The deadline for entries has now passed. For more information about the award and winners see The Proxy Challenge Award 2016.

The Proxy Challenge Competition was launched in 2013 to help aid donors better assess the results of anti-corruption efforts. In 2014, the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre ran the first edition of the challenge, and brought together a body of promising, bespoke proxy indicators.

In this second round we still aim to find the best proxy indicators that can track progress of anti-corruption reform initiatives. We need reliable, intuitive, accessible, and cost-effective assessment methods that are useful across country-contexts.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Do you know any indicators that help show the direction of change and progress of reform efforts (rather than measuring the quantity or volume of corruption per se)?

Can you help us identify indicators that measure whether anti-corruption efforts are having an effect? If so, U4 welcomes your proposal.

HOW IT WORKS

The Proxy Challenge Competition II is open to academics, private and public sector organisations, as well as representatives of civil society.  

A panel of experienced anti-corruption practitioners and academics will evaluate the submitted proposals.

The U4 Anti- Corruption Resource Centre and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) will also work with the proposal authors to test the relevance and validity of the proposed proxy indicator(s):  

 

  • If the proposed ideas have merit, we will give financial support to develop a policy paper on the proxy indicators presented.
  • If we see that your proposed indicator is relevant to the needs of donor partner countries, we would like to work with you to test the proxy indicator for actual reporting in selected countries.  

 

The two best submissions will be rewarded with an expenses-paid trip to present at the Proxy Challenge which will be held at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Panama, 1-4 December, 2016 (exact date to be confirmed).

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS  

  • Clearly define the proxy indicator(s) you suggest as a good measure of anti-corruption reform results.

  • Clarify how the proxy indicator reflects changes in corrupt behaviour. Present ideas for how to test the validity of the proxy indicator.

  • Describe any relevant geographic, sectoral, or institutional context for the proxy indicator.

  • Explain how the indicator can be combined with other proxy and non-proxy (direct) indicators to obtain a better measurement of overall anti-corruption progress.

  • Comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the proxy indicator, including how they differ with shifting national contexts.
      
  • Comment on the usefulness for different agents: aid agencies, governments, civil society, and others for the purposes of monitoring and reporting.

WORD LIMIT

700

DEADLINE

1 September 2016

SEND TO

proxychallenge@u4.no

BACKGROUND READING

The Proxy Challenge: Why bespoke proxy indicators can help solve the anti-corruption measurement problem

U4 Briefs developed from the The Proxy Workshop 2014:

New ways to measure institutionalised grand corruption in public procurement

The Kinship in Public Office indicator: Kin connectivity as a proxy for nepotism in the public sector

The Revolving Door Indicator: Estimating the distortionary power of the revolving door

 

PRINTABLE LEAFLET

The Proxy Challenge Competition 2016 PDF

Publications

U4 Brief | 2014

The Kinship in Public Office indicator: Kin connectivity as a proxy for nepotism in the public sector

Measuring nepotism in the public sector is challenging because of its elusive nature. This brief reviews methodologies developed to measure the extent of family connections in the public sector and...
Frédéric Lesné, Bernard Gauthier (2014)
Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Brief 2014:12) 4 p.
U4 Brief | 2013

The Proxy Challenge: Why bespoke proxy indicators can help solve the anti-corruption measurement problem

Practitioners working in anti-corruption face perennial challenges in measuring changes in corruption levels and evaluating whether anti-corruption efforts are successful. These two challenges are linked but not inseparable. To make progress...
Jesper Johnsøn, Phil Mason (2013)
Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Brief 2013:2) 6 p.
U4 Brief | 2014

The revolving door Indicator: Estimating the distortionary power of the revolving door

When people move between positions as regulator or legislators and private companies within the same sector this can lead to conflicts of interest, regulatory capture, and economic distortions. Such practices...
Elise S. Brezis, Joël Cariolle (2014)
Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Brief 2014:10) 6 p.
U4 Brief | 2014

New ways to measure institutionalised grand corruption in public procurement

Public procurement, one of the largest areas of public spending worldwide, gives public officials wide discretion. It is therefore unsurprising that it is also one of the government functions most...
Mihály Fazekas, István János Tóth (2014)
Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Brief 2014:9) 4 p.