Internalizing transparency and its relationship with corruption: insights from Colombian public servants

This paper analyzes the relationship between transparency and corruption by asking how public servants’ internalization of transparency affects their actions against corruption. This study operationalizes transparency through the Colombian Freedom of Information – law (FOI-law) to measure whether public servants interpret transparency as instrumental or as intrinsically valuable. It uses the 2019 Colombian Employee Viewpoint Survey; logistic regressions show that individuals’ understanding of FOI-law as instrumental increases the likelihood of reporting corrupt practices in public organizations. This paper raises questions regarding how public employees are being trained in transparency and adjusting their behaviours accordingly.