Controlling government corruption through IT: An opportunity theory perspective

Information Systems studies of IT-enabled corruption control under-theorize corruption as an individual or social phenomenon, without considering the salience of corruption opportunity in the work environment. Drawing insights from Criminology (opportunity theory of crime), Information Systems (sociotechnical systems theory) and Public Administration (government reform in developing countries), we explain IT-enabled control of government corruption as occurring by reductions of corruption opportunity through sociotechnical reconfiguration. A case study of IT-enabled reforms at Ghana customs over a thirty-year period (1986-2015) is used to instantiate how IT enables corruption control over time by reducing corruption opportunity through reconfiguring work practices and organizational arrangements. We contribute an explanation of IT-enabled corruption control that emphasizes changing work arrangements and processes through IT, rather than changing offenders or the organizational and broader social and economic conditions-approaches that often prove unyielding. © International Conference on Information Systems 2018, ICIS 2018.All rights reserved