Improving Corruption Risk Management in the Slovak Republic : Results from a 2023 Experiment in Applying Behavioural Insights to Public Integrity
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
This report provides insights on applying behavioural insights to improve public integrity in the public administration of the Slovak Republic. This report illustrates, through a stepwise application of the OECD BASIC toolkit, how corruption risk management policies can be improved through the identification and analysis of undesired behaviours, and through the design and testing of strategies to change these behaviours. Specifically, a randomised controlled trial was employed to test the effect of two behaviourally informed strategies to improve risk communication in the public administration. The results provided novel empirical evidence that: 1) providing support to public servants to better understand risks; and 2) exposing public servants to good leadership examples can improve their propensity to communicate risks. Moreover, it was found that feeling safe, trusting and being aware of risk communication channels also play an important role in improving risk communication. Based on the findings, this report provides recommendations to improve the risk management system of the Slovak Republic and inform the discussion on the upcoming National Anti-corruption Strategy, contributing to advancing the country’s efforts in curbing corruption.
