Why bribery is wrong

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Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. Email required Address never made public. Name required. Follow Following. Sign me up. Regulatory schemes vary dramatically in their scope, merit and purpose. Anti-bribery laws should not be swept up in this frenzy lightly. The social arguments against bribery are compelling. Bribery of government officials constitutes theft from the public. Bribery undermines security when police, military, customs officials and border guards can be bought.

Bribes are paid to ensure building inspectors look the other way, health officials approve unsafe products, toxic waste is disposed of inappropriately, and government contracts are awarded for inferior products at inflated prices.

Far too little is said in reply to explain how bad bribery is for business. Well-run companies prefer predictability and bribery introduces uncertainty and delay. No contracts are signed formalizing bribes, so the negotiation never officially ends.

Entrepreneurial bribe-takers identify or create opportunities for more demands. Delays increase as more people want in on the deal. Load more articles. No comments yet. You're not signed in. Only registered users can comment on this article.

Sign in Register. Connect with us to join the compliance conversation. Responses tend to focus on dismissing such objections as naive. How could things be otherwise? Can I help it if I met a senator or MP at a party, because I go to a lot of parties, and we got talking, and some ideas were exchanged? The everyone-does-it argument is bad moral philosophy to start with, but even more corrupt when, in fact, everyone does not do it, supposing they would if they could.

The main moral argument against business bribery is that it exploits existing inequities by creating new ones, widening gaps in wealth and influence under cover of savvy practice. Corruption is a species of virus. It invades cultures, and then becomes endemic, developing perverse incentives for previously honest brokers to indulge in it, for fear of losing out on advantage.

Again, though, moral matters quickly become complicated. In many places, what North American regulators and lawyers would label as culpable bribery is entirely accepted and not viewed as corrupt. There is often a feeling that these dealings are victimless exchanges for mutual benefit. I witnessed no palming of cash on visits to Shanghai or Hong Kong, for example, but it was clear that the development of guan xi , the Chinese term for networks and relationships that oil the wheels of commerce and politics, depended heavily on expensive dinners, gifts of single malt whisky or Cuban cigars and golf-club memberships.

A colleague in Qatar persuaded me that baksheesh , where tipping meets bribing, is an honoured tradition throughout the Middle East. Now we come, for most us, closer to home. The notion of bribery, strictly applied, could easily cover picking up a drinks tab, proffering a pair of hockey tickets or offering an introduction to influential people at the next faculty mixer. But that strict view is rare. You offer me a round at Glen Abbey one day soon.

And I understand that you would appreciate it very much if that internship went to your daughter, or if we favoured your tender on our new project.

Say no more. In fact, say nothing. When does a legitimate incentive scheme or enticement shade over into outright bribe, especially when both parties may actually feel pleasure in a given value-swap? The recent U.