Anticorrp

Two ANTICORRP researchers, Nicholas Charron and Victor Lapuente from the Quality of Government Institute (University of Gothenburg), together with Lewis Dijkstra (European Commission) won the annual Best Regional Studies Paper Award, issued by the Regional Studies Association. They got the award for their paper on “Regional Governance Matters: Quality of Government within European Union Member States,” published in Regional Studies, 48(1), 68-90.

The paper presents the European Quality of Government Index, a new index compiled by ANTICORRP researchers at the University of Gothenburg. The index understands good governance as low corruption, impartial public services and rule of law and provides national and sub-national data for 27 European Union member states. It shows high variations between different regions within individual countries. Charron, Dijkstra and Lapuente highlighted in their analysis that the quality of government is highly correlated with sub-national indicators of socio-economic development and levels of social trust. However, they did not find a correlation between political decentralization and the quality of government. Their paper can be accessed here.

The Regional Studies Award is an annual award issued by the Regional Studies Association for academics and institutions advancing and contributing to the body of research on Regional Studies. The entire ANTICORRP team congratulates Nicholas Charron, Lewis Dijkstra and Victor Lapuente and wishes all the best in their continuous effort to advance the field of regional studies!

Data from the European Quality of Government project can be accessed via ANTICORRP and on the website of the Quality of Government Institute.