My work is on corruption. Corruption is a huge problem all over the world that has been shown to be related to everything from poor development to low levels of education and undersupplied hospitals. Specifically, I’m interested in the effects of corruption and how me can control corruption. My dissertation examines corrupt bargains presidents in some countries make where they protect local leaders from being prosecuted for corruption in exchange for electoral support. This is a clientelistic deal where presidents allow local leaders to steal what they want in exchange for local leaders helping the president win elections. I believe that strong, and most importantly, independent anti-corruption agencies can stop this corrupt bargain from taking place by prosecuting even close allies of the president if they are corrupt. I am going to examine this question by looking at public procurement, money governments spend hiring private businesses, which can be a major source of corruption, in the Philippines and Indonesia.