CBS professor receives major Carlsberg grant for research project on business elites and corruption
Corruption is costly for economies and democracies around the world. A new research project will now examine what makes business leaders corrupt
Why do some business leaders become corrupt in their pursuit of influence and profit, while others remain committed to integrity and transparency?
This is the central question in a new five-year research project led by Professor Mogens Kamp Justesen from CBS’ Department of International Economics, Government and Business.
The project has just received a Semper Ardens Accomplish grant from the Carlsberg Foundation of almost DKK 13 million.
“It is a huge recognition and a major opportunity. This grant makes it possible to build a research programme with a scale and depth that would otherwise not be possible; for me personally and for the research environment I am part of, it is a powerful catalyst.”
A global problem with massive consequences
Corruption is a major societal problem.
The World Economic Forum estimates that corruption costs up to five per cent of global GDP every year, and in many countries it challenges economic development as well as citizens’ trust in democracy.
“Corruption is a massive global problem. And by its nature, it is difficult to estimate its scope because we do not hear about it when those behind it succeed,” says Mogens Kamp Justesen.
The cases we do hear about are often small bribery cases, while the most extensive corruption takes place behind closed doors between senior civil servants, politicians and business leaders. Here, large sums of money are involved to secure contracts and influence regulation and policy.
Despite the scale of the problem, research knows surprisingly little about what drives the behaviour of business elites: why some actors choose to exploit the system, while others actively work for greater transparency and regulation.
A unique data foundation across eight democracies
The grant makes it possible to carry out a project on an international scale. The research will be conducted in eight democracies across Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia – including Denmark, Hungary, the United States, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia and the Philippines, which allows the research team to examine how business leaders navigate systems where the risk and consequences of being exposed vary significantly.
“It allows us to study corruption where it matters most for markets and political decision-making. We gain the time and data access needed to go into depth in a way that is absolutely crucial to understanding such a complex phenomenon.”
Three tracks: networks, experiments and virtual reality
The project consists of three interconnected components:
- Mapping elite networks
The research team begins by mapping relationships between politicians and business leaders across sectors, which provides an initial picture of where corruption typically arises, and which industries are particularly exposed. - Surveys and behavioural experiments
Surveys and indirect experimental techniques are used to measure how business leaders orient themselves when faced with choices between integrity, loopholes or outright corruption. - Simulated boardrooms in virtual reality
The most innovative part of the project develops advanced VR scenarios that simulate closed decision-making spaces where major financial interests are at stake.
Here, researchers can measure response patterns, eye movements and strategic considerations.
“VR gives us a unique opportunity to get as close as possible to real decision-making processes – without being present in actual boardrooms.”
Democratic consequences
Corruption becomes particularly problematic when it develops into so-called state capture, where private interests influence or directly shape regulation and legislation outside democratic processes.
In such cases, voters lose the ability to hold decision-makers accountable, and politics becomes about who has the most resources rather than representation.
“When business actors can buy influence outside democratic rules, it challenges one of our most fundamental principles: that political decisions should be made in the interest of the community and not special interests.”
From basic research to concrete tools
The project will result in academic publications and concrete policy reports developed in dialogue with Danish and international authorities as well as large companies.
The aim is to develop anti-corruption tools that make it easier for organisations to navigate grey areas, identify risks and understand how incentives and structures shape leadership decisions.
“The ambition is to take the basic research and translate it into tools that can be used in practice, in the business community and in the public sector.”
Read more about the grant at The Carlsberg Foundation