The studies on corruption were conducted in collaboration with the Foundation for Market Economy (FME, Budapest) within the frame of Think Tank Partnership Program in 2003-2004. The third partner in the project was the Transitional Crime and Corruption Center in the American University (TraCCC, Washington), which is the first centre in the United States devoted to teaching, research, training and policy advice in transnational crime, corruption and terrorism with particular focus on the former soviet countries.
The project "Prospects for Fighting Corruption in Post-Socialist Countries: the Cases of Hungary and Russia", supported by USAID, IRIS и KPMG Consulting Barents Group, was conducted from February 2003 until January 2004. The project was not conceived as a direct comparison of the situation with corruption in two countries - the possibility of such a comparison is generally under the question - but rather as a study and comparison of the "hot points" related with economic corruption in Hungary, which is considered as a most advanced among post-socialist countries in terms of fighting corruption, and Russia, which traditionally occupies the lowest positions in international anti-corruption ratings. Within the frame of the project two working meetings were held in Budapest and a final international conference in St. Petersburg.
The project consisted of the two parts. The aim of the first part was to give an overview of the situation with corruption in two countries, different "hot points", and situation with research of corruption in Russia and Hungary. The main research procedure at the first stage was the analysis of secondary data - the results of international and domestic research, statistical data, publications in press and etc. As a result of the first research stage there were a number of analytical essays:
- Essay 1: General overview of recent corruption research results and main research approaches to corruption in Russia using domestic sources of information
- Essay 2: General overview of international comparative studies on assessment of corruption (methodology, indexes and some data on Russia and Hungary)
- Essay 3: Pre-transitional and transitional roots of corruption in Russia
- Essay 4: The current situation regarding anti-corruption policies in Russia
The main idea of the second (empirical) part of the project was that the research teams should focus on research of those aspects and forms of corruption that are the most actual in each country. The FME study was devoted to the problem of corruption in public procurement. The CISR research team focused on the problems of informal interaction of SME and the authorities. The study "Small business and the problem of corruption" was conducted by CISR in St. Petersburg during the summer-fall 2003.
A continuation of the study "Prospects for Fighting Corruption in Post-Socialist Countries: the Cases of Hungary and Russia" was the project "Mobilizing Social Support for Fighting Corruption: the Cases of Russia and Hungary" conducted during the period February-July 2004.
Another continuation of the study is the project "Mobilizing Social Support to Fight Corruption: Civic Activism in Business Sphere of Russia" supported by the Transitional Crime and Corruption Center in the American University (TraCCC, Washington). This research was aimed on the study of business associations as civil society institutions and as actors of anti-corruption field.