“Administrative corruption is an unresolved issue that causes severe societal harm worldwide. Anti-corruption regulation is abundant but it typically neglects the challenge of accounting for the human factor in translating these abstract policies into practical measures to curb corruption within organizational contexts”, explains Weißmüller about her research project.
By conducting multi-country mixed-methods research, the project provides new insights into how public organizations can govern corruption risks comprehensively. Consequently, anti-corruption strategies can be designed more effectively by integrating insights from public integrity, compliance management, and behavioral public administration research.
Citizens' trust in public institutions
"The topic I will research with this Veni builds on my expertise in behavioural public administration research," explains Weißmüller. Her research centers around three fundamental issues in modern societies worldwide: public sector corruption, bureaucratic rule breaking, and the psychological effects of ‘publicness’ on decision making. These topics are particularly relevant for citizens’ trust in public institutions and significantly affect social cohesion. With her topical focus on the behavioral micro-level foundations of administrative behavior, as well as her proven expertise in quantitative, experimental, and psychometric research methods, Kristina is an expert in behavioral public administration research.
Purpose of the research project
Weißmüller: "Throughout the project, I will engage with stakeholders to maximize my Veni project’s impact to help strengthen public institutions (nationally and internationally) by revealing how anti-corruption strategies can be designed more effectively to help fight corruption in public organizations worldwide. “
“I am happy and delighted that my project was selected for funding. I am grateful for the support I received from my colleagues at the B&P department and from the research and administrative support provided by the faculty”, says Weißmüller
Kristina S. Weißmüller is an assistant professor in Public Administration at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Having received her PhD in 2020 from the University of Hamburg, Dr. Kristina S. Weißmüller joined VU Amsterdam from the University of Bern, where she worked as a postdoc researcher and received the Innovative Teaching Prize 2021 for her lectures in public management. She is co-initiator and the principal investigator (PI) of the CorPuS project, a multinational consortium of 21 researchers worldwide to research public sector corruption, and she advices UNODC, WTO, and transparency international on issues anti-corruption and good governance.
About the Veni research grant
Veni, along with Vidi and Vici, is part of the NWO Talent Programme. Veni is aimed at researchers who have recently obtained their doctorates. Within the Talent Programme, researchers are free to submit their own subject for funding. In this way, NWO encourages curiosity-driven and innovative research.