Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

18 Managing Conflict of Interest••••there are strong civic values, emphasizing trust and loyaltyto the relevant political entity and to the agency for whichthe politician or official is working;the cultural environment is supportive—for example, withreference to how the individual is expected to behave inrelation to his family and wider groupings, or how materialisticthe society is;there is pride in proficient performance at work;the rules and controls over which political leaders and officialshave discretion can be kept to a minimum;the country’s recent governance record is relatively good(what political scientists call “path dependence”).•If a country is embroiled in serious internal or external conflict,or if there is dramatic political or economic transformation in progress,the difficulties are likely to be much greater.Societies need to guard against not just the actuality of conflictof interest intruding into official decision-making but also theperception that it may be doing so. For example, a political leaderor official may be entirely “altruistic” in the way he behaves, but ifhe happens to have a financial interest in an issue with which he isdealing, the public may perceive that he is acting in self-interest. Sothere need to be mechanisms in place to avoid any such perception—e.g.,making a declaration of personal assets upon assumingoffice, establishing “blind trusts” that are managed by an independenttrustee, and “declaring an interest” and asking another ministeror official to provide advice or make the decision when there isa clear conflict of interest.The analytical framework outlined above breaks down wherethe goals and rules of the government or agency lack clarity, areunworkable, or are conflicting. In this case, it is difficult for the officialto know exactly what his public duties are. He is likely to beserving the public interest best if he interprets them to the best ofhis ability so as to produce the best outcome for the public. However,in a situation where it is routine for the official to “bend therules,” it all too easily becomes routine for him to exact bribes orgifts for doing so. The official has secured a personal financial gain,but the public interest may also have been served. This situationarises particularly in command economies when they are in transitionto a market economy.ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific