Jean Cartier-Bresson and Jens Christopher Andvig have contributed their own detailed views on this challenge. Both agree with Susan Rose-Ackerman, author of the original paper, that corruption is a major challenge, but they put forward their own analyses of the causes, effects, and ways to tackle it.

Cartier-Bresson is in broad agreement with Rose-Ackerman's analysis, making the following points:

• Institutionalized corruption is a symptom of failing government and must be tackled by institutional reform.

• Realistic benefit-cost analysis is not possible, mainly because it is impractical to collect reliable data on what is essentially an illegal activity.

• Despite the general agreement among economists on the negative effects of corruption, there are formidable political barriers to overcome if governance is to be improved.

In his view, the key issues for discussion are the obstacles to good global governance and the difficulties of institutional reform. Various factors, including the end of the Cold War and the current round of globalization, have raised the profile of governance as an issue in recent years, but there are a number of reasons why comparatively little improvement has been made. In particular, there is a feeling among developing countries that reform is inequitable, with wealthier countries continuing to look after their own interests. Multinational companies, for example, may see little incentive to move away from ways of doing business that have served them well, and these companies are often strongly supported by their home governments.