Over the past decade, corruption has elicited increasing attention in the construction industry, and several studies have been conducted and published on the topic of forms of corruption in the construction industry. However, a systematic review of the existing studies on corruption forms, which is essential for the future endeavor, is not available. This paper systematically reviews the existing body of knowledge about forms of corruption in the construction industry. Reviewing 39 selected peer-reviewed journal papers reveals 28 different forms of corruption. The most reported corruption forms in the literature are bribery, fraud, collusion, embezzlement, nepotism, and extortion. A conceptual framework is also developed for better understanding of the forms. The findings of this study contribute to deepened understanding of the forms of corruption in the construction industry, which would be useful for industry practitioners, policy makers, and anticorruption institutions to develop suitable anticorruption frameworks and strategies to effectively deal with corrupt practices in construction. The checklist and framework on corruption forms also make this paper useful for researchers to conduct further empirical studies on the topic.

This study reviews the anti-corruption measures (ACMs) developed to mitigate the pervasiveness of corruption in construction project management (CPM). Using a two-stage methodological process to identify the relevant publications needed, 39 unique ACMs were identified in 38 selected publications. The leading ACMs identified are ethical codes, transparency mechanism, training, and development initiatives. A conceptual framework constituting six thematic constructs was developed to facilitate easy identification of ACMs and categorization of future developments of ACMs. They are regulatory, managerial, probing, compliance, promotional, and reactive measures. The findings contribute in-depth understanding of ACMs in CPM and are useful for further empirical research.

Background: The Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has continuously affected human life with several devastating effects. Currently, there are effective vaccines to protect people from COVID‐19 and the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted strategies to influence COVID-19 vaccine uptake in hard-to-reach communities in Ghana. However, prior studies on COVID-19 vaccine acceptability in Ghana are online surveys targeting the literates and those in urban areas, leaving residents in far-flung communities. We assessed knowledge, attitude and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine among residents in rural communities in Ghana. Methods: This study was a community-based cross-sectional study and was conducted at three selected regions in Ghana (Northern, Ashanti and Western North) from May to November, 2021. This study included residents 15–81 years, living in the selected rural communities for more than 1 year. Study participants were recruited and questionnaires administered to collect data on knowledge, attitude and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26.0 and GraphPad Prism Version 8.0 software. Results: Of the 764 participants included in this study, more than half had inadequate knowledge (55.0%), poor attitudes (59.4%) and bad perception about COVID-19 vaccine (55.4%). The acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine in this study was 41.9%. The acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine in Ashanti, Northern and Western North regions were 32.5%, 26.2% and 29.6% respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, receiving recent or previous vaccine such as HBV vaccine [aOR = 1.57, 95% CI (1.23–3.29), p = 0.002], having good attitude towards COVID-19 vaccine [aOR = 61.47, 95% CI (29.55–127.86), p < 0.0001] and having good perception about the COVID-19 vaccine [aOR = 3.87, 95% CI (1.40–10.72), p < 0.0001] were independently associated with higher odds of accepting COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion: More than half of residents in Ghanaian rural communities have inadequate knowledge, poor attitudes and bad perception about COVID-19 vaccine. The acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine is generally low among rural residents in Ashanti, Northern and Western North regions of Ghana. Residents living in hard-to-reach communities must be educated about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccine to achieve effective vaccination program.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the motivations of governments for adopting unsolicited proposals for public–private partnership (PPP) project implementation.Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive review of literature was conducted to derive a list of motivations for adopting unsolicited PPPs. Subsequently, an empirical questionnaire survey was conducted with international PPP experts. Inter-rater agreement analysis, mean significance index and independent two-samplet-test were used for data analysis.Findings: Results reveal four very critical motivations for governments’ interest in unsolicited PPPs; these include: “enhanced private sector innovation and creativity in PPPs”; “lack of public sector capacity to identify, prioritise and procure projects”; “lack of private investors’/developers’ interest in projects at remote areas”; and “rapid implementation of PPP projects”. Further analysis shows that developing and developed countries view the significance of three motivations differently.Research limitations/implications: The major limitation lies in the fact that this study only focused on the general motivations/rationale for using unsolicited PPP proposals and did not thoroughly examine and consider the inherent property of motivations (i.e. push and pull theories). Therefore, future studies should explore the “pull and push” motivations for adopting unsolicited PPPs within a specific country or region.Originality/value: The research outputs inform international private developers of the key expectations of governments/public departments when submitting unsolicited PPP proposals for consideration by the public sector. Furthermore, the outputs will enable governments/public departments and private proponents to derive performance objectives and standards for unsolicited PPP projects.

This study examines procurement irregularities, as one of the most unexplored threats in the procurement process of construction projects. It also tests the suppositions associated with the contributions of irregularities to corruption in construction procurement. An expert survey is conducted with 62 construction-related practitioners selected via non-probabilistic sampling in the context of a Ghana, to assess the criticalities of the irregularities. Eighteen irregularities were identified within the context selected for this study. A soft computing technique known as the Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation (FSE) method is employed to examine the identified irregularities. Other relevant techniques including factor analyses, normalization, and descriptive tools are employed to factorize the identified irregularities and test the hypotheses. Out of the 18 irregularities, 11 were revealed to be critical. The findings reveal that the top three irregularities were: payments for uncompleted works, sourcing of proforma invoices from the same supplier and the lack of proper coordination among key departments. Moreover, four constructs were developed using the identified measurement items. They are administrative-specific, procedural, compliance and contract monitoring irregularities. Out of the four, the topmost critical construct turns out to be compliance irregularities. Theoretically, this study advances the scholarship of construction by shedding lights on the irregularities associated with the procurement processes of construction projects. It also contributes to an in-depth understanding of the noted irregularities. In practical terms, this study contributes to the procurement planning and policy-making process, it assists decision makers in putting in place measures to prevent or extirpate the likelihood of any of the irregularities’ occurrences.