Building Foundations Against Corruption

The document outlines a framework for identifying corruption risks in infrastructure and urban development projects, emphasizing the vulnerability of these sectors due to large capital requirements and opaque procurement. It presents 13 'learnings from the field'—real-world cases of bribery, collusion, and financial fraud—to illustrate how corruption manifests and the consequences of failure in internal controls. The report advocates for a 'tone at the top' approach, rigorous compliance programmes, and public-private coalitions to eliminate corruption from industry value chains.

• The engineering, construction, and real estate industries are uniquely susceptible to corruption because they often operate in countries lacking transparent practices, deal with vague design specifications, manage enormous capital projects, and face opaque procurement processes.
• Corruption risks in infrastructure projects are categorized by stakeholders at risk (such as government officials, agents, and subcontractors), specific risk types (like bribery and bid-rigging), project life cycle phases, and geographic differences.
• Case studies demonstrate that the use of third-party agents to funnel bribes does not protect a company from legal liability, as seen in a case where an Italian company and its subsidiary paid $365 million in total penalties for bribing Nigerian officials via a UK solicitor and a Japanese trading company.
• Project delays often create environments ripe for corruption, as they lead to 'exceptional approvals' and procurement based on single bids from known suppliers to meet deadlines, as observed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India and World Cup stadium construction in Brazil.
• Effective anti-corruption efforts require more than a written code of conduct; they necessitate a comprehensive compliance programme including monitoring, training, risk assessments, and a strong 'tone from the top' to achieve genuine cultural change.
• Companies operating in jurisdictions without an independent judiciary face significant risks, and the report suggests avoiding litigation in such countries, seeking out-of-court settlements, or appealing to higher courts which may be less corrupt.

APA

World Economic Forum (2015). Building Foundations Against Corruption. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_IU_PACI_2014_Learning_from_the_field.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Building Foundations Against Corruption. 2015. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_IU_PACI_2014_Learning_from_the_field.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Building Foundations Against Corruption |date=January 2015 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_IU_PACI_2014_Learning_from_the_field.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2015building, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Building Foundations Against Corruption}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2015}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_IU_PACI_2014_Learning_from_the_field.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }