Throughout the former communist states of the Europe and Eurasia region, endemic corruption constrains economic growth and democratic development. To diagnose root causes of corruption, IRIS developed an in-depth assessment tool that builds on, complements and overcomes the programming limitations of macro surveys and indices generated by such institutions as Transparency International, the World Bank, Freedom House, Coalition 2000 and the South East Legal Development Initiative (SELDI). Three pilot projects in the Europe and Eurasia region tested, refined, and demonstrated the tool in two different sectors, business licensing and entry regulation and health care. In Romania and Russia, the pilot application of the assessment tool focused on business licensing, and in Bulgaria the test addressed related aspects of health care delivery by hospitals. Each application involved developing, field testing, and then implementing surveys of both public and private sector actors.
