Transparent Markets: Promoting Public Values Through Private Enterprise

Luis Moreno Ocampo, a prominent attorney who had fought human rights abuses in Argentina, viewed corruption in public procurement as the next major human rights issue. Struggling citizens were being taxed for services that were not provided because the public procurement processes in Argentina were inefficient or corrupt. He believed that the private sector could produce more lasting improvement than could be obtained by legal prosecutions. He established Transparent Markets to collect and distribute information on public procurements in order to increase competition, make corruption more difficult to hide, and to improve market efficiency. After developing a pilot program in Buenos Aires, the company was considering how it should expand.