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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
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Results for bribes
22 results foundAuthor: Transparency International Title: The East African Bribery Index 2011 Summary: Burundi has retained the top position as the most bribery prone country in East Africa, according to the East African Bribery Index 2011. Burundi has a bribery prevalence level of 37.9% up from 36.7% in 2010, while Uganda and Tanzania have been ranked second and third at 33.9% and 31.6% respectively, both up from 33% and 28.6% in 2010. Kenya recorded a slight improvement at 28.8% down from 31.9% in 2010. Rwanda is once again ranked fifth with a bribery prevalence of 5.1% down from 6.6% last year. Methodology The East African Bribery Index is a governance tool developed to measure bribery levels in the private and public sectors in the region. The survey was conducted among 12,924 respondents selected through random household sampling across all the administrative regions in the five countries between February and May 2011. The respondents were asked to mention institutions where they were required to pay bribes or where bribes were expected as a condition to access services, and if the service sought was delivered upon payment or refusal to pay the bribe. KEY FINDINGS Institutional rankings The police, revenue authorities and the judiciary across the different countries were poorly rated in the regional aggregate index. All the police institutions in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi appeared in the list of the ten most bribery prone institutions in East Africa. Uganda Police lead the pack of the most bribery prone institutions in the region, followed by the Burundi Police, Customs/Revenue Authority – Burundi, Kenya Police and Uganda Revenue Authority in that order. For the second year running, the survey did not record enough bribery reports to formulate an index for Rwanda. The bribery reports recorded for most of the institutions were statistically insignificant to form a reliable basis for ranking. The survey also sought to establish the sectors most affected by bribery. The law enforcement sector emerged the most bribery prone sector in Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda. The health and education sectors were also ranked adversely in comparison to the other sectors. Bribery incidence across genders The survey also analysed bribery payments in the water, education and health sectors according to gender. In Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, there were higher instances of women experiencing bribe demands or expectations in the health sector and similarly paying a bribe than the men. In the water and education sectors, more bribes were demanded from and paid by the men than women in the three countries. Male respondents were more likely to experience a bribery situation as well as pay a bribe in the different sectors in Burundi. Reporting of corruption cases Reporting of corruption cases was low in all the five countries. Burundi recorded the lowest number of people forwarding corruption complaints with only 3.2% reporting corruption incidents. Only 7.1 % of the respondents in Kenya reported incidents of corruption compared to 10.8% last year; 9.9% and 6.9% forwarded corruption complaints in Uganda and Tanzania respectively while 16% filed complaints in Rwanda. Corruption perception Rwanda retained the most positive outlook in this regard. Only 2.4 of the Rwandan respondents described the country as extremely corrupt compared to 36.8% in Tanzania, 44% in Kenya, 51.3% in Uganda and 53.1% in Burundi. In terms of the public’s perception on the government’s commitment to tackle graft, Rwanda topped once again with 93% of the respondents saying that their government is sufficiently committed to the cause. This perceptual judgment was most adverse in Uganda where 61% of the respondents believe their government lacks the commitment to confront corruption. 45.4% and 47.3% held the same view in Kenya and Burundi respectively. Next steps The commitment shown by the East African countries to attract foreign investments and promote trade in the region may face challenges if corruption and other forms of public inefficiencies are not tackled. Improving governance practices therefore becomes an urgent imperative if the East African countries are to achieve developmental objectives and realise full economic and political integration. Confronting corruption occupies the core of such a response. The bribery index is a snapshot of corruption in a region or country and is not institution-specific. Therefore, in order to understand the extent and scope of corruption in an institution, an institutional integrity study to identify systematic weaknesses that may predispose the organisation to corrupt practices is necessary. The TI national chapters and contacts (partners) in the five East African countries thus welcome partnerships with public institutions aimed at comprehensively identifying and strengthening internal systems and procedures to curb corruption. Details: Berlin: Transparency International, 2011. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2011 at: http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases_nc/2011/2011_10_20_east_african_bribery_index_2011 Year: 2011 Country: Africa URL: http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases_nc/2011/2011_10_20_east_african_bribery_index_2011 Shelf Number: 123165 Keywords: BriberyBribesFraud and Corruption (East Africa)Misconduct in OfficePolitical Corruption |
Author: Bauhr, Monika Title: Why Pay Bribes? Collective Action and Anticorruption Efforts Summary: This paper suggests that the effectiveness of current anticorruption policy suffers from a focus on the scale of the corruption problem instead of type of corruption that is to be fought. I make a distinction between need and greed corruption. Contrary to the most commonly used distinctions this distinction focuses on the basic motivation for paying a bribe, and whether the bribe is used to gain services that citizens are legally entitled to or not. Greed corruption is used to gain advantages that citizens are not legally entitled to, build on collusion rather than extortion and can thereby remain invisible and unobtrusive. In greed corruption societies the costs of corruption are divided between a large number of actors and the negative effects of corruption on economic and democratic performance are delayed and diffuse. I subsequently use this distinction to develop three propositions about the relationship between corruption and institutional trust, and the effects of anticorruption policy. Using both cross country data and a case study of a low corruption context, I suggests a) That greed corruption can coexist with high institutional trust, and that it thereby may not follow the expected, and often confirmed, negative relationship between corruption and institutional trust b) That greed corruption may not produce civic engagement against corruption and c) That increased transparency may not produce the expected benefits in low need corruption contexts, since it can disproportionally alter expectations about the entrenchment of corruption in a society. In other words, the paper suggest that the balance between need and greed corruption in a society determines the effectiveness of traditional policy measures derived from the logic of principal agent theory, such as societal accountability and transparency, and that the relevance of collective action theory to understand the effects of anticorruption efforts can be extended to contexts where the overall level of corruption is low. Details: Gothenburg, Sweden: QOG - The Quality of Government Institute, Univerity of Gothenburg, 2011. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: QoG Working Paper Series 2011:18: Accessed April 6, 2012 at: http://www.qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1357/1357856_2011_18_bauhr_nasiritousi.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1357/1357856_2011_18_bauhr_nasiritousi.pdf Shelf Number: 124855 Keywords: BribesCorruption |
Author: Cheung, Yan Leung Title: How Much Do Firms Pay As Bribes and What Benefits Do They Get? Evidence From Corruption Cases Worldwide Summary: We analyze a hand-collected sample of 166 prominent bribery cases, involving 107 publicly listed firms from 20 stock markets that have been reported to have bribed government officials in 52 countries worldwide during 1971-2007. We focus on the initial date of award of the contract for which the bribe was paid (rather than of the revelation of the bribery). Our data enable us to describe in detail the mechanisms through which bribes affect firm value. We find that firm performance, the rank of the politicians bribed, as well as bribe-paying and bribe-taking country characteristics affect the magnitude of the bribes and the benefits that firms derive from them. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2012. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper Series, Working Paper 17981: Accessed April 9, 2012 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17981 Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17981 Shelf Number: 124889 Keywords: BriberyBribesPolitical Corruption |
Author: Bruce, David Title: The Law for Sale: Endemic Corruption in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department Summary: This report focuses on corruption in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD). Corruption in traffic enforcement is an issue of special concern. It is widespread and it conveys an implicit message when practised as brazenly as it is by some police officers involved in traffic enforcement, amongst them members of the JMPD. The message is that corruption is acceptable; and that it is a matter of indifference to government representatives. This undermines the credibility of the state system and of any aspirations towards advancing the rule of law. The report starts by discussing survey data from Stats SA that indicates that upwards of 150 000 drivers in Johannesburg are asked to pay bribes annually. The results of two Lead SA surveys are also discussed indicating that corruption in traffic enforcement is especially prominent in Johannesburg and thereby implicating the JMPD. The report then focuses on the experiences of drivers in Johannesburg regarding corruption. It describes what it calls ‘the JMPD routine’ – a technique for soliciting bribes that is widely used by JMPD members. JMPD corruption does not only involve the soliciting of bribes but also involves other forms of criminality that include extortion and acts of robbery that involve snatching or otherwise taking money or other possessions from people who have been stopped. Cases are also reported of JMPD members demanding sexual favours in lieu of ‘payment’. The research on which this report is based found that corruption permeates most areas of the functioning of the JMPD including licensing and the policing of informal traders. These latter JMPD functions will be the subject of future Corruption Watch reports. This report however focuses on corruption in traffic enforcement. The report concludes that the scale of the problem is of such a nature that it is possible that the majority (more than 50%) of JMPD members are involved in corruption. This means that there are unlikely to be any JMPD members who could not identify, by name, several of their colleagues who are involved in bribery; even though they may not be corrupt themselves. Although corruption is acknowledged to be a problem, leadership of the JMPD and representatives of the City of Johannesburg severely understate its scale, insisting that only a small minority of JMPD members are directly implicated in corrupt activities. Data on the small number of cases investigated by the JMPD’s Internal Affairs division is put forward as representative of the scale of the problem, despite persuasive evidence gathered by researchers and the media, as well as the experience of the Johannesburg citizenry, that JMPD corruption is rampant. When the issue of corruption is raised with JMPD leaders their response is also frequently to portray it as a problem that is created by the public. While it is true that many members of the public willingly involve themselves in corrupt transactions, it may be assumed that most people would be afraid to offer bribes if they feared that JMPD members would take action against them for doing so. However, the exact allocation of responsibility between members of the JMPD and the public for the problem of corruption is a secondary matter in this report. The key point is that it is the Johannesburg Metropolitan government and the JMPD who are responsible for maintaining law and order on the roads of Johannesburg and who thus who bear the principal responsibility for addressing corruption. The scale of corruption in fact demonstrates that there are systemic weaknesses in current responses to corruption within the JMPD. An important manifestation of these weaknesses is that although there is an internal investigative and disciplinary system, it is clearly not meeting the demands being placed on it. For example, the JMPD has up to this point never been able to answer questions about how many, if any, members who are involved in corruption have been found guilty in disciplinary proceedings and dismissed from the JMPD. The report concludes with recommendations for addressing this complex problem. However, any effort in this direction must begin by the leadership of the city and the JMPD acknowledging the scale of the problem. Details: Parklands, South Africa: Corruption Watch, 2012. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2012 at: http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/39016_corruption_watch_report_final.pdf Year: 2012 Country: South Africa URL: http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/39016_corruption_watch_report_final.pdf Shelf Number: 125116 Keywords: BribesPolice Corruption (South Africa)Police MisconductTraffic Enforcement |
Author: Skinnider, Eileen Title: Corruption in Canada: Reviewing Practices from Abroad to Improve Our Response Summary: The impact of corruption and the associated costs to society are better understood today than even two decades ago. It’s been said that we are now in a “new world of international anti-corruption standards and enforcement”. The last twenty years have seen a fundamental shift in attitudes about corruption. This is reflected in the increased efforts at the international and national levels to reduce and fight corruption. Some countries have introduced broad jurisdictional reach in their criminalization of transnational official bribery and others have expanded and updated their domestic bribery laws, pursuant to treaties or simply due to an enhanced focus on combating corruption. Canada, like many other States, is confronted with the challenge of determining how best to respond and effectively combat corruption. The perception of Canada as an honest corrupt-free society is slipping, somewhat. It is telling that Canada’s ranking on the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index has gone from 6th place out of183 countries in 2010 to 10th place in 2011. Further, from another TI Survey, we see Canada going from being tied for first place in 2008 for honesty abroad to being tied for sixth place in 2011. Another survey by TI shows that Canadians think corruption is on the rise and that the government is not doing enough to stop it. With the establishment of a commission of inquiry into alleged corruption in the construction industry in Quebec, the media reports regarding federal spending related to the G20 summit in 2010, the Schreiber affair, the sponsorship scandal and the recent criticism by the OECD Working Group of Canada’s poor enforcement record relating to bribery of foreign public officials, questions arise including whether Canada’s current legal framework and policies are sufficient to combat corruption. In particular, what impact does this expansion of transnational and domestic laws have on Canadians and Canadian companies? How does the Canadian legal framework fare in comparison with this complex compliance and enforcement environment? What can we learn from other countries to improve our own legal response? Details: Vancouver, BC: The International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy (ICCLR), 2012. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 9, 2012 at: http://www.icclr.law.ubc.ca/files/2012/Final%20Paper%20Corruption-09%20May%202012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: http://www.icclr.law.ubc.ca/files/2012/Final%20Paper%20Corruption-09%20May%202012.pdf Shelf Number: 126896 Keywords: BribesCorruption (Canada) |
Author: Muzila, Lindy Title: On the Take: Criminalizing Illicit Enrichment to Fight Corruption Summary: Developing countries lose an estimated US$20–40 billion each year through bribery, misappropriation of funds, and other corrupt practices. Often, the most visible manifestation of corruption is the enrichment of a corrupt public official. Despite such visibility, prosecuting corruption can be very problematic, particularly when it requires proving the offer or acceptance of a bribe. Even when the corruption is established in a court of law, linking the proceeds of the crime to the offense in order to recover assets is a complex endeavor. In response, some countries looking to strengthen their overall arsenal against corruption have criminalized illicit enrichment. In its Article 20, the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) recommends, but does not mandate, States Parties to adopt illicit enrichment as a criminal offense, defining the same as an intentional and “significant increase in the assets of a public official that he or she cannot reasonably explain in relation to his or her lawful income.” The illicit enrichment offense has spurred significant debates involving due processes of law. Others question how jurisdictions are actually using the offense. Finally, many jurisdictions that serve as financial centers do not recognize illicit enrichment as an offense, so tracing and recovering assets through mutual legal assistance is further complicated in illicit enrichment prosecutions. Against this background, this study provides policy makers, prosecutors, and other practitioners with a better understanding of the features of illicit enrichment. It draws on the preparatory work of international conventions, reviews of existing domestic provisions, and the jurisprudence on illicit enrichment. It is the StAR Initiative’s hope that the study will inform the work of decision makers considering adopting an illicit enrichment offense, and assist those implementing illicit enrichment to do so in a way that contributes to effective prosecution, confiscation, and asset recovery. Details: Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 4, 2013 at: http://star.worldbank.org/star/sites/star/files/on_the_take-_criminalizing_illicit_enrichment_to_fight_corruption.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://star.worldbank.org/star/sites/star/files/on_the_take-_criminalizing_illicit_enrichment_to_fight_corruption.pdf Shelf Number: 127477 Keywords: Asset RecoveryBriberyBribesCorruption |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Statistics and Surveys Section Title: Business, Corruption and Crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The impact of bribery and other crime on private enterprise Summary: This survey of private businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina reveals that corruption and other forms of crime are a great hindrance to private enterprise and have a negative effect on private investment. A significant percentage of businesses pay bribes to public officials repeatedly over the course of the year. Businesses in the Building and Construction sector are those most affected by bribery, followed by businesses in the Transportation and Storage sector. The public officials with the highest risk of bribery in interactions with businesses are health authorities, police officers, customs officers and judges/prosecutors. While indicators of corruption perceptions are undoubtedly useful for raising awareness, this survey measures the actual experience of corruption and crime through representative sample surveys of businesses in order to provide a more realistic, evidence-based assessment of corruption and crime affecting the business sector. In so doing it focuses on the extent and pattern of bribery by businesses from five different sectors (accounting for 66.8 per cent of all businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina) in their frequent interactions with the public administration. According to the survey, of all the businesses that had contact with a public official in the 12 months prior to the survey 10.4 per cent paid a bribe to a public official. The average prevalence of business bribery in Bosnia and Herzegovina is lower than the share of ordinary citizens (20.7 per cent) who experienced the same in UNODC's 2011 general population survey. The examination of the experience of businesses that pay bribes to public officials underlines the fact that corruption plays a role in the daily business of many companies. Bribe-paying businesses pay an average of 6.6 bribes per year, or about one bribe every eight weeks. The prevalence of bribery is substantially higher among small (10 to 49 employees) businesses than among businesses of other sizes. A substantial share of all the bribes paid to public officials by businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina are paid in cash (46.6 per cent), followed by the provision of food and drink (29 per cent) and the exchange of one "favour" for another (11.4 per cent). When bribes are paid in cash, the mean amount paid per bribe is 318 BAM, or the equivalent of 327 EUR-PPP. As for which party actually broaches the subject of kickbacks, in about 15.8 per cent of all bribery cases the payment of a bribe is offered by a representative of the business without a prior request being made, whereas in around over two thirds (70.2 per cent) of cases payment is either explicitly (26.8 per cent) or implicitly (20.4 per cent) requested by the public official. In a further 23 per cent of cases, bribes are paid after a third-party request. The most common purposes for paying bribes cited by businesses is to "speed up business-related procedures" (29.1 per cent of all bribes), "making the finalization of a procedure possible" (17.4 per cent) and "receiving better treatment" (14.4 per cent). At the same time, 8.6 per cent of bribes paid serve for no specific immediate purpose for the businesses paying them, suggesting that these are "sweeteners" given to public officials to "groom" them for future interactions in the interest of the company. As little as 6.6 per cent of bribes paid by businesses are reported to official authorities, mostly to the police, which suggests that businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina often feel obliged to participate in bribery. This is also reflected in the main reasons cited for not reporting bribery: "pointless to report it as nobody would care" (44.1 per cent), "giving gifts to public officials is common practice" (17.3 per cent) and "lack of knowledge of where to report" (15.5 per cent). Bribery in the private sector not only comprises bribes paid by businesses to public officials, it also takes place between businesses themselves in order to secure business transactions. Though lower than the prevalence of bribery between the private and public sector, at 1.7 per cent the prevalence of business-to-business bribery indicates that the practice does exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This type of corruption is not to be confused with normal marketing or public relations activities, in that it specifically aims, through illegal means, to breach the integrity of the bribe-taker in exchange for a bribe. Some 5.5 per cent of business representatives decided not to make a major investment in the 12 months prior to the survey due to the fear of having to pay bribes to obtain requisite services or permits, thus the impact of bribery on business activity can be substantial. The consequences of other more conventional crimes on a business's property and economic activities can also be considerable, both in terms of direct costs stemming from physical damage and indirect costs in the form of insurance premiums, security expenditure and lost investment opportunities. For instance, around 7.1 per cent of businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina fell victim to fraud by outsiders and such businesses were victimized an average of 3 times in that time period. Annual prevalence rates for burglary (5.8 per cent) and vandalism (2.5 per cent) in the private sector are also significant, as are the average number of times businesses affected fall victim to those crimes (1.8 and 1.4, respectively). Moreover, over the past 12 months some 0.7 per cent of all businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina fell victim to extortion, a crime that can be linked to organized criminal groups. In marked contrast to corruption, a larger share of conventional In marked contrast to corruption, a larger share of conventional crimes (on average, 65.1 per cent for five crime types) is reported to the police by businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While the majority of business representatives (64.7 per cent) consider that the crime risk for their company has remained stable in comparison to the previous 12 months, more than one in ten (11.5 per cent) think it is on the increase and 15.7 per cent on the decrease. The fear of crime plays a very important role in the decision-making process of business leaders when it comes to making major investments. Although there are some differences by economic sector, on average 8.5 per cent of entrepreneurs in Bosnia and Herzegovina state that they did not make a major investment in the previous 12 months due to the fear of crime. Yet while seven out of ten (70.1 per cent) businesses in Bosnia and Herzegovina use at least one protective security system against crime, only slightly more than a quarter (28.2 per cent) have any kind of insurance against the economic cost of crime. Together corruption and other forms of crime place a considerable burden on economic development in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Putting in place more and better targeted measures for protecting businesses against crimes, as well as for preventing corruption (such as effective internal compliance measures and other policies concerning corruption) could make that burden considerably lighter. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 5, 2013 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/corruption/UNODC_BiH_Business_corruption_report_2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina URL: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/corruption/UNODC_BiH_Business_corruption_report_2013.pdf Shelf Number: 131750 Keywords: BriberyBribesCrimes Against BusinessesFinancial CrimesPublic Corruption |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Statistics and Surveys Section Title: Business, Corruption and Crime in Kosovo: The impact of bribery and other crime on private enterprise Summary: This survey of private businesses in Kosovo reveals that corruption and other forms of crime are a great hindrance to private enterprise and have a negative effect on private investment. A significant percentage of businesses pay bribes to public officials repeatedly over the course of the year. Businesses in the Manufacturing, Electricity, Gas, and Water supply sector are those most affected by bribery, followed by businesses in the Wholesale trade and Retail trade sector. The public officials with the highest risk of bribery in interactions with businesses are customs officers, officials in the tax/revenue administration and municipal or provincial officers. While indicators of corruption perceptions are undoubtedly useful for raising awareness, this survey measures the actual experience of corruption and crime through representative sample surveys of businesses in order to provide a more realistic, evidence-based assessment of corruption and crime affecting the business sector. In so doing it focuses on the extent and pattern of bribery by businesses from five different sectors (accounting for over 79.7 per cent of all businesses in Kosovo) in their frequent interactions with the public administration. According to the survey, of all the businesses that had contact with a public official in the 12 months prior to the survey 3.2 per cent paid a bribe to a public official. The average prevalence of business bribery in Kosovo is lower than the share of ordinary Kosovar citizens (11.1 per cent) who experienced the same in UNODC's 2011 general population survey. The examination of the experience of businesses that pay bribes to public officials underlines the fact that corruption plays a role in the daily business of many companies. Bribe-paying businesses pay an average of 7.7 bribes per year, or about one bribe almost every seven weeks. The prevalence of bribery is substantially higher among medium and large (over 50 employees) businesses than among businesses of other sizes. A substantial share of all the bribes paid to public officials by businesses in Kosovo are paid in cash (59.2 per cent), followed by the provision of food and drink in exchange for an illicit "favour" by the public official (58.4 per cent) and other goods or advantages (12.1 per cent). When bribes are paid in cash, the mean amount paid per bribe is 844 Euro, or the equivalent of 1,787 EUR-PPP. As for which party actually broaches the subject of kickbacks, in about 38 per cent of all bribery cases the payment of a bribe is offered by a representative of the business without a prior request being made, whereas in around half (50.1 per cent) of cases payment is either explicitly (13.3 per cent) or implicitly (30.3 per cent) requested by the public official. In a further 6.5 per cent of cases, bribes are paid after a third-party request. The most common purposes for paying bribes cited by businesses is to "speed up business-related procedures" (28.4 per cent of all bribes), "receiving better treatment or information" (14.7 per cent) and "making the finalization of a procedure possible" (13.1 per cent). At the same time, almost a quarter (23.9 per cent) of bribes paid serve for no specific immediate purpose for the businesses paying them, suggesting that these are "sweeteners" given to public officials to "groom" them for future interactions in the interest of the company. As little as 3.7 per cent of bribes paid by businesses are reported to official authorities, mostly to the police, which suggests that businesses in Kosovo often feel obliged to participate in bribery. This is also reflected in the main reasons cited for not reporting bribery: "pointless to report it as nobody would care" (28.2 per cent), "fear of reprisal" (19.2 per cent) and "the payment or gift was given as a sign of gratitude" (19.4 per cent). Bribery in the private sector not only comprises bribes paid by businesses to public officials, it also takes place between businesses themselves in order to secure business transactions. Though lower than the prevalence of bribery between the private and public sector, at 0.6 per cent the prevalence of business-to-business bribery indicates that the practice does exist in Kosovo. This type of corruption is not to be confused with normal marketing or public relations activities, in that it specifically aims, through illegal means, to breach the integrity of the bribe-taker in exchange for a bribe. None of the businesses in the survey reported such business-to business bribery incidents to relevant authorities. Some 3.3 per cent of business representatives decided not to make a major investment in the 12 months prior to the survey due to the fear of having to pay bribes to obtain requisite services or permits, thus the impact of bribery on business activity can be substantial. The consequences of other more conventional crimes on a business's property and economic activities can also be considerable, both in terms of direct costs stemming from physical damage and indirect costs in the form of insurance premiums, security expenditure and lost investment opportunities. For instance, around one in ten businesses (10.1 per cent) in Kosovo fall victim to burglary in various different guises in a year and such businesses are victimized an average of 1.9 times in that time period. Annual prevalence rates for fraud (8 per cent) and vandalism (3.2 per cent) in the private sector are also significant, as are the average number of times businesses affected fall victim to those crimes (5.3 and 1.3, respectively). Moreover, over the past 12 months some 0.4 per cent of all businesses in Kosovo fell victim to extortion, a crime that can be linked to organized criminal groups. In marked contrast to corruption, a larger share of conventional crimes (on average, 59.3 per cent for five crime types) is reported to the police by businesses in Kosovo. While the majority of business representatives (70.5 per cent) consider that the crime risk for their company has remained stable in comparison to the previous 12 months, almost one in ten (9.8 per cent) think it is on the increase and 16.2 per cent on the decrease. The fear of crime plays a very important role in the decision-making process of business leaders when it comes to making major investments. Although there are some differences by economic sector, on average 9.1 per cent of entrepreneurs in Kosovo state that they did not make a major investment in the previous 12 months due to the fear of crime. Yet while about four fifths (80.4 per cent) of businesses in Kosovo use at least one protective security system against crime, only one third (33.5 per cent) have any kind of insurance against the economic cost of crime. Together corruption and other forms of crime place a considerable burden on economic development in Kosovo. Putting in place more and better targeted measures for protecting businesses against crimes, as well as for preventing corruption (such as effective internal compliance measures and other policies concerning corruption) could make that burden considerably lighter. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 5, 2013 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/corruption/Kosovo_Business_corruption_report_EN.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Republic of Kosovo URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/corruption/Kosovo_Business_corruption_report_EN.pdf Shelf Number: 131751 Keywords: BriberyBribesCrimes Against BusinessesFinancial CrimesPublic Corruption |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Business, Corruption and Crime in Albania: The impact of bribery and other crime on private enterprise Summary: This survey of private businesses in Albania reveals that corruption and other forms of crime are a great hindrance to private enterprise and have a negative effect on private investment. A significant percentage of businesses pay bribes to public officials repeatedly over the course of the year. Businesses in the Accommodation and Transportation sectors are those most affected by bribery, followed by businesses in the Construction sector. The public officials with the highest risk of bribery in interactions with businesses are police officers, customs officers, tax/revenues officers, municipal or provincial officers and land registry officers. While indicators of corruption perceptions are undoubtedly useful for raising awareness, this survey measures the actual experience of corruption and crime through representative sample surveys of businesses in order to provide a more realistic, evidence-based assessment of corruption and crime affecting the business sector. In so doing it focuses on the extent and pattern of bribery by businesses from five different sectors (accounting for over 83.5 per cent of all businesses in Albania) in their frequent interactions with the public administration. According to the survey, of all the businesses that had contact with a public official in the 12 months prior to the survey 15.7 per cent paid a bribe to a public official. The average prevalence of business bribery in Albania is slightly lower than the share of ordinary citizens (19.3 per cent) who experienced the same in UNODC's 2011 general population survey. The examination of the experience of businesses that pay bribes to public officials underlines the fact that corruption plays a role in the daily business of many companies. Bribe-paying businesses pay an average of 4.6 bribes per year, or about one bribe every eleven weeks. The prevalence of bribery is higher among small (10 to 49 employees) businesses than among businesses of other sizes. Half of all the bribes paid to public officials by businesses in Albania are paid in cash (50 per cent), followed by the giving of food and drink (24.4 per cent) in exchange for an illicit "favour" by the public official and the provision of other goods not produced by the company (22.8 per cent). When bribes are paid in cash, the mean amount paid per bribe is 53,000 Lek, or the equivalent of 904 EUR-PPP. As for which party actually broaches the subject of kickbacks, in 22.7 per cent of all bribery cases the payment of a bribe is offered by a representative of the business without a prior request being made, whereas in almost two thirds (63.6 per cent) of cases payment is either explicitly (17.1 per cent) or implicitly (38.2 per cent) requested by the public official or paid after a third-party request (8.3 per cent). The most common purposes for paying bribes cited by businesses is to "speed up business-related procedures" (39.1 per cent of all bribes), "making the finalization of a procedure possible" (16.8 per cent), "receiving better treatment" (7.2 per cent), "reducing the cost of a procedure" (6.6 per cent) and "receiving information" (2.8 per cent). At the same time, almost one out of seven (13.5 per cent) bribes paid serve no specific immediate purpose for the businesses paying them, suggesting that these are "sweeteners" given to public officials to "groom" them for future interactions in the interest of the company. Only 2.2 per cent of the businesses who paid bribes had reported bribery incidents in the 12 months prior to the survey to official authorities in Albania, which suggests that businesses often feel obliged to participate in bribery. This is also reflected in the main reasons cited for not reporting bribery: "giving gifts to public officials is common practice" (36.2 per cent) and "it is pointless to report it as nobody would care" (23.6 per cent). Bribery in the private sector not only comprises bribes paid by businesses to public officials, it also takes place between businesses themselves in order to secure business transactions. Though lower than the prevalence of bribery between the private and public sector, at 3.7 per cent the prevalence of business-to-business bribery indicates that the practice does exist in Albania. This type of corruption is not to be confused with normal marketing or public relations activities, in that it specifically aims, through illegal means, to breach the integrity of the bribe-taker in exchange for a bribe. Less than 0.1 per cent of bribe-paying bribes in the survey reported such business-to business bribery incidents to relevant authorities. Some 3.3 per cent of business representatives decided not to make a major investment in the 12 months prior to the survey due to the fear of having to pay bribes to obtain requisite services or permits, thus the impact of bribery on business activity can be substantial. The consequences of other more conventional crimes on a business's property and economic activities can also be considerable, both in terms of direct costs stemming from physical damage and indirect costs in the form of insurance premiums, security expenditure and lost investment opportunities. For instance, 5.8 per cent of businesses in Albania fall victim to burglary in a year and such businesses are victimized an average of 1.9 times in that period. The annual prevalence rate for fraud by outsiders (4.8 per cent) in the private sector is also significant, as is the average number of times businesses affected fall victim to this crime (2.8). The prevalence rate of vandalism is 1.6 per cent, with businesses being victimized an average of 1.6 times a year. In addition, the prevalence rate of motor vehicle theft (MVT) is 0.5 per cent of all car owning businesses, with victims suffering an average of 1.6 incidents. Moreover, over the past 12 months 0.5 per cent of all businesses in Albania fell victim to extortion, a crime that can be linked to organized criminal groups. In marked contrast to corruption, a larger share of conventional crimes (on average, 49.3 per cent for five crime types) is reported to the police by businesses in Albania. While the majority of business representatives (67.7 per cent) consider that the crime risk for their company has remained stable in comparison to the previous 12 months, around one in twelve (8.6 per cent) think it is on the increase and 19.5 per cent on the decrease. The fear of crime plays an important role in the decision-making process of business leaders when it comes to making major investments. Although there are some differences by economic sector, on average 4.4 per cent of the entrepreneurs in Albania state that they did not make a major investment in the previous 12 months due to the fear of crime. Yet while about 88.8 per cent of businesses in Albania use at least one protective security system against crime, only 18.5 per cent have any kind of insurance against the economic cost of crime. Together corruption and other forms of crime place a considerable burden on economic development in Albania. Putting in place more and better targeted measures for protecting businesses against crimes, as well as for preventing corruption (such as effective internal compliance measures and other policies concerning corruption) could make that burden considerably lighter. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2014. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 6, 2014 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/corruption/Albania_Business_Corruption_2013_EN.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Albania URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/corruption/Albania_Business_Corruption_2013_EN.pdf Shelf Number: 132258 Keywords: Bribes Crimes Against Businesses Financial CrimesFraudMotor Vehicle TheftPublic Corruption |
Author: Alschuler, Albert W. Title: Criminal Corruption: Why Broad Definitions of Bribery Make Things Worse Summary: Although the law of bribery may look profoundly under-inclusive, the push to expand it usually should be resisted. This article traces the history of two competing concepts of bribery-the "intent to influence" concept (a concept initially applied only to gifts given to judges) and the "illegal contract" concept. It argues that, if taken literally and applied to officials other than judges, "intent to influence" is now an unthinkable standard. The article defends the Supreme Court's refusal to treat campaign contributions as bribes in the absence of an "explicit" quid pro quo and its refusal to read a statute criminalizing deprivations of "the intangible right of honest services" as scuttling the quid pro quo requirement. While recognizing that the "stream of benefits" metaphor can be compatible with this requirement, it cautions against allowing the requirement to degenerate into a "one hand washes the other" or "favoritism" standard. The article maintains that specific, ex ante regulations of the sort commonly found in ethical codes and campaign finance regulations provide a better way to limit corruption than bribery laws, but it warns that even these regulations should not prohibit all practices that may be the functional equivalent of bribery. The article concludes by speculating about whether the efforts of federal prosecutors to reduce corruption over the past 60 years have given us better government. Details: Chicago: Law School, University of Chicago, 2015. Source: Internet Resource: Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper no. 502: Accessed March 11, 2015 at: http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1951&context=public_law_and_legal_theory Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1951&context=public_law_and_legal_theory Shelf Number: 134904 Keywords: BribesFraud and Corruption |
Author: Dufwenberg, Martin Title: Legalizing Bribe Giving Summary: A model of "harassment bribes," paid for services one is entitled to, is developed to analyze the proposal to legalize paying these bribes while increasing fines on accepting them. We explore performance as regards corruption deterrence and public service provision. Costs of verifying reports make the scheme more effective against larger bribes and where institutions' quality is higher. A modified scheme, where immunity is conditional on reporting, addresses some key objections. The mechanism works better against more distortionary forms of corruption than harassment bribes, provided monetary rewards can compensate bribers for losing the object of the corrupt exchange. Results highlight strong complementarities with policies aimed at improving independence and accountability of law enforcers. Details: Stockholm: Stockholm School of Economics (SITE); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR, 2013. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper no. 13: Accessed April 30, 2015 at: https://ideas.repec.org/p/igi/igierp/515.html Year: 2013 Country: International URL: https://ideas.repec.org/p/igi/igierp/515.html Shelf Number: 135426 Keywords: BribesCorruptionWhistleblowing |
Author: Simpson, Dick Title: Chicago and Illinois, Leading the Pack in Corruption Summary: For a century and a half, public corruption has been a shameful aspect of both Illinois and Chicago politics. The Governor's mansion and Chicago City Council Chambers have long been the epicenters of public corruption. The extent and pervasiveness of bribery, fraud, stealing from the taxpayers, and illegal patronage have made the city and state national leaders of corruption. Our notorious reputations have provided fodder for scores of comedians and late night talk show hosts. But corruption is a serious problem that hurts all citizens who put their trust - and tax dollars - in the hands of politicians who abuse the power they are given. New public corruption conviction data from the U.S. Department of Justice shows the Chicago metropolitan region has been the most corrupt area in the country since 1976. In addition, the data reveal that Illinois is the third most corrupt state in the nation. The latest information, just released by the Justice Department, provides new evidence of the need for reforms to reduce rampant corruption in Chicago and Illinois. Since 1970, four Illinois governors have been convicted of corruption. Yet only seven men have held this office in this time, meaning more than half of the state's governors have been convicted in the past forty-two years. Otto Kerner, who served from 1961 until his resignation in 1968 to accept a federal judgeship, was convicted in 1973 of mail fraud, bribery, perjury, and income tax evasion while governor. Dan Walker, who served from 1973 - 1977, was convicted in 1987 of obtaining fraudulent loans for the business he operated after he left office. George Ryan, who served from 1999 - 2003, was found guilty in 2006 of racketeering, conspiracy and numerous other charges. Many of the charges were part of a huge scandal, later called "Licenses for Bribes," which resulted in the conviction of more than 40 state workers and private citizens. The scandal involved unqualified truck drivers receiving licenses in exchange for bribes that would ultimately end up in Ryan's campaign fund. The scandal came to light when a recipient of one of these licenses crashed in to a van and killed six children. But perhaps the most famous of all Illinois corrupt officials is Rod Blagojevich, who served from 2003 until his impeachment in 2009. Blagojevich was ultimately convicted in 2011 of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. Other charges included his attempting to shake down Children's Memorial Hospital for a campaign contribution in return for funding and his trying to extort a racetrack owner. Not to be outdone, the City of Chicago has seen its share of convicted officials. The first conviction of Chicago aldermen and Cook County Commissioners for accepting bribes to rig a crooked contract occurred in1869. Since 1973, 31 more aldermen have been convicted of corruption. Approximately 100 aldermen have served since then, which is a conviction rate of about one-third. In 1973 and 1974, four aldermen were convicted of bribery, income tax evasion and mail fraud in a scandal involving zoning changes. In the 1980s, three aldermen pleaded guilty or were found guilty in Operation Incubator, a major FBI investigation into Chicago corruption. The convictions included bribery, racketeering, extortion, mail fraud and tax evasion. Less than 10 years later, seven more aldermen were convicted as part of Operation Silver Shovel, another major FBI investigation into corruption in Chicago in the 1990s. Between 1996 and 1999 these seven were convicted of bribery, money laundering, fraud and tax evasion. Details: Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Political Science and the Illinois Integrity Initiative of the University of Illinois Institute for Government and Public Affairs, 2012. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Anti-Corruption Report No. 5: Accessed August 27, 2015 at: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/leadingthepack.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/leadingthepack.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Shelf Number: 136601 Keywords: BribesCorruptionExtortionRacketeeringTax Evasion |
Author: Gradel, Thomas J. Title: Patronage, Cronyism and Criminality in Chicago Government Agencies Summary: Chicago's political history has been marked by scandal for 150 years; when the first political machine was created. Since then, machine politics have made it possible for public officials and business people to use public resources for personal gain. Our previous reports have focused on aldermanic corruption and major scandals in Illinois and Cook County. In this report we examine corruption in the city of Chicago government. We study certain public agencies throughout the city and their distinct patterns to better understand these hot spots of corruption. We have relied primarily on a thorough analysis of city newspapers as well as memoirs and books. In this report we focus primarily on the Department of Fleet Management, Fire Department, City Treasurers Office, Chicago Park District, Building and Zoning Department, O'Hare Airport, McCormick Place, and Procurement. However, the patterns of patronage, waste, and corruption are so pervasive as to suggest that corruption exists in most city agencies. As long as Chicago is run by "machine politics," corruption will be a hallmark of city government. The cost is high. In Chicago and Cook County there have been more than 340 convictions of public officials and business people since 1970, including three governors, 31 aldermen, more than 40 city employees in the "Hired Truck" scandal, 21 people in building inspection payoffs, and dozens of park district employees. Many of these lawbreakers have been convicted of multiple crimes. These are only some of the best-known scandals. In the roster of crooked city employees and their business associates at the end of this report we detail them along with their crimes and sentences. These felons and the many people who were also guilty but not caught have cost Chicago, Cook County and Illinois taxpayers an estimated 500 million dollars a year. This report contains three sections. First, a summary of the patterns of abuse present in each agency. Second, a roster naming more than 340 convicted city officials involved in public corruption scandals in city government offices. The report also includes the names of private citizens who were indicted and/or convicted in connection with these public corruption cases. The third section, we recommend specific reforms to end this "culture of corruption" and draft city ordinances to correct some of the worst problems. The main focus of this report covers the period of time from 1989 until the end of the administration of Richard M. Daley in 2011. However, corruption and criminal prosecution of it dates back to the public conviction of aldermen and county commissioners for a crooked contract in 1869 - almost 150 years ago. Throughout the agencies examined in this report, we see patterns of bribery, patronage, contract rigging, conflict of interest, nepotism/family ties, clout, and theft. These problems are not confined to one specific agency but occur in many government offices. Details: Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Political Science, 2011. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Anti-Corruption Report no. 4: Accessed August 27, 2015 at: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/anticorruptionreport_4.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/anticorruptionreport_4.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Shelf Number: 136602 Keywords: BribesPatronagePolitical Corruption |
Author: Gradel, Thomas J. Title: Corruption in Cook County: Anti-Corruption Report Number 3 Summary: Cook County government has been a dark pool of political corruption for more than 140 years. The first public corruption scandal occurred in 1869 when a number of Cook County Commissioners accepted bribes to approve a fraudulent contract to paint city hall.1 During the last several decades, Cook County has been a center of corruption with scandals emerging in many different units of county government. By chronicling the cases we hope to call attention to the need for meaningful reform. When county government such as Cook County Clerk David Orr's office or Assessor James Houlihan's office do undertake meaningful reform, others sink back into the mire. Public or political corruption occurs when government officials use their public office for private gain or benefit. In Cook County government this includes outright bribes as well as campaign contributions made by individuals or corporations in exchange for jobs, inflated contracts or political favors. It includes ghost payroll jobs in which individuals get a paycheck but do no work. With an annual budget of more than $3 billion-dishonest public servants find many different ways to profit illegally. The purpose of this report is to summarize the many different forms of corruption and to recommend basic reforms that need to be enacted to clean up Cook County government. This report provides a roster of nearly 150 convicted Cook County politicians and government officials along with descriptions of each of their illegal schemes. It includes private citizens and businessmen who were also convicted in connection with public corruption scandals. There are eight individuals named who are under investigation or have been indicted but not yet convicted. Most of the information came through a careful search of newspaper articles and public records since 1970. The actual total of corrupt officials and their cohorts may be greater than the number we have listed. We are still working to document the many other grafters, crooks and cheats who work for the county or receive county contracts. Criminal convictions are just the tip of the iceberg in Cook County. For each corrupt official who is convicted-there may be dozens more who are involved in the same or similar schemes but escape prosecution. The pattern of political corruption in county government is widespread and not confined to a single unit of government. This report documents graft and corruption in the Cook County Board President's office, his Office of Employment and Training, the Highway Department and in the offices of the sheriff, assessor and treasurer as well as the Clerk of the Circuit Court. It details outright theft and bribery, as well as endemic patronage, nepotism, and cronyism. An especially egregious example was Judge Thomas J. Maloney. He was convicted in Operation Gambat of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to fix felony cases including murder trials. Another outrageous example was Marie D'Amico convicted in Operation Haunted Hall of having three no-work jobs. D'Amico is the daughter of Alderman Tony Laurino and wife of then Deputy Commissioner of Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation John D'Amico, who did 2 years in federal prison for his involvement in the ghost payroll scheme. Finally, in addition to systemic corruption, county government is infested with conflicts of interest that often result in contracts being awarded to the friends, family and political cronies of public officials. These are not cases involving outright bribery but in Chicago parlance, they are evidence of the "culture of clout" and result in hiring unqualified candidates and awarding contracts with "theft written between the lines." It is a pattern of pervasive corruption and a culture of deceit that must be changed if county government is to provide honest, transparent, efficient and effective government to taxpayers at a cost we can afford. Details: Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Political Science and the Better Government Association, 2010. 33p. Source: Internet Resource: Anti-Corruption Report no. 3: Accessed August 27, 2015 at: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/anti-corruptionreportnumber3.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/anti-corruptionreportnumber3.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Shelf Number: 136603 Keywords: BribesCorruptionPatronagePolitical Corruption |
Author: Gradel, Thomas J. Title: The Depth of Corruption in Illinois: Anti-Corruption Report Number 2 Summary: Public corruption in Illinois has a long history dating from the first scandal involving Chicago aldermen and Cook County commissioners in the 1860s. At that time they participated in a crooked contract to paint city hall. Today, nearly a century and a half later, crooked contracts still cost the taxpayers millions of dollars a year and crooked politicians still go to jail. As we continue our study of public corruption, we have discovered that our original findings underestimated the level of corruption in recent years. We now know that more than 1500 individuals have been convicted of myriad forms of public corruption since 1970. Based upon the testimony before the Illinois Reform Commission and our own research, we now believe that the cost of corruption, or "corruption tax," for the Chicago and Illinois taxpayer is at least $500 million a year. This is based upon testimony before the commission that about 5% of state government contracts are given out to political cronies and campaign contributors and on our own tallies of the costs of the major scandals over the last four decades. In our last report we provided a detailed analysis of the 30 aldermen and former aldermen convicted of public corruption since 1970. In this report we describe some of the major scandals of the last four decades, a timeline of more than 375 convicted individuals at all levels of government, and a further analysis of some of the costs of corruption which have caused us to revise our estimate of the corruption tax. The details of these scandals and their costs are included in the appendices of this report. Our research on all aspects of corruption is continuing. But we provide this update to support the report of the Illinois Reform Commission and to contribute to the ongoing debate in the state legislature. Only comprehensive reforms can lessen the level of corruption in Chicago and Illinois, currently the capitals of corruption in the United States. Given the high cost of corruption, we cannot hope to adopt a prudent city, county, or state budget without reform. Otherwise we will continue to pay too much for government services; we will keep honest businesses from locating here; and we will slow economic recovery from the current recession. Citizens will continue to distrust government at all levels and consider tax increases unfair. Here are a few examples of some of the costs of corruption in a selection of major scandals. The costs of the Jon Burge police brutality scandal has already reached $33.2 million dollars and counting; the Governor Rod Blagojevich related scandals called "Board Games" have already cost taxpayers $22. million; the Governor George Ryan driver licenses scandals were $4.9 million; the ghost payroll scandals in "Haunted Hall" were $3 million; the "Incubator" bribery cases involving Chicago aldermen have cost more than $239,000; and bribery cases with building inspectors more than $23,000. These costs do not include tens of millions of dollars for investigating, prosecuting, and imprisoning these various public criminals. Since there have been 1500 convictions since 1970 for bribery, tax evasion, lying to the FBI, and obstructing justice, the costs of corruption have been enormous. Curbing public corruption is the first step in reestablishing trust and pride in our government. We support the reforms recommended by Governor Quinn's Illinois Reform Commission Proposals. Any hope of curing the "culture of corruption" or the "Chicago Way" which has prevailed since the 1860s requires a comprehensive program of mutually reinforcing reforms. These must include a mix of corruption prevention and enforcement measures along with public involvement and education. To pass these reforms and to implement them requires the development of a broad coalition of support. In this regard the recent Joyce Foundation public opinion poll shows more than 60% of Illinois residents name corruption as one of their top concerns (even more than the economy or jobs). And the survey reveals that more than 70% favor a number of specific reforms, such as limiting the campaign money that legislative leaders can contribute to other legislative candidates. These findings indicate that there is a greater possibility now - at this moment, as President Obama would say -- to build a broad coalition around a comprehensive reform program than ever before in the past half century. Efforts at reform should occur in all units of government and should move forward quickly while the level of public support, following the impeachment and removal of former Governor Rod Blagojevich, is at such a high level. Details: Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Political Science, 2009. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Anti-Corruption Report No. 2: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/anti-corruptionreportnumber2.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://pols.uic.edu/docs/default-source/chicago_politics/anti-corruption_reports/anti-corruptionreportnumber2.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Shelf Number: 136604 Keywords: BribesCorruptionPolitical CorruptionTax Evasion |
Author: Dougherty, Michael L. Title: By the Gun or by the Bribe: Firm Size, Environmental Governance and Corruption Among Mining Companies in Guatemala Summary: This U4 Issue discusses the corruption risks faced by mining companies in Guatemala, with a particular focus on the risks faced by small, "junior" mining companies primarily engaged in exploration. Several factors make such companies highly prone to engaging in corrupt behavior, especially when operating in weak institutional contexts: the highly competitive nature of the mining industry, the risky dynamics of the exploration stage, and the specific characteristics of junior companies - their short operational timelines, low reputational risks, highly mobile and flexible nature, and reliance on fickle venture capital. Additionally, public environmental governance, and in particularly the approval of the environmental impact assessment, represents a moment of acute vulnerability to corruption, particularly for junior companies. In order to mitigate corruption risks among junior mining companies, donor agencies should help to build community capacity to monitor mining operations, build central state government capacity for environmental governance, work with countries to improve the rigor for environmental impact assessment processes, increase the visibility and reputational risks for junior companies, and build cultures of compliance in junior companies' countries of origin as well as within companies. Details: Bergen, Norway: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2015. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Chr. Michelsen Institute, U4 Issue Paper 2015:17 : Accessed December 3, 2015 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2668030 Year: 2015 Country: Guatemala URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2668030 Shelf Number: 137438 Keywords: BribesCorruptionMining IndustryOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Sundstrom, Aksel Title: Violence and the Costs of Honesty: Rethinking bureaucrats' choice to take bribes Summary: Explanations for bureaucrats' decisions to take bribes have evolved from accounts of incentives to focusing on expectations of others' behavior. However, there are plausibly more considerations when making such choices in contexts of widespread violence, where refusal to take bribes may be associated with high costs. Yet, current insight into this topic is limited. This article investigates how violence upholds bribery through interviews with South African officials that enforce resource regulations in communities where gangs run poaching operations. The findings suggest that while citizens commonly give bribes to enable rule violations, this is a process of both temptations and threats: officials that do not take bribes face violent intimidations by citizens and corrupt col-leagues. Through reducing direct costs in such settings, bribe taking is partly a strategy of social protection. This suggests that, besides incentives and expectations, administrative reforms may benefit from 'fixing the security' of bureaucrats in violent contexts. Details: Goteborg: QOG, The Quality of Government Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series 2015:2: Accessed February 5, 2016 at: http://qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1515/1515130_2015_2_sundstro--m.pdf Year: 2015 Country: South Africa URL: http://qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1515/1515130_2015_2_sundstro--m.pdf Shelf Number: 137772 Keywords: BribesPolitical Corruption |
Author: Kroll Title: The Year of Global Expansion and Enforcement: 2016 Anti-Bribery and Corruption Benchmarking Report Summary: Kroll, the global leader in risk mitigation and response solutions, today released its 2016 Anti-Bribery and Corruption Report ("ABC Report"), produced in conjunction with the Ethisphere Institute. As reflected in the ABC Report, 40 percent of all compliance officers surveyed believe their company's bribery and corruption risks will increase in 2016. These senior-level ethics and compliance professionals cited two primary factors as contributing to these increased risks: global expansion and an ever-increasing number of third party business relationships. One in four of those surveyed expressed no confidence in the ability of their company's current controls to detect third party violations of anti-corruption laws. This percentage - 25 percent - is an alarmingly high figure given the increasing number of third party relationships involved in business activities, as well as the large percentage of enforcement actions rooted in payments facilitated through third parties. On a positive note, the degree of board and senior executive engagement regarding anti-bribery and corruption matters is increasing, with over half of respondents stating that their board of directors plays an active role in programme development, and 48 percent saying the same of their CEO. The ABC Report data reveals that companies with engaged leadership teams are more likely to believe their bribery and corruption risks will remain the same or decrease in the coming year, and they display more confidence in their ability to handle risk. The ABC Report also includes the following findings: - 54% of respondents felt their business was not appropriately prepared to comply with global bribery and corruption risks - 47% felt they did not have enough resources to support their organization's anti-corruption efforts - Only 19% felt highly confident in their controls to detect third party violations of anti-corruption laws - 29% of respondents indicated that they are more concerned with personal liability than in prior years - 47% described their company's leadership as highly engaged in anti-bribery and corruption efforts - 86% identified the Chief Financial Officer and 66% identified the Chief Compliance Officer as the internal stakeholders primarily responsible for driving programme development - 48% of respondents do not conduct third party audits, and only 34% say they are providing training to third parties. Details: New York: Kroll, Inc., 2016. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2016 at: http://info.kroll.com/2016-abc-report Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://info.kroll.com/2016-abc-report. Shelf Number: 138144 Keywords: BribesCorruption and FraudCrimes Against Businesses |
Author: EY Title: Fraud and corruption -- Driving away talent? Asia-Pacific Fraud Survey 2015 Summary: Given the ongoing war for talent in Asia-Pacific (APAC), our APAC Fraud Survey 2015 reveals a compelling new reason for executives and boards to revisit their fraud, bribery and corruption risk mitigation strategies. To date, the incentives to get compliance right have centered on minimizing financial losses, reducing the management time required to investigate and remediate issues, and preventing the reputational damage caused by corruption. But with a vast majority of our more than 1,500 respondents rating ethical practices as important - and nearly 80% saying they would be unwilling to work for organizations involved in bribery and corruption - there's a new imperative to manage fraud, bribery and corruption risks effectively. Failing to do so could see promising talent avoid working for organizations and cause the best employees to jump ship, leading to higher attrition rates and expensive recruitment campaigns. In markets where it's already difficult to recruit and retain staff, the consequences could be catastrophic. As this survey discusses, to avoid putting their valued talent and growth strategies at risk, APAC companies will need a holistic fraud prevention and detection framework - backed by strong leadership, with up-to-date and well-enforced internal controls, policies and procedures. Organizations also need to improve the way they handle whistleblower hotline complaints, with far fewer respondents willing to use a hotline when compared to our 2013 survey. Our 2015 survey also concludes that the answer to increasing regulatory enforcement and stretched in-house compliance teams lies in leveraging big data through forensic data analytics (FDA), as well as involving the entire C-suite in preparing for a possible cybercrime incident. Details: s.l.: EY, 2015. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-apac-fraud-survey-2015/$FILE/ey-apac-fraud-survey-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia URL: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-apac-fraud-survey-2015/$FILE/ey-apac-fraud-survey-2015.pdf Shelf Number: 139139 Keywords: BribesCrimes Against BusinessCybercrimeFinancial CrimesFraud and Corruption |
Author: United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Title: Corruption in Nigeria. Bribery: public experience and response Summary: The problem of corruption is arguably one of the most significant global issues in the contemporary world. In the last three decades, in particular, international attention has been focused on the challenges of corruption though it has remained a serious and significant global issue throughout the millennia. Very recently, the international community has recognized its harmful impact by including a specific target to fight corruption in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Corruption is the bane of any progressive society. It stifles entrepreneurship, professionalism and erodes the values of hard work and honesty, and is one of the root causes of under-development in our society. Over the years we have seen the effect of corruption manifesting across all sectors of society with collusion across the public to private sectors to sports bodies and even civil society. Sadly, Nigeria as a country has experienced this menace for a long time but now appears to be tackling it head on. It is for this reason that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to carry out this survey on the quality and integrity of public services in Nigeria, the result of which are published in this report. This work is timely, especially in view of the rising importance and use of data in Nigeria for evidence based policy and decision making. This study complements attempts at deploying the use of data and statistics in understanding the nature and magnitude of corruption in Nigeria. This will assist government and policy makers in making informed decisions on how best to fight the problem, and ultimately, offer us a better chance of reducing it to its barest minimum. This is the first comprehensive nationwide household survey on corruption to be conducted in Nigeria and in Africa at large. It covers all States of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, and this report therefore provides very valuable and reliable information, which will no doubt support the national efforts in reducing the menace and blocking loopholes in our public services. While this is just the first step in the process of understanding corruption and tackling it, it is indeed a significant step and all Nigerians must be committed to seeing this process through to the end because of what is at stake for the future of our country. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2017. 131p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 7, 2017 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crime-statistics/Nigeria/Corruption_Nigeria_2017_07_31_web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Nigeria URL: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crime-statistics/Nigeria/Corruption_Nigeria_2017_07_31_web.pdf Shelf Number: 147140 Keywords: Bribery BribesCorruption Political Corruption |
Author: Lorenzon, Geanluca Title: Corruption and the Rule of Law: How Brazil Strengthened Its legal System Summary: Brazil is in the midst of one of the biggest corruption scandals in history. In the last three years, hundreds of business people and politicians - including former president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva - have been investigated and prosecuted for taking part in a massive bribery scheme involving state-owned companies. Although graft and influence peddling are not a new phenomenon in Brazil, bringing powerful individuals to justice certainly is. Several reforms explain this transition to a more robust legal system. These include the introduction of plea bargaining in organized crime investigations; the creation of two public institutions to oversee the judiciary and the Public Ministry (the country's top prosecutorial body), respectively; a competitive selection process based on merit for prosecutors and judges; and greater autonomy for the Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Police. A merit-based selection system for judicial appointments introduced in the 1988 constitution and greater access to public office by individuals with no previous political connections have also played a significant role in strengthening the country's judicial institutions. Brazil's judiciary still has palpable problems, particularly its excessive cost and a bloated workload. In addition, judges enjoy certain prerogatives that are frequently abused. However, despite these shortcomings, the effectiveness of the judicial system has improved enormously since the 1990s, especially in fighting corruption. Brazil's recent experience holds lessons for other countries, especially in Latin America, where corruption, abuse of power, and impunity have been endemic features of public life. Details: Washington, DC: Cat0 Institute, 2018. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Analysis, No. 827: https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/corruption-rule-law-how-brazil-strengthened-its-legal-system Year: 2017 Country: Brazil URL: https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/corruption-rule-law-how-brazil-strengthened-its-legal-system Shelf Number: 150559 Keywords: BribesCriminal Justice Systems Judicial System Political Corruption Rule of Law |
Author: Kroll Title: Anti-Bribery and Corruption Benchmarking Report - 2018. Converging Third Party Risks: Regulation, Reputation, and Information Summary: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In today's global, hyper-connected economy, we find anti-bribery and corruption programs in the midst of an evolution that is driven by converging organizational risks and priorities. Regulatory mandates, critical reputational factors, and data security issues are increasingly intertwined as compliance teams strive to protect their organizations from ABC risks. The common thread running through all these risks is the high volume of direct and indirect third parties that partner with and supply services to organizations. Forty-five percent of respondents work with at least 1,000 third parties per year, a six percentage point increase over the 2017 Report. Individually, regulatory, reputational, and data security risks are persistent challenges that compliance and ethics professionals know very well. The convergence of these risks is driving greater collaboration between the organization's compliance and information security teams, which can make for stronger, more compliant anti-bribery and corruption programs. Leadership engagement, always a key and essential contributor to program effectiveness, is especially critical for ensuring enterprise-wide support for compliance efforts. Doing business ethically and maintaining an up-to-date anti-bribery and corruption program is not just about avoiding the pitfalls of reputational or legal risk. Investors are finding that a focus on ethical business dealings can translate into rewarding financial outcomes. By way of example, the publicly traded companies among Ethisphere's 2018 World's Most Ethical Companies ("Honorees") outperformed U.S. Large Cap Indices by 4.88 percent over the last three years, demonstrating that ethics and performance are well-suited companions and valued in the marketplace. Despite the increased focus and engagement of organizational resources on compliance efforts, a staggering 93 percent of respondents believe their ABC risks will remain the same or worsen in 2018. Those who expect greater ABC risks attribute the rise to increased enforcement of existing regulations, followed closely by new regulations. Given these expanding regulatory pressures, a holistic, multidisciplinary approach may hold the key to sustainable improvements in the future. Some key findings from our study include: ABC PROGRAMS: ONGOING CHALLENGES Overall, the results of this year's survey were consistent with those in our last report; namely, that third party risks - particularly reputational issues - were of greatest concern to respondents. In a shift from last year, however, respondents singled out increased enforcement of existing regulations along with the prospect of new regulations as the top reasons why they expect their anti-bribery and corruption risks to grow in 2018. A significant percentage of respondents continue to worry that they are not prepared to address the risks that their third parties present. Indeed, 58 percent of respondents uncovered legal, ethical, or compliance issues with a third party after initial due diligence. Most often, organizations' due diligence practices - such as ongoing and active monitoring - are responsible for bringing these issues to light. However, in a growing number of cases, third parties are self-disclosing infractions, a clear reflection of changing cultural and regulatory trends, including heightened concerns over personal liability. Risk-based segmentation, ongoing monitoring that incorporates regular data refresh, and periodic program evaluations have emerged as best-practice features of effective anti-bribery and corruption programs. OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE RISKS ON THE RISE The most notable year-over-year change in survey responses was the increased concern over opaque ownership structures, which rose this year to become the third most common reason why third parties are failing to meet an organization's standards. However, current mitigation efforts have not translated into confidence for compliance teams: less than a quarter of respondents reported that they are very comfortable with their ability to effectively address the risks associated with beneficial ownership. A global expansion of regulatory mandates that demand attention to ownership is driving much of the greater focus on the matter. Broader societal expectations, however, are also playing a critical role; the potential for significant, long-lasting reputational damage has made the effort to track ownership an imperative. ABC AFTER ONBOARDING: ONGOING MONITORING AND DATA REFRESH In the fast-changing global marketplace, organizations cannot expect that a third party's risk profile and/or ownership will remain static after initial on-boarding due diligence. In fact, regulatory guidance has made ongoing monitoring an expectation for an effective and engaged anti-bribery and corruption program. However, there is no clear mandate as to what monitoring should entail or how often it should be done. To be expected - and consistent with prior data -respondents reported a number of different approaches to monitoring. This year, however, we introduced the topic of third party data refresh into our survey and found many organizations using the practice to one degree or another. Refreshing baseline information on their third-party universe can help ensure organizations are conducting diligence or other monitoring practices corresponding with the actual risk presented by their third parties. With anti-bribery and corruption programs increasingly driven by technology, data integrity is a growing factor in risk mitigation and defense. MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS Virtually the same percentage of respondents reported their organizations had engaged in M and A activity in 2017 as did in the prior year (62 percent and 67 percent, respectively). However, M and A continues to challenge compliance professionals from an anti-bribery and corruption perspective. The data shows that respondents are still not consistently meeting regulatory guidance, which expects organizations to thoroughly understand who they are acquiring. Similar to last year, respondents report collecting less information on the third parties of their transaction targets than on direct third parties. In a more positive development, Kroll experts have noted that some organizations, particularly those looking to be acquired, are turning this exercise into a competitive advantage. "Clean-up" work on their own third-party universe or supply chains can help make target companies more attractive to buyers and accelerate the transaction process. NEW RESOURCES EMERGE AS ABC AND ENTERPRISE RISKS CONVERGE A convergence of risk factors - specifically regulatory, reputational, and data security - is driving home the realization that greater collaboration and support from resources across the enterprise can help anti-bribery and corruption programs better mitigate risks. Increasingly stringent data privacy laws - including the imminent adoption of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - are making information - gathering on third parties a minefield. Across all survey respondents, 85 percent described themselves as somewhat or very concerned about data security risks. Meanwhile, mobile technology and applications such as WhatsApp and WeChat are creating internal vulnerabilities. Growing collaboration between compliance and information security/technology teams is proving instrumental in making due diligence efforts compliant and comprehensive. Overall, ABC programs are receiving greater investments from their organizations; however, nearly half of this year's respondents (47 percent) feel they need more resources. Measuring the effectiveness of programs can be the key to ensuring appropriate funding levels. Indeed, the survey data shows a link between program measurement and high levels of leadership engagement, which plays a critical role in anti-bribery and corruption program effectiveness. Beyond regulatory compliance, leaders are aiming to safeguard brands and organizational reputations. Details: New York: 2018. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 9, 2019 at: https://www.kroll.com/en-us/abc-report Year: 2018 Country: International URL: https://1okg7q3ipr08ql7es2x3ip4634-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Kroll_2018_ABC_Report_Digital.pdf Shelf Number: 154046 Keywords: ABC ProgramsAnti-BriberyBribery Bribes Corruption Crimes Against BusinessesFinancial Crimes FraudGeneral Data Protection RegulationSecurity Risks |