Corruption in the form of bribery continues to be a major societal challenge around the world. The current lab-in-the-field study tested whether dynamic descriptive norms messages on posters can help to reduce bribery. Before, during and after placing posters throughout a medium-sized South African town, incentivized measures of social norms and bribery were assessed in a mobile lab. A total of 311 participants stemming from the general population took part. In line with the pre-registered predictions, the results reveal that people: (1) perceive bribery to be less common; and (b) engage in bribery in a corruption game less frequently when the posters were displayed. The discussion outlines how social norms nudging campaigns can be leveraged to spur collective action against corruption.

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This empirical article explores how the interaction between two key aspects of statebuilding (democratisation and decentralisation) and existing forms of governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo led to a multiplication in numbers of political and administrative brokers. Furthermore, it investigates how these brokers construct their roles well beyond official mandates. Responding to local demands, they circumvent formal procedures in order to obtain decrees accrediting public primary and secondary schools. As a result, the number of public schools has almost tripled since the early 2000s. Building on qualitative and quantitative empirical data, the article thus reveals that democratisation and decentralisation can reproduce clientelist structures. However, it also uncovers changing socio-spatial dynamics: certain historically neglected and conflict-affected districts have particularly benefited from brokers’ involvement. Despite these positive aspects, the article further illustrates how these outcomes counteract other central administrative and political objectives.

This Report presents the descriptive statistics and preliminary analysis carried out following the first phase of quantitative and qualitative data collection of the Building Resilience in Conflict through Education (BRiCE) research project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in Niger. Activities were led by the Institute of Development Studies, in partnership with Save the Children, with the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique de Bukavu in DRC and with the Save the Children MEAL team in Niger. The objective of the study is to further the understanding of education in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, focusing on four central research questions: RQ.1) Investigating whether, and how, exposure to and experience of violence influence teaching quality and well-being in fragile and conflict-affected contexts; RQ.2) Examining the impact of the Teacher Professional Development and Improving Learning Environments Together components of the BRiCE programme on teachers’ quality and well-being in fragile contexts; RQ.3) Examining how teaching quality and well-being influence children’s cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes in fragile and conflict-affected countries; RQ.4) Exploring how knowledge developed by teachers in conflict-affected contexts can be used effectively in policy and programming.

We analyse the politics of the reform of teacher payment modalities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in light of the uneven territorial reach of the DRC state. The reform focused on extending this reach by paying all teachers via a bank account, replacing long-standing shared governance arrangements between state and faith-based organisations with a public-private partnership. By using qualitative and quantitative data, we map the political practices accompanying the implementation of the reform. While the reform itself was officially deemed a success, its intended effects were almost completely offset in rural areas. Moreover, governance of teacher payments was not rationalised but instead became even more complex and spatially differentiated. In sum, the reform has rendered governance processes more opaque and deepened the existing unevenness in the geography of statehood.