P15 SIG Ethics, Anti-corruption and Integrity Management in the Public Sector

Panel Chairs

Corresponding and Review-group chair:

• Lode De Waele, Assistant Professor. Chair. l.dewaele@uu.nl

Co-Chairs

• Jean-Patrick Villeneuve, Professor and Director of the Institute of Communication and Public Policy (ICPP). 
• Giulia Muggelini, Senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Communication and Public Policy (ICPP). 
• Kim Loyens, Associate professor at Utrecht School of Governance (USG). 
• Kristyna Basna, Senior researcher, Head of department at Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences. 
• Pablpo Sanabria, Full Professor of Public Management and Policy at the School of Finance, Economics and Government – Universidad EAFIT. 

Panel Topic Description

Integrity, Integrity Risk Governance and Anti-Corruption: Understanding Ethical Behaviour and Institutional Resilience in the Public Sector.

Integrity is widely recognised as a cornerstone of democratic governance and public trust. Yet despite decades of investment in ethics policies, integrity systems and anti-corruption reforms, integrity violations remain persistent across public organizations. Corruption, favouritism, conflicts of interest, abuse of power and other forms of misconduct continue to undermine citizens' trust, organisational legitimacy and the effective functioning of democratic institutions. At the same time, empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of integrity management and anti-corruption interventions remains fragmented and often inconclusive.

This panel aims to move beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries by bringing together scholars studying integrity, ethics, corruption, organisational behaviour and public governance. Rather than viewing integrity solely as an individual characteristic or corruption merely as individual misconduct, we encourage contributions that conceptualise integrity as a dynamic, multi-level phenomenon emerging from interactions between institutional environments, organisational contexts and individual behaviour.

Research on integrity has traditionally evolved within separate disciplinary silos. Institutional scholars emphasise governance structures, regulatory frameworks and political contexts, organisational researchers focus on ethical climates, leadership and integrity management systems, while behavioural scholars investigate moral judgement, personality, decision-making and cognitive biases. Although each perspective has generated valuable insights, relatively few studies integrate these different levels of analysis. Consequently, important questions remain regarding how institutional arrangements, organisational characteristics and individual behaviour jointly shape integrity and ethical decision-making.

We particularly welcome research that advances a more integrated understanding of integrity and integrity risk governance. This includes studies examining behavioural mechanisms underlying ethical decision-making, organisational cultures that foster or inhibit integrity, the unintended consequences of integrity management, integrity leadership, organisational resilience, institutional complexity, integrity risk assessment and the development of adaptive integrity systems. We also encourage methodological innovation, including mixed-method designs, experimental approaches, longitudinal studies and comparative research across countries or policy sectors.

Alongside understanding the origins of integrity, the panel also focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of anti-corruption policies. Despite the widespread adoption of anti-corruption reforms across the world, systematic evidence regarding their effectiveness remains surprisingly limited. Existing interventions range from legal sanctions and compliance mechanisms to educational programmes, behavioural interventions, transparency initiatives and organisational reforms. Yet relatively little is known about the conditions under which these interventions succeed, fail or generate unintended consequences.

The panel therefore welcomes contributions examining the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies across different institutional contexts, sectors and governance arrangements. Particular attention will be given to studies investigating how integrity systems can move beyond reactive compliance towards proactive integrity risk governance, enabling organisations to anticipate and manage integrity risks before misconduct materialises.

We invite both conceptual and empirical contributions addressing, among others, the following themes:

• Multi-level explanations of integrity, integrating institutional, organisational and behavioural perspectives.
• Integrity risk governance and the identification, assessment and management of integrity risks.
• Behavioural public administration and ethical decision-making.
• Organisational culture, ethical leadership and integrity climates.
• Integrity management systems, including compliance-based and values-based approaches.
• The unintended consequences of ethics and integrity interventions.
• Whistleblowing, speak-up cultures and reporting mechanisms.
• Corruption prevention and anti-corruption strategies in the public and private sectors.
• Comparative evaluations of anti-corruption interventions across countries, sectors and governance contexts.
• Methodological innovations for measuring integrity, corruption and the effectiveness of integrity policies.

By bringing together researchers from public administration, organisational studies, behavioural sciences, political science, criminology, sociology, economics and law, this panel seeks to stimulate a multidisciplinary dialogue on one of the defining governance challenges of our time. Ultimately, we aim to contribute to a more integrated understanding of how integrity can be fostered, protected and sustained within increasingly complex public governance systems.

Relevance to Public Management Scholarship and/or Conference Theme

Integrity is no longer merely a normative concern of public administration; it has become a central governance challenge in an era characterised by polycrises, institutional uncertainty and declining public trust. Public organisations are increasingly expected to respond simultaneously to geopolitical instability, digital transformation, fiscal pressures, climate change and democratic backsliding, while safeguarding legitimacy, accountability and public values. Under these conditions, integrity becomes a critical component of organisational resilience, institutional reliability and effective public governance.

This panel directly addresses the IRSPM 2027 conference theme by examining how public administrations can anticipate, govern and respond to integrity risks before they evolve into organisational failures, corruption scandals or broader crises of legitimacy. Rather than approaching integrity as solely an individual or compliance issue, the panel promotes a multidisciplinary perspective that integrates behavioural public administration, institutional theory, organisational studies and anti-corruption research. It explicitly connects micro-level ethical decision-making with organisational dynamics and broader institutional environments.

The panel also contributes to current debates on risk governance, organisational resilience and public sector innovation by exploring how public organisations can move from reactive compliance towards adaptive integrity systems capable of identifying and managing emerging integrity risks. Particular attention is given to the effectiveness—and potential unintended consequences—of integrity management and anti-corruption interventions across different governance contexts.

By bringing together scholars from public administration, political science, behavioural sciences, organisational studies, criminology, economics and law, the panel aims to advance both theoretical understanding and practical solutions for strengthening integrity, resilience and democratic governance in increasingly complex public administrations.