirical studies. African countries vary in their extraversion portfolios, or…
Paying Bribes for Public Services
Why do 1.6 billion people annually pay bribes to use basic public services, while more than 5 billion people do not? Why does bribery differ between education, health care, the police and courts? Is the idea that bribery is wrong common to cultures on every continent or a luxury value of prosperous Western countries? This cutting edge Palgrave Pivot answers these questions by drawing on sample surveys of the experience of grass-roots public servi…
Paying Bribes for Public Services
This book documents what happens when people encounter public officials. It draws on multi-national Barometer surveys asking questions about corruption and bribery in 119 countries. Clear prose, table
Why Are the Poor More Vulnerable to Bribery in Africa? The Institutional Effects of Services
Whereas most studies find the poor in Africa to be more vulnerable to bribery because of their lower socio-economic status, this paper proposes institutional differences as an alternative explanation. Because poor people are unable to afford privately provided services, they must use public services. In relying on the state more often, the poor become more vulnerable to bribery. Analyses of Afrobarometer data show that the poor are not more likel…
Who Will Be the “Principled‐Principals”? Perceptions of Corruption and Willingness to Engage in Anticorruption Activism
Many anticorruption campaigns aim to encourage citizens to demand better control over corruption. Recent literature suggests that perceived high levels of corruption and government effectiveness in controlling corruption will limit citizens' willingness to actively oppose corruption. UsingTransparencyInternational's 2013GlobalCorruptionBarometer, we test these ideas across a 71‐country sample. We find that perceived government effectiveness tends…
The impacts of education and institutional trust on citizens’ willingness to report corruption
Educated citizens are often considered more likely to report corruption; this belief shapes anti-corruption campaigns. However, we know little about how other factors may interact with education’s impact on willingness to report corruption. This article examines data from a household survey undertaken in Papua New Guinea. We find considerable support for the notion that education encourages a greater willingness to report various types of corrupt…
Grappling with the "real politics" of systemic corruption
A growing body of research argues that anticorruption efforts fail because of a flawed theoretical foundation, where collective action theory is said to be a better lens for understanding corruption than the dominant principal-agent theory. We unpack this critique and advance several new arguments. First, the application of collective action theory to the issue of corruption has been, thus far, incomplete. Second, a collective action theory-based…
Bad Governance and Corruption
This book explains why the role of corruption varies greatly between public services, between people, between national systems of governance, and between measures of corruption. In developing countries, corruption affects social services and law enforcement institutions. When public officials do not act as bureaucrats delivering services by the book, people can try to get them by hook or by crook. The book's analysis draws on a data base of sampl…
Thinking politically about corruption as problem‐solving
Searching for success
Message Received? Experimental Findings on How Messages about Corruption Shape Perceptions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Lessons from reducing bribery in Uganda’s health services
Getting the (right) message across
The Curse of Good Intentions
Awareness-raising messages feature prominently in most anticorruption strategies. Yet, there has been limited systematic research into their efficacy. There is growing concern that anticorruption awareness-raising efforts may be backfiring; instead of encouraging citizens to resist corruption, they may be nudging them to "go with the corrupt grain." This study offers a first test of the effect of anticorruption messaging on ordinary people's beha…
Why efforts to fight corruption can undermine the social contract
Anticorruption awareness raising efforts are designed to encourage citizens to resist and report corruption but have been found to either not work or have unwanted effects—including increasing bribe payment. This article represents the first test of whether these efforts also undermine critical aspects of a society's social contract, namely, willingness to pay tax. Using a household level survey experiment in Lagos, Nigeria, we assess whether exp…
Getting the message right
Counter-serious and organised crime (SOC) strategies often include an awareness-raising element. Such messaging aims to build support for counter-SOC efforts, and intolerance for organised criminal activity. However, a growing body of research suggests that raising awareness to ‘social bads’ like SOC may risk backfiring by encouraging pessimistic attitudes about whether they can be controlled and could even nudge people to agree with populist nar…
Gendered Corruption
There is a growing recognition that corruption not only exacerbates gender inequality, but that gender inequality undermines anticorruption efforts. As such, anticorruption policy actors are increasingly asked to ‘mainstream gender’ into their work. Doing so effectively requires an understanding of how and why experiences of corruption are gendered in specific contexts. Drawing on findings from a series of 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) held i…
Opening the door to anti‐system leaders? Anti‐corruption campaigns and the global rise of populism
Almost all anti‐corruption drives contain an awareness raising element. However, recent research reveals that anti‐corruption awareness raising messages can backfire by triggering a sense that corruption is too big of a problem to tackle, thus encouraging resignation rather than resistance. We advance this literature by exploring another potential unintended impact. Corruption scandals have played a prominent role in the rise of many populist lea…
Practical Challenges Mitigating Strategic Corruption
This article contributes to the expanding literature on strategic corruption in two significant ways. First, it addresses conceptual challenges that complicate defining strategic corruption, shedding light on how definitional ambiguities hinder practical efforts to address it effectively. Second, it examines operational challenges associated with addressing strategic corruption in practice and incorporating concerns related to strategic corruptio…
Corruption and informal welfare regime
This paper examines the relationship between corruption and informal security welfare regimes, where weak formal welfare systems drive reliance on community and patron-client networks. While scholarship on corruption suggests that corruption likely plays a crucial role in shaping and navigating these regimes, this relationship remains underexplored in research on social welfare. Using Pakistan as a case study, we focus on three core concepts incl…
Political science (16 works) · Language change (15 works) · Corruption and Economic Development (13 works) · Economics (11 works) · Business (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Public relations (8 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Development economics (5 works) · Sociology (5 works)