Students from Hitotsubashi University Contribute Views in Worldwide Dialogue

Students from Hitotsubashi University School of International and Public Policy joined a unique 24-hour global videoconference consultation “Tomorrow’s Leaders Speak Out: Partnering to Combat Corruption and Improve Governance” connecting from the TDLC on March 15, 2007. Organized by the World Bank Institute, this event circled the globe in 12 two-hour sessions, bringing together students from leading business and public administration schools to provide recommendations on governance and anti-corruption issues.

The event ran parallel to a high-level conference held in Belgium, “Fighting Corruption: New Frontiers in Public-Private Partnerships”, organized by the Government of Belgium, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank.

Hitotsubashi University participated in Session 7 along with the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, and the Wharton School in Philadelphia, U.S.A. Each site assumed a designated role - government for ANU, civil society and the international donor community for Wharton, and the private sector for Hitotusbashi – and presented recommendations for action to combat corruption.

In their presentations, Wharton emphasized the importance of an independent media free from corporate and state interests to shed light on corrupt practices. ANU proposed the need to have a mechanism for governments to acknowledge corruption without political harm. Hitotsubashi pointed out that in the private sector, the cost of corruption was perceived as relatively small on an individual level, highlighting the need to raise awareness of its collective cost and promote institutional action. With many international students from Asia, participants from Hitotsubashi were able to share experiences from their own countries as well.

Session 7 concluded by adopting the following 3 recommendations which were submitted to the Conference Secretariat at Egmont Palace, Brussels:

1. Establish economic incentives to hinder corruption through a “naming and shaming” mechanism.
2. Create a “world corruption hotline” for reporting petty corruption.
3. Move towards collective action among industries, as well as among relevant stakeholders.

Together, students participating in the 12 videoconference sessions contributed more than 130 recommendations for fighting corruption. These were collected and evaluated, and the items with the most consensus were presented to the policymakers and leaders present at the Conference.

For a full report of the Conference and the 24-hour global videoconference including final recommendations, please visit http://www.improvinggovernance.be/en/