The Quality of Government Institute is a research group at University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
The QoG Institute is an independent research institute within the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. The institute was founded in 2004 by Professor Bo Rothstein and Professor Sören Holmberg. We are about 30 researchers who conduct and promote research on the causes, consequences and nature of Good Governance and the Quality of Government (QoG) - that is, trustworthy,
18/06/2026
Read the latest news from the QoG - Quality of Government Institute!
In this newsletter: 📬
📚 New Publications and Projects
🙏 Thank you, Natalia Alvarado!
🎉 Welcoming a New Colleague
🏆 Awards and More...
https://mailchi.mp/284aee6f175f/qog-news-june
📄 **Corruption – the Mother of Maternal Mortality? A Nested Analysis of How Corruption Affects Maternal Mortality**
A new QoG Working Paper by **Nønne Schjærff Engelbrecht**.
We are pleased to share this new working paper by our former student, Nønne Schjærff Engelbrecht. 🎓
This paper reflects Nønne's commitment to advancing the rights and well-being of vulnerable populations through rigorous research. We hope that this work will continue to contribute to the understanding of corruption, health, and social justice.🌍🤱
👉
🚛♻️ New working paper: *Dumping the Rules: Governance Failures in the Commercial Waste Market in Sweden*
Why does illegal waste management persist despite extensive regulation? Drawing on interviews with regulators and enforcement officials, the paper shows how high compliance costs, information asymmetries, fragmented oversight, and weak enforcement create systemic vulnerabilities that enable non-compliance.
Authors: Marina Nistotskaya, Emanuel Wittberg, Filip Hjertsson & Wendela Koskinen
QoG - Quality of Government Institute
New Research Note by our colleague Jana Schwenk published in Cambridge University Press on gender differences in political party donations.
Using data from Italy, the UK, and Finland, the study shows that while women often donate less frequently than men, gender gaps in donation amounts vary considerably across countries. The findings offer new insights into political finance and the representation of women's interests in party politics.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1475676526101376
QoG - Quality of Government Institute
10/06/2026
New publication by our colleague Stephen Dawson in the European Journal of Political Research:
"When do politicians choose to upset the apple cart? The fairness–loyalty trade-off in whistleblowing"
Drawing on a pre-registered survey experiment with more than 1,000 Swedish politicians, the study examines how competing moral values shape politicians' willingness to report misconduct within their own parties. The findings show that emphasizing fairness increases whistleblowing intentions, while loyalty cues do not reduce them. The research also highlights the importance of organizational responses and accountability mechanisms in shaping whether misconduct is reported.
An important contribution to our understanding of political behaviour, party organizations, and democratic accountability.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1475676526101303
QoG - Quality of Government Institute
When do politicians choose to upset the apple cart? The fairness-loyalty trade-off in whistleblowing | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core When do politicians choose to upset the apple cart? The fairness-loyalty trade-off in whistleblowing
Congratulations to Saverio Di Giorno, Monika Bauhr, and Francesco Busato on the publication of their new article in Regulation & Governance:
"What Candidates Benefit From Corruption? Opportunities for Corruption and the Prevalence of Candidates With Business Ties"
Using a novel measure of business–politics involvement and data from the 2018 Italian election, the authors show that corruption risks in public procurement can increase the prevalence of candidates with business ties—but that this relationship depends heavily on context. The findings offer important new insights into the links between corruption, political representation, and the business–politics nexus.
https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70170
QoG - Quality of Government Institute
09/06/2026
📚 New book published by our colleague Professor Lena Wängnerud!
**Corruption and the Gender-Sensitive State: Why Gender Equality is So Hard to Achieve**
This book examines the link between gender equality and corruption in Europe. It argues that corruption is a central element in hampering gender equality development, since in corrupt contexts women are often locked out of positions of power and have fewer opportunities to influence the will of the state. Furthermore, in corrupt contexts, resources intended for the public good are diverted to serve private interests, thereby depriving the state of opportunities to enforce progressive societal change.
🔍 In addition to developing a new framework for the study of gender equality development that integrates the role played by corruption, the book also launches the concept of **gender-sensitive state power**—a notion based on progressive legislation and budget priorities that strengthen women’s self-determination, combined with mechanisms that make states stable and ensure that resources do not leak in ways that compromise women’s room to manoeuvre in society.
🌍 This important book will appeal to all those interested in gender studies, corruption studies, and politics.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-18838-0
QoG - Quality of Government Institute
03/06/2026
Yesterday, at our bi-weekly QoG breakfast, we thanked our colleague Natalia Alvarado who has been an invaluable asset to the QoG data team for last nine years. During this time, she has done a tremendous job modernizing the data pipelines for QoG data and creating the Data Finder, where users can explore the datasets and download variables individually. We are very thankful for having her in the team for so many years and wish her the best of luck in her new job!
QoG - Quality of Government Institute
18/05/2026
New working paper from our colleagues: Changing Boundaries: Harmonizing Territorial Data for Comparative Subnational Research.
The paper documents more than 2,000 municipal territorial changes across 35 European countries (2014–2024) and introduces LoQoG Dataspace, an open-access infrastructure for harmonizing subnational data across changing administrative boundaries.
An important contribution for comparative and longitudinal research on local governance, territorial change, and spatial data consistency.
https://www.gu.se/sites/default/files/2026-05/2026_4_Rodionova%20et%20al..pdf
QoG - Quality of Government Institute
08/05/2026
The Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag, Andreas Norlén, has decided to award our colleague Lena Wängnerud the Riksdag Medal (eighth size) for meritorious contributions to the Riksdag.
Lena Wängnerud is Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. Her research focuses on issues of political representation, gender, and corruption. Through her research on women’s representation in the Riksdag, she has made highly meritorious contributions to the understanding of women’s opportunities for power and influence, and of the significance of gender for the content of the political process.
Congratulations Lena!
https://www.gu.se/en/news/political-scientist-lena-wangnerud-awarded-the-riksdag-medal