The productivity of an organization is related to the level to which its employees have internalized its objectives.

I am in Cairo to attend an academic conference. The theme of the three-day conference is “corruption and economic development.” Studies suggest that there is a close relationship between corruption and development. I think there is no need for much evidence to prove the correlation. The point will come clear when you think about roads which collapse soon after they were constructed or premises of public institutions which demolish during earthquakes. As international comparisons reveal, corruption negatively affects the international competitiveness of a country, as well.

We generally recognize major incidences of corruption. But corruption is corruption, regardless of the scale. The opening remarks delivered by a scholar were quite interesting in this context: In Nigeria, he said, teachers had a tendency to not attend the classes. This also is a form of corruption. It seems to be a minor one compared to the forms we are used to see. But its social cost is comparable to that of major incidences of corruption. In fact, in the long-term the cost is even bigger. 

Social values
It is impossible to reduce corruption solely via economic measures. Raising wages would certainly help reducing corruption in some cases. In Nigeria, for example, raising teachers’ salaries could work to some degree. The speaker stressed that economic measures might fall short in overcoming the problem. So, what other measures can be useful?

Should the government ask teachers to take a photo in the classroom with the time and the date on it? What if the teacher stays in the classroom but does not teach anything? The speaker, in this context, underscored the importance of social values in overcoming corruption. Actually, we are familiar with this idea. When I was at high school or before that, being a teacher was considered to be prestigious. A large group of people voluntarily chose to be teachers. The salaries were not higher than they are today. But these people attached a value to being a teacher and internalized this value, as also stressed by the speaker at the conference. Internalizing values and being able to say, “I am a good teacher” or “I am a successful nurse” might be hard in sectors other than education and health. And you cannot plant such ideas in people above a certain age.

‘Identity Economics’

The speaker referred to a discount store chain in the US. Workers of the store were low-paid and constituted the least-skilled section of the labor force. They did a job that anyone could do after a short period of training. Moreover, they were not working for a lofty aim as teachers, nurses or doctors do. The chain, however, successfully impressed the idea “I work at the X store chain” on its workers.

The last book of Nobel Laureate Akerlof pinpoints a similar idea. The book is called Identity Economics. The productivity of an organization is related to the level to which its employees have internalized its objectives. The speaker stressed that such processes of internalization were of significance particularly in overcoming minor incidences of corruption. To prevent major cases of corruption, on the other hand, a transparent procurement system and close follow-ups, supervision and monitoring are crucial.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 27.03.2012