Recent corruption scandals have shown the negative effects that corruption may have in countries around the world, including those of the Latin American and Caribbean region. The Inter-American Development Bank has therefore convened an independent group of experts composed by eight governance and anti-corruption scholars and practitioners to identify innovative and effective approaches to combat corruption in the region. Drawing on the members’ decades of experience, this report analyzes the key features of corruption in the region and proposes an ambitious agenda toward more systemic transformation. The report targets a series of measures aimed at strengthening the rule of law and public institutions, addressing state capture, and helping to meet citizens’ aspirations for sustainable and inclusive development. Hence, the report recommends a multi-layered approach that requires collective action by governments, the private sector, civil society, and international institutions to tackle the roots of corruption and capture through global, regional, and domestic initiatives.

This third edition of Government at a Glance Latin America and the Caribbean provides the latest available evidence on public administrations and their performance in the LAC region and compares it to OECD countries. This publication includes indicators on public finances and economics, public employment, centres of government, regulatory governance, open government data, public sector integrity, public procurement and for the first time core government results (e.g. trust, inequality reduction).

Transparency and integrity are key factors in consolidating democratic governance and deepening the modernization of the state. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been supporting country efforts to achieve open government, providing technical support and knowledge on transparency in the LAC region. With the support of the Norwegian government, the IDB created the Anticorruption Activities Trust Fund (AAF), aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of the Bank's borrowing countries in their efforts to prevent and control corruption. After four years in operation, the fund has gained recognition, both inside and outside the Bank, as a source of innovation and best practices in terms of access to information and targeted transparency. This publication compiles some of the experiences and lessons learned from five different countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala), with direct support from the AAF.

Corruption and the Lava Jato Scandal in Latin America brings together key international and interdisciplinary perspectives to shine new light on Lava Jato, or Operation Car Wash, Latin America’s largest corruption scandal to date. Since 2014, this scandal has unfolded in surprising ways to expose collusion between construction companies and state officials in Brazil and 11 other countries. The corruption uncovered amounts in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and billions of dollars in stolen state funds. The volume features evidence that the main construction company at the center of the scandal was—apparently—deliberate about seeking business in corrupt markets. It also evaluates the ambiguous role played by the media, whose members often relied uncritically on classified information released by the authorities. The volume further contributes to our understanding with studies on a number of other relevant topics, including: the overlap between corruption and the planning of the Rio Olympics; Mexico and Peru’s contrasting responses to Lava Jato; the policy reforms needed to avoid a similar scandal in the future; and the roadmap for how Lava Jato should end. Across 15 chapters by leading and emerging scholars and practitioners, this book engages with these issues from a balanced and unbiased perspective, including interviews with key stakeholders on both sides of the case. As one of the first book-length studies to deal with Lava Jato in the English language, this ground-breaking volume is a compelling reading for advanced students and researchers in areas including Corruption Studies, Public Ethics, Political Science, and Latin American Studies, as well as for practitioners working to make governments more accountable.

Post-war Latin American economies have failed to close the development gap with advanced industrial countries despite more than six decades of attempted reform and undoubted economic and social progress. Two decades into the twenty-first century, there is little sign of this situation changing for the better. Compared with other emerging regions, notably East Asia, Latin America has underperformed in income, productivity, and innovation terms. All of this suggests that the time is right for a thorough assessment of why Latin America's recent pursuit of economic development has proven so elusive. Innovation, Competitiveness, and Development in Latin America provides a balanced and topical analysis of the successes and failures of development policy in post-war Latin America. Across nineteen chapters, experts in the economics and policy of Latin American development and policy identify the challenges at hand. They explore why the region is caught in a middle-income trap, where structural impediments frustrate the achievement of accelerated and sustainable growth. At the same time, potential actions are suggested for creating lasting progress. The chapters address vital issues in the region including established or emerging sources of competitive advantage and technological capability; future areas for comparative advantage; policy effectiveness to address under-investment in human capital; poor infrastructure; and uncompetitive market structures. The chapters in the volume draw on evidence from across the region, including countries such as Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Costa Rica. The structural characteristics of economies within the region are identified and the potential implications considered of the re-primarization process witnessed in recent years. The volume concludes with a consideration of policy lessons from these countries and illuminates potential pathways for effective policy action in the region as a whole. With fresh insights grounded in the reality of modern-day Latin America, Innovation, Competitiveness, and Development in Latin America offers scholars and professionals a crucial window into Latin America's long-term developmental trajectory.

Drawing on the Fund’s analytical and capacity development work, including Public Investment Management Assessments (PIMAs) carried out in more than 60 countries, the new book Well Spent: How Strong Infrastructure Governance Can End Waste in Public Investment will address how countries can attain quality infrastructure outcomes through better infrastructure governance—an issue becoming increasingly important in the context of the Great Lockdown and its economic consequences. It covers critical issues such as infrastructure investment and Sustainable Development Goals, controlling corruption, managing fiscal risks, integrating planning and budgeting, and identifying best practices in project appraisal and selection. It also covers emerging areas in infrastructure governance, such as maintaining and managing public infrastructure assets and building resilience against climate change.

The global response to climate change will demand unprecedented international cooperation, deep economic transformation and resource transfers at a significant scale. Corruption threatens to jeopardise these efforts. Transparency International's Global Corruption Report: Climate Change is the first publication to comprehensively explore such corruption risks. More than fifty leading experts and practitioners contribute, covering four key areas: governance: investigating major governance challenges towards tackling climate change mitigating climate change: reducing greenhouse gas emissions with transparency and accountability adapting to climate change: identifying corruption risks in climate-proofing development, financing and implementation of adaptation forestry governance: responding to the corruption challenges plaguing the forestry sector, and how these challenges need to be integrated into current international strategies to halt deforestation and promote reforestation. The Global Corruption Report: Climate Change provides essential policy analysis to help policy-makers, practitioners and other stakeholders understand these risks and develop effective responses at a critical point in time when the main architecture for climate governance is being developed.