Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Trust Deficit and Anti-corruption Initiatives

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study explores the ways in which trust deficit undermines anti-corruption initiatives in a context with systemic corruption. Anti-corruption measures as panacea to systemic corruption are not new, but their effectiveness is debatable. Whilst understanding the causal relationship between corruption and trust remains germane to fighting corruption, a growing number of recent studies advocate better context sensitivity in developing anti-corruption initiatives. Consistent with this, we unpack the perceptions of a significant section of the population in which corruption is rampant to identify factors that could enhance trust in the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures. Using commentaries from Nigerian Netizens on two critical corruption incidents that are significant to corporations, we uncover poignant narratives of perception of incompetence, dishonesty and confusion that undermine the anti-corruption measures in the context. We argue that donors, international organisations and businesses must encourage and support beneficiaries’ governments to secure and sustain trust in the anti-corruption initiatives as a condition for better results.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adebanwi, W., & Obadare, E. (2011). When corruption fights back: Democracy and elite interest in Nigeria’s anti-corruption war. Journal of Modern African Studies, 49(2), 185–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adelopo, I., Asante, J., Dart, E., & Rufai, I. (2017). Learning groups: The effects of group diversity on the quality of group reflection. Accounting Education, 26(5–6), 553–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agbiboa, D. E. (2015). Protectors or predators? The embedded problem of police corruption and deviance in Nigeria. Administration & Society, 47(3), 244–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akinlabi, O. M. (2017). Do the police really protect and serve the public? Police deviance and public cynicism towards the law in Nigeria. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 17(2), 158–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. J., & Tverdova, Y. V. (2003). Corruption, political allegiances and attitudes towards government in contemporary democracies. American Journal of Political Science, 47(1), 91–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. (1983). The logic and limits of trust. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardhan, P. (1997). Corruption and development: A review of issues. Journal of Economic Literature, 35(3), 1320–1346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batabyal, A. A., & Yoo, S. J. (2007). Corruption, bribery, and wait times in the public allocation of goods in developing countries. Review of Development Economics, 11(3), 507–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, A., Kelton, J., McDonagh, N., Mladenovic, R., & Morrison, K. (2011). A critical evaluation of the usefulness of a coding scheme to categorise levels of reflective thinking. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 36(7), 797–815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bukovansky, M. (2006). The hollowness of anti-corruption discourse. Review of International Political Economy, 13(2), 181–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. K. Jr. (1991). Toward understanding and measuring conditions of trust: Evolution of a conditions of trust inventory. Journal of Management, 17, 643–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. K. Jr., & Cantrell, R. S. (1984). A behavioural decision theory approach to modeling dyadic trust in superiors and subordinates. Psychological Reports, 55, 19–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, C., & Clapham, S. E. (2003). Organizational trustworthiness: An international perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 47(4), 349–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chadwick, A., & May, C. (2003). Interaction between States and Citizens in the Age of the Internet:“e-Government” in the United States, Britain, and the European Union. Governance, 16(2), 271–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, E. C., & Chu, Y. (2006). Corruption and trust: Exceptionalism in Asian democracies? Journal of Politics, 68(2), 259–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland, M., Favo, C. M., Frecka, T. J., & Owens, C. L. (2009). Trends in the international fight against bribery and corruption. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(2), 199–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, M. W. (2002). Explaining corruption: An institutional choice approach. Crime, Law and Social Change, 38(1), 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B. A., & LePine, J. A. (2007). Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity: A meta-analytic test of their unique relationships with risk taking and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 909–927.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connelly, B. L., Miller, T., & Devers, C. E. (2012). Under a cloud of suspicion: Trust, distrust, and their interactive effect in inter-organizational contracting. Strategic Management Journal, 33(7), 820–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dare, S. (2011). The rise of citizen journalism in Nigeria—A Case Study of Sahara Reporters. Reuters Institute Fellowship Paper, 1–74.

  • Davis, C. L., Camp, R. A., & Coleman, K. M. (2004). The influence of party systems on citizens’ perception of corruption and electoral response in Latin America. Comparative Political Studies, 37(6), 677–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Della Porta, D. (2000). Social capital, beliefs in government and political corruption. In S. J. Pharr & R. D. Putnam (Eds.), Disaffected democracies: What’s troubling the trilateral countries? (pp. 202–230). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Doig, A., & Theobald, R. (Eds.). (2000). Corruption and democratisation. London: Frank Cass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunfee, T. W., & Donaldson, T. (2002). ’Untangling the Corruption Knot: Global Bribery Viewed Through the Lens of Integrative Social Contact Theory’. In N. Bowie (Ed.), The blackwell guide to business ethics (pp. 61–76). Malden: Blackwell Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunfee, T. W., & Hess, D. (2001). Getting from Salbu to the ’Tipping Point’: The role of corporate action within a portfolio of anti-corruption strategies’. Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, 21(2), 471–490.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekeh, P. P. (1975). Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 17(1), 91–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ennew, C., & Sekhon, H. (2007). Measuring trust in financial services: The trust index. Consumer Policy Review, 17(2), 62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Espinal, R., Hartlyn, J., & Kelly, J. M. (2006). Performance still matters: Explaining trust in government in the Dominican Republic. Comparative Political Studies, 39(2), 200–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everett, J. (2012). 13 Corruption in the developing countries: ’Thinking about’the role of accounting. Handbook of Accounting and Development, 224.

  • Everett, J., Neu, D., & Rahaman, A. S. (2006). The global fight against corruption: A foucaultian, virtues-ethics framing. Journal of Business Ethics, 65(1), 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feenberg, A., & Bakardjieva, M. (2004). Virtual community: No ’killer implication’. New Media & Society, 6(1), 37–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabarro, J. J. (1978). The development of trust, influence, and expectations. In A. G. Athos & J. J. Gabarro (Eds.), Interpersonal behaviors: Communication and understanding in relationships (pp. 290–303). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gargiulo, M., & Ertug, G. (2006). The dark side of trust. In R. Bachmann & A. Zaheer (Eds.), Handbook of trust research (pp. 165–186). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gefen, D. (2002). Reflections on the dimensions of trust and trustworthiness among online consumers. ACM SIGMIS Database: The DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems, 33(3), 38–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Global Integrity. (2008). Global integrity report. Washington, DC: Global Integrity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goddard, A., Assad, M., Issa, S., Malagila, J., & Mkasiwa, T. A. (2016). The two publics and institutional theory—A study of public sector accounting in Tanzania. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 40, 8–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, T., & Wright, S. (2015). A tale of two stories from “Below the Line” comment fields at the Guardian. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 20(3), 317–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, M., & Freeman, R. E. (2017). Focusing on ethics and broadening our intellectual base. Journal of Business Ethics, 140(1), 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimmelikhuijsen, S. G., Porumbescu, G., Hong, B., & Im, T. (2013). The Effect of Transparency on trust in government: A cross-national comparative experiment. Public Administration Review, 73(4), 575–586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gulati, R., & Nickerson, J. (2008). Interorganizational trust, governance choice, and exchange performance. Organization Science, 19(5), 688–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guthrie, J., Ricceri, F., & Dumay, J. (2012). Reflections and projections: A decade of intellectual capital accounting research. The British Accounting Review, 44(2), 68–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, S. E. (2013). Exploring professional identity: The perceptions of chartered accountant students. The British Accounting Review, 45(1), 37–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, R. (2004). Distrust: Manifestations and management. In R. Hardin (Ed.), Distrust (pp. 3–33). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidenheimer, A. J. (1996). The topography of corruption: Explorations in a comparative perspective. International Social Science Journal, 48(149), 337–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hosmer, L. T. (1995). Trust: The connecting link between organizational theory and philosophical ethics. Academy of Management Review, 20(2), 379–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ijewereme, O. B. (2015). Anatomy of corruption in the Nigerian public sector: Theoretical perspectives and some empirical explanations. Sage Open, 5(2), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J., & Gau, J. M. (2016). Carving up concepts? Differentiating between trust and legitimacy in public attitudes towards legal authority. In Interdisciplinary perspectives on trust (pp. 49–69). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Job, J. (2005). How is trust in government created? It begins at home, but ends in the parliament. Australian Review of Public Affairs, 6(1), 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, W. H., & Burdett, M. P. (1994). Betrayal in relationships. In A. L. Weber & J. H. Harvey (Eds.), Perspectives on close relationships (pp. 243–262). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khwaja, A. I., & Mian, A. (2005). Do lenders favor politically connected firms? Rent provision in an emerging financial market. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120(4), 1371–1411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klitgaard, R. (1988).Controlling corruption. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, R. M. (1999). Trust and distrust in organizations: Emerging perspectives, enduring questions. Annual Review of Psychology, 50(1), 569–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, R. M., & Lewicki, R. J. (2010). Repairing and enhancing trust: Approaches to reducing organizational trust deficits. The Academy of Management Annals, 4(1), 245–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumola, C. (2017) The Vanguard Newspaper. Retrieved January 8, 2018, from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/ikoyi-cash-whistleblower-gets-n421m-jets-nigeria/.

  • La Porta, R., Lopez-De Silanes, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1997). Trust in large organisations. American Economic Review Paper and Proceedings, 137(2), 333–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawson, A., & Rakner, L. (2005). Understanding patterns of accountability in Tanzania. Final Synthesis Report commissioned by the Governance Working Group of the Development Partners to Tanzania. Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute.

  • Lawson, L. (2009). The politics of anti-corruption reform in Africa. Journal of Modern African Studies, 47(1), 73–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewicki, R. J., McAllister, D. J., & Bies, R. J. (1998). Trust and distrust: New relationships and realities. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 438–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewicki, R. J., Tomlinson, E. C., & Gillespie, N. (2006). Models of interpersonal trust development: Theoretical approaches, empirical evidence, and future directions. Journal of Management, 32(6), 991–1022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, J., Moy, J., Lam, K., & Chu, W. C. (2008). Institutional pillars and corruption at the societal level. Journal of Business Ethics, 83(2), 327–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linders, D. (2012). From e-government to we-government: Defining a typology for citizen coproduction in the age of social media. Government Information Quarterly, 29(4), 446–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lumineau, F. (2017). How contracts influence trust and distrust. Journal of Management, 43(5), 1553–1577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 708–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKnight, D. H., & Chervany, N. L. (2001). Trust and distrust definitions: One bite at a time. In Trust in Cyber-societies (pp. 27–54). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mendoza, R. U., Lim, R. A., & Lopez, A. O. (2015). Grease or sand in the wheels of commerce? Firm level evidence on corruption and SMEs. Journal of International Development, 27(4), 415–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mesquita, L. F. (2007). Starting over when the bickering never ends: Rebuilding aggregate trust among clustered firms through trust facilitators. Academy of Management Review, 32(1), 72–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, A. H., & Listhaug, O. (1999). Political performance and institutional trust. In P. Norris (Ed.), Critical citizens: Global support for democratic governance (pp. 204–216). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Misangyi, V. F., Weaver, G. R., & Elms, H. (2008). Ending corruption: The interplay among institutional logics, resources, and institutional entrepreneurs. Academy of Management Review, 33(3), 750–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno, A. (2002). Corruption and democracy: A cultural assessment. Comparative Sociology, 1(3–4), 495–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, S. D., & Klesner, J. L. (2010). Corruption and trust: Theoretical considerations and evidence from Mexico. Comparative Political Studies, 43(10), 1258–1285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Musa, A. O., & Ferguson, N. (2013). Enemy framing and the politics of reporting religious conflicts in the Nigerian press. Media, War & Conflict, 6(1), 7–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, R. P., & Massa, F. G. (2013). Reintegrating ethics and institutional theories. Journal of Business Ethics, 115(1), 135–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, Institutional change, and economic performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ogundipe, S.(2016) Premium Times Newspaper, Retrieved January 8, 2018, from https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/210224-allegation-of-intellectual-property-theft-blights-nigerias-change-begins-with-me-campaign.html.

  • Oso, L. (1991). The commercialisation of the Nigerian press: Development and implications. Africa Media Review, 5(3), 41–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Persson, A., Rothstein, B., & Teorell, J. (2013). Why anticorruption reforms fail—Systemic corruption as a collective action problem. Governance, 26(3), 449–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phiri, J., & Guven-Uslu, P. (2018). Institutional pluralism, two publics theory and performance reporting practices in Zambia’s health sector. Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, 8(1), 141–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pillay, S., & Kluvers, R. (2014). An institutional theory perspective on corruption: The case of a developing democracy. Financial Accountability & Management, 30(1), 95–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, W. W., & DiMaggio, P. J. (1991). The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rose-Ackerman, S. (1999). Corruption and government: Causes, consequences and reforms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, D. M., Sitkin, S. B., Burt, R. S., & Camerer, C. (1998). Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust. The Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 393–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubio, L. (2007). Impasse Social (Social impasse). Reforma.

  • Santana, A. D. (2014). Virtuous or vitriolic: The effect of anonymity on civility in online newspaper reader comment boards. Journalism Practice, 8(1), 18–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, M. S. (2009). Corporate efforts to tackle corruption: An impossible task? The contribution of Thomas Dunfee. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(4), 823–832.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W. R. (2001). Institutions and organizations. Thousands Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, W. R. (2008). Approaching adulthood: The maturing of institutional theory. Theory and Society, 37(5), 427–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligson, M. A. (1999). Nicaraguans talk about corruption: A follow-up study of public opinion. Arlington: Casals & Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligson, M. A. (2002). The impact of corruption on regime legitimacy: A comparative study of four Latin American countries. The Journal of Politics, 64(2), 408–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepler, S. (2017). We know who is eating the ebola money!: Corruption, the state, and the ebola response. Anthropological Quarterly, 90(2), 451–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1993). Corruption. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108(3), 599–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tolbert, C. J., & Mossberger, K. (2006). The effects of e-government on trust and confidence in government. Public Administration Review, 66(3), 354–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. R. (2006). Why people obey the law. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. R., & Jackson, J. (2014). Popular legitimacy and the exercise of legal authority: Motivating compliance, cooperation and engagement. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 20(1), 78–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uberti, L. J. (2016). Can institutional reforms reduce corruption? Economic theory and patron–client politics in developing countries. Development and Change, 47(2), 317–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, M. E. (2006). Democracy and deceit: Regulating appearances of corruption. American Journal of Political Science, 50(1), 160–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welch, E. W., Hinnant, C. C., & Moon, M. J. (2005). Linking citizen satisfaction with e-government and trust in government. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15(3), 371–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wrong, M. (2009). It’s our turn to eat: A story of a kenyan whistle blower. London: Fourth Estate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xin, X., & Ruden, T. K. (2004). The context for political corruption: A cross-national analysis. Social Science Quarterly, 85(2), 294–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu, P. L., Balaji, M. S., & Khong, K. W. (2015). Building trust in internet banking: A trustworthiness perspective. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 115(2), 235–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yusuf, H. O. (2007). Travails of truth: Achieving justice for victims of impunity in Nigeria. The International Journal of Transitional Justice, 1(2), 268–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yusuf, H. O. (2011). Rule of law and politics of anti-corruption reform in a post-authoritarian state—The case of Nigeria. King’s Law Journal, 22(1), 57–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, J. (2016). Public governance and corporate fraud: Evidence from the recent anti-corruption campaign in China. Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3025-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, J., Huang, H., & Zhang, D. (2017). Big tigers, big data: Learning social reactions to China’s anticorruption campaign through online feedback. Public Administration Review.

  • Zucker, L. G. (1977). The role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. American Journal of Sociology, 42, 726–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bristol Business School, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK

    Ismail Adelopo

  2. College of Business, Law and Social Sciences, Derby Business School, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby, DE22 1GB, UK

    Ibrahim Rufai

Authors
  1. Ismail Adelopo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ibrahim Rufai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ismail Adelopo.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Adelopo, I., Rufai, I. Trust Deficit and Anti-corruption Initiatives. J Bus Ethics 163, 429–449 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4059-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4059-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation