Aerial view of Lagos island and Lagos harbour, Nigeria, on 17 March 2016. Photo: Getty Images.
5. Conclusion: Integrating Behavioural Insights into Anti-corruption Strategies
The findings of the research that has informed this report would be bolstered by an expansion of the survey project to other Nigerian states and to test for social norms around other corrupt practices. While the sample size of 4,200 and the survey’s reach across seven jurisdictions is sufficiently representative of each survey location to offer a robust methodology for identifying behavioural drivers, the scope for very broad extrapolation is more modest.
The findings highlight important options for the trial of social norms and other policy interventions, as well as for monitoring impact. For instance, there is scope for smaller exercises to identify trendsetters for behavioural change and to design interventions using this tool within specific sectors such as the Nigeria Police Force and other branches of law enforcement.
Nigeria’s entire system of anti-corruption laws and policies can operate more effectively if these are more deliberately premised on influencing collective behaviour in a desired direction
As behavioural drivers influence people’s choices and preferences around corruption, Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies should systematically integrate these methods into the long-term approach to their mandates. A discrete unit, operating across the various agencies, could be established to review and hone anti-corruption messaging, and to advise how behavioural lessons might best be applied to public policy against corruption. This inter-agency unit should receive training and guidance in behavioural methods for systematically evaluating interventions through randomized controlled trials to test what works best across the country.104 The unit’s approach should be holistic, integrating empirical findings about people’s behaviours surrounding corruption across all stages – from diagnostics to design and eventual implementation and evaluation – of policymaking, rather than a separate approach that produces ‘behavioural policies’ as add-ons.
Nigeria’s entire system of anti-corruption laws and policies can operate more effectively if these are more deliberately premised on influencing collective behaviour in a desired direction. Simply put, a careful understanding of the factors that drive relevant behaviours should be a critical component of government actions to reduce corruption. In fact, all aspects of government policymaking aimed at countering corruption would benefit from the application of rigorous, observed evidence of how citizens will react to measures in practice, in order to maximize effectiveness while minimizing costs.105 The potential outcomes should serve as an impetus to the Nigerian government to explore and build up its knowledge base and capacity concerning behaviour- and social norms-based interventions and solutions, drawing on successful – as well as less successful – case studies to inform policymaking for tackling corruption.
104 A mixed panel of Nigeria-based and international academics, policy experts and practitioners could provide regular training, policy guidance and advice. Establishing links between the unit and the behavioural sciences community in academia both within Nigeria and internationally will support capacity-building and the ethical application of expertise.
105 Hallsworth, M. (2016), ‘Seven Ways of Applying Behavioural Science to Health Policy’, in Cohen, I. G., Lynch, H. F. and Robertson, C. T. (eds) (2016), Nudging Health: Health Law and Behavioral Economics, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.