International action against corruption in the Pacific Islands: Policy transfer, coercion and effectiveness

There is increasing international attention to the problem of corruption. Action against corruption is required of governments seeking loans from development banks, or applying to join international organizations like the European Union. How coercive and how effective are these international interventions? The article uses ideas about ‘policy transfer’ to compare and evaluate several attempts to induce governments to act against corruption in the Pacific Islands, where small states are particularly dependent on the international community. It considers the use of loan conditions by development banks; peer review by a regional organization; blacklisting by banks; and the more recent ‘cooperative intervention’ in Solomon Islands, where Australian officials enforce local laws against corrupt police and politicians.