Oslo Economics, together with Kantar TNS and Professor Tina Søreide from the Norwegian School of Economics, has conducted a project on unethical behavior and corruption in Norwegian local government commissioned by the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS).
As a part of the project we have developed guidelines for the promotion of ethical conduct and anticorruption in municipalities, county councils and local public enterprises in Norway. The guidelines give advice within different topics, such as establishment of ethical guidelines, risk analysis, internal control or whistleblowing regulation, and are supplemented by further
explanations and examples for implementation in practice.
We have also conducted an analysis of experiences with unethical conduct and corruption based on a survey among leading management in local government. Many report that they know of someone in their organization who at some point has experienced situations involving unethical conduct, even though corruption is overall perceived as a small problem.
Finally, we have conducted a survey among local government about what is done promote ethical behavior and prevent corruption. A large majority state that their organization has central elements of a programme for ethics and anticorruption in place. However, the results also reveal potential for improvement in following up on the implementation of guidelines in practice across topics.
The full report (in Norwegian but including an English summary) is available here.
