Dr. David Jancsics

headshot of Dr. David Jancsics

Professor
*MPA Nucleus Faculty Member
School of Public Affairs
College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts

SDSU

Email

Primary Email: [email protected]

Building/Location

Adams Humanities - 4113
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4560

Files

Bio

David Jancsics is a Professor at the School of Public Affairs, where he teaches courses in administrative theory, organizational development, and research methods. He earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Prior to joining the SDSU faculty, he taught at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Rutgers University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration.

His research agenda is organized around two core questions: what are the causes and mechanisms of corruption and informal practices within formal organizational settings, and how are these practices embedded in broader social systems. His current research focuses on border corruption, corruption networks, kinship and corruption, and the organizational dynamics of corruption.

His work has appeared in leading academic journals, including Public Administration Review, International Public Management Journal, Administration & Society, and Sociology Compass. His book Sociology of Corruption: Patterns of Illegal Association in Hungary was published in April 2024 by Cornell University Press and received an Outstanding Book Award (Honorable Mention) from the American Society of Criminology. His second book, Family Corruption in Business and Public Administration, was published by Palgrave in 2026. Dr. Jancsics frequently consults with U.S.-based and international organizations and NGOs, including the United Nations, the European Commission, the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Transparency International, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Department of Justice. He was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar in Hungary during the 2024–25 academic year.

Areas of Specialization

Public Management, Organizational Theory, Economic Sociology, Corruption, White-collar Crime, Informal Practices

Awards & Honors

2024 - Outstanding Book Award - American Society of Criminology (Honorable Mention). Sociology of Corruption - Patterns of Illegal Association in Hungary, Cornell University Press.

Publications

  • David Jancsics (2026). Family Corruption in Business and Public Administration: Parents, Spouses, and In-Laws in Illicit Transactions. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • David Jancsics (2025). Family Corruption: Relatives in Corrupt Transactions. Sociology Compass. Vol. 19, No. 11. e70134.
  • David Jancsics (2025). Border Corruption: A Unique Form of Law Enforcement Corruption. Academic Journal of Internal Affairs. Vol. 73. No. 5 Pp. 963-976.
  • David Jancsics (2024). Sociology of Corruption - Patterns of Illegal Association in Hungary. Cornell University Press.
  • David Jancsics (2024). Organization and Organizationality of Corruption. Sociology Compass. Vol 18, No 7. Pp. 1-17.
  • 2024 David Jancsics and Adam Graycar. Gift Giving and Corruption. In Encyclopaedia of Corruption, edited by Luís de Sousa and Susana Coroado. Edward Elgar.
  • Jacopo Costa and David Jancsics (2024). Turning Legally Obtained Resources into Illegal Payments: A Money-dirtying Scheme. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. Published online.
  • David Jancsics and Jacopo Costa (2023). Organizational Forms of Corruption Networks: The Odebrecht-Toledo Case. International Public Management Journal. Published online.
  • David Jancsics, Salvador Espinosa, Jonathan Carlos (2022). "Organizational noncompliance: an interdisciplinary review of social and organizational factors" Management Review Quarterly Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
  • David Jancsics & David Kanaan (2021). "Corruption at the University: The Case of Susanne Boyle" Public Integrity Taylor and Francis Group.
  • David Jancsics (2020). "The Retreat of Liberal Democracy: Authoritarian Capitalism and the Accumulative State in Hungary. Author Gábor Scheiring." American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 128, No. 1. Pp. 313-315 Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Tejal Jesrani, Oualid Akakzia, Valentina Anchevska, Siniša Durkulić, Alen Gagula, Steven Earl Gawthorpe, Soňa Jacinová, David Jancsics, Almir Maljević, Manuela Murthi, Macarena Torres Rossel (2020). "Measuring Organized Crime in the Western Balkans" United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC Research.
  • Jansics, D. (2020). "Corruption in border administration" Handbook on Corruption, Ethics, and Integrity in Public Administration Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Jancics, D. (2019 - Online). "Law Enforcement Corruption along the U.S. Borders" Security Journal, Springer in cooperation with Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Jancics, D. (2019). "Border Corruption" Public Integrity Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
  • Jancics, D. (2019). "Corruption as Resource Transfer: An Interdisciplinary Synthesis" Public Administration Review American Society for Public Administration.
  • Jancsics, D. (2018). "Shell Companies and Government Corruption." Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy and Governance.
  • Jancsics, D. (2017). "Offshoring at Home? Domestic Use of Shell Companies for Corruption." Public Integrity.
  • Polese, A., Kovács, B., and Jancsics, D. (2017). "Informality 'in spite of' or 'beyond' the State: Some Evidence from Hungary and Romania." European Societies.
  • Graycar, A. and Jancsics, D. (2017). "Gift Giving and Corruption." International Journal of Public Administration.
  • Font, M. and Jancsics, D. (2016). "From Planning to Market: Framework for Cuba. " Journal of the Society for Latin American Studies.
  • Javor, I. and Jancsics, D. (2016). "The Role of Power in Organizational Corruption: An Empirical Study." Administration and Society.
  • Mungui-Pippidi, A., Dadasov, R., Fazekas, M., Toth, I., Kocsis, G., Jancsics, D., Kortas, A., Kukutschka, R., Stefavov, R. and Skolkay, A. (2015). "Public Integrity and Trust in Europe." European Research Center for Anti-Corruption and State-Building.
  • Jancsics, D. (2015). "Imperatives in Informal Organizational Resource Exchange in Central Europe." Journal of Eurasian Studies.
  • Jancsics, D. (2015). "“A Friend Gave Me a Phone Number” - Brokerage in Low-level Corruption." International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice.
  • Jancsics, D. (2014). "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Corruption." Sociology Compass.
  • Jancsics, D. (2013). "Petty corruption in Central and Eastern Europe: The Client's Perspective." Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
  • Jancsics, D. and Javor, I. (2012). "Corrupt Governmental Networks." International Public Management Journal.