政府采购腐败的机理分析及其防范措施

本文认为,腐败是公共权力在民众与国家或官员之间委托代理运行的必然产物。在政府采购活动中,存在着"纳税人—政府—财政部门—政府采购机构—政府采购官员"这样一条长长的委托代理链,作为初始委托人的纳税人实际上没有行为能力,既不能在政府采购市场决策中签约,也不能从中直接受益,而其他委托代理人则由于利益关联会产生一系列政府采购腐败。政府采购腐败产生的根源主要是制度的缺失,也受非制度因素的影响。政府采购腐败的防范既需要政府采购制度的创新,也需要非制度措施的配合。对政府采购腐败的制度防范,一要完善采购制度,加大寻租成本,降低寻租收益,抑制寻租行为;二要建立政府采购公开制度,增加采购透明度,使政府采购行为各环节在相关法定程序及政府部门和社会的监督下进行;三要加强政府监管制度,健全政府采购招投标竞争机制。对政府采购腐败的非制度防范,一要完善政府采购相关法律体系,对政府采购的使用范围、管理权限、履约责任等政策性和技术性问题进行明确界定;二要加强政府采购人员教育工作,建立政府采购人员资格认证制度;三要努力提高各利益主体的相互监督意识,建立全方位监督体系。     

Corruption: the corporate perspective

Corruption (bribery, extortion, blackmail, favor-currying, abuse of insider information, nepotism, favoritism, mafias, protection rackets, siphoning off funds, laundering illicit money) is a source of concern for governments, entrepreneurs, private individuals, non-governmental organizations, companies – indeed, for society as a whole, on a number of levels; economic, sociopolitical, and ethical. The purpose of this article is primarily to explain why corruption is a cause for concern for companies. It begins by explaining what corruption is, describing how it occurs and offering a causal explanation, and then goes on to describe how it occurs in companies and why it is a cause of concern for them.     

腐败侵蚀与财政支出扭曲

采用1995—2006年中国大陆省级面板数据,实证检验腐败对中国财政支出规模和结构的影响。研究发现:腐败激励了财政支出规模的膨胀,促使支出结构变形;腐败显著地推高了经济建设支出的比重,但降低了社会文教支出的比重。     

Business Ethics East vs. West: Myths and Realities

The West has a stereotypical image of businesses, officials, and politicians, etc., in the East (Third World) countries being pervasively corrupt while it views itself as being almost completely uncorrupt. One closer look, however, realities turn out to be quite different. Business corruption is much more universal that Westerners are generally willing to accept. The major differences are that corruption in the East is practiced so blatantly that it makes major news. Western businesses, on the other hand, have, over time, developed sophisticated techniques whereby corruption becomes almost invisible. This paper discusses the myths and realities of Eastern versus Western corruption and discusses several means which have allowed Western companies to exploit others through subtle and, almost invisible means. The overall advantage, however, still goes to the West where petty corruption has been pretty much eliminated.     

Understanding the Demand-Side Issues of International Corruption

In global business, business organizations and their representatives frequently encounter corruption and may be the perpetrators, victims, or simply participants in such acts. While international corruption has existed in multiple forms for several years, many individuals, companies, nations, and international organizations are currently attempting to reduce or eliminate corrupt acts because of their harmful effects on local economies and the quality of life of citizens. Several of these corruption curtailment efforts have been directed toward the supply-side of corruption, i.e., those who make corrupt payments. In developing an understanding of corruption, however, and formulating strategies for its reduction, consideration must also be given to the demand-side of corruption, i.e., those who demand and accept corrupt payments. Accordingly, this study examined the demand-side of corruption and several related factors in the categories of government, economy and poverty, education, geography, and culture. Analysis of these factors employed the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), formulated annually by Transparency International (TI), and other sources. Several factors in each of the five categories were found to correlate significantly with perceived corruption, and strategies for addressing these issues were developed and discussed.     

State of corruption in transition: case of the Czech Republic

Corruption has a negative impact on society and economy. The transition process in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) uncovered dormant possibilities for corruption and the necessity for appropriate steps to be taken. We document on the state of corruption in the Czech Republic and the measures introduced to fight it. We cover sectors of society and economy according to their importance of a consequential corruption hazard. We also described the government's program of anticorruption and its achievements and failures. The state of corruption in the country, measured by the Corruption Perception Index, presents a serious problem since the index does not improve as the transition process advances. Numerous comparative studies, however, suggest that corruption is a more prominent feature in a number of other transition countries. We believe that the substantial change of approach to the institutional framework is necessary in order to prevent and fight corruption successfully.     

Organizational Isomorphism and Corruption in Financial Institutions: Empirical Research in Emerging Countries

The globalizations of capital markets in the last 20 years has led to a historic degree of financial integration in the world. It is clear, however, that globalization is not conducive to a complete homogeneity of financial markets and institutions. Among others, one element of diversity is the importance of the impact of corruption in emerging countries. Corruption decreases the credibility of financial institutions and markets. Scandals and unethical behavior in financial institutions erode confidence in such firms. Relying on neoinstitutional literature, this article focuses on the link between corruption and organizational isomorphism in financial institutions in emerging countries. Therefore, our aim is to examine the institutional reasons for corruption in financial institutions in emerging countries. Our structural equation model is based on empirical research in financial institutions in emerging countries. A questionnaire was administrated to 70 top executives of financial institutions in 18 different emerging countries.     

Understanding Corruption in Organizations – Development and Empirical Assessment of an Action Model

Despite a strong sensitization to the corruption problem and a large body of interdisciplinary research, scientists have only rarely investigated which motivational, volitional, emotional, and cognitive components make decision makers in companies act corruptly. Thus, we examined how their interrelation leads to corruption by proposing an action model. We tested the model using a business simulation game with students as participants. Results of the PLS structural equation modeling showed that both an attitude and subjective norm favoring corruption led to a desire to act corruptly. Given high perceived behavioral control, this desire was transformed into an intention that finally resulted in corrupt action. Components related to general private and professional goals did not allow for any prediction. Based on these results, we discuss preventative measures and methods for combating intra- and inter-organizational corruption.     

Corruption,Foreign Direct Investment,and International Marketing in the Western Balkans

Corruption is one of the major issues the Western Balkans is facing, challenging both domestic and foreign companies in doing business. This article examines the role of corruption in hindering foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Western Balkans during the 1992–2012 time frame, using generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations applied to dynamic panel data. The empirical data point to the negative role of corruption for the attraction of FDI to the Western Balkans. This research also suggests that corruption is negatively related with the income level in the region, where countries suffering higher levels of corruption have lower incomes per capita. The other channels in which corruption hinders economic development in the Western Balkans include distorted composition of government expenditure, negative current account balances, tax evasion, lack of competitiveness, and low levels of economic innovation. This article suggests that engaging in international marketing is the best way for the Western Balkans to increase economic competitiveness, improve skills, advance levels of technology, and reduce levels of corruption. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Business corruption in Ukraine: A way to get things done?

Corruption at the firm level is a very complex issue better understood within its cultural, national, and historical contexts. Using Ukrainian firms as an example via two data sets from 2013 (n = 625) and 2015 (n = 120), we describe two types of corruption: (1) the abuse of power by individuals or groups for private gain, and (2) abuse of power by CEOs and general managers not for their own private gain, but for the gain of other individuals or groups. The latter abuse of power—either within or beyond the existing rules, laws, and norms—is often the only way to get things done in Ukraine. On the other hand, corruption might also be used to hinder business activities. This ambivalent function is the main challenge in mitigating corruption.     

Corruption and Development: New Initiatives in Economic Openness and Strengthened Rule of Law

Corruption is a major problem in many of the world’s developing economies today. World Bank studies put bribery at over $1 trillion per year accounting for up to 12 of the GDP of nations like Nigeria, Kenya and Venezuela. Though largely ignored for many years, interest in world wide corruption has been rekindled by recent corporate scandals in the US and Europe. Corruption in the developing nations is said to result from a number of factors. Mass poverty has been cited as a facilitating condition for corruption just as an inability to manage a sudden upsurge in mineral revenues has been credited with breeding corruption and adventurous government procurement among public officials in countries like Nigeria and Venezuela. Virtually all developing nations that have serious corruption problems also have very limited economic freedom and a very weak enforcement of the rule of law. In such nations, corruption represents a regressive taxation that bears hard on the poor. It has a dampening effect on development and it could result in the production of inferior goods as companies find ways to accommodate under-the-table payments. Finally, corruption is a dangerous threat to the legitimacy of the governments of some of the developing nations themselves. It is suggested that new urgent initiatives are needed to deal with the dangers posed by corruption in the developing economies. They include making the economies of these nations more open by the withdrawal of the government from the productive sector and by the abolition of unnecessarily stringent restrictions on business conduct. The rule of law needs to be strengthened in these nations and those countries like Nigeria and Venezuela should ignore scruples over sovereignty and seek foreign assistance in the management of their oil wealth. Finally, multinationals should be made to disclose all the payments they make in developing nations to such organizations like International Chamber of Commerce or Transparency International where they can be reviewed by anyone interested.     

Should you manage ethics or corruption?

Corruption is truly a global scourge. Ethical scandals are recurring theater on the business stage, coming most often in the wake of financial booms that feed individual greed and lead managers to make decisions that favor personal gain over organizational good. The recurring cycle of scandalreform‐scandal, however, demonstrates the challenges of ethics management. Some companies are discovering a better way to confront the challenge and managing not just ethics, but corruption as well. The advantage of a corruption perspective lies in its focus on systems instead of a personal philosophy. Taking a corruption management perspective doesn't ignore the individual but sees the individual in a larger systemic context. Taking a corruption management approach requires fusing the insights of managerial ethics with the tactics used to fight systemic corruption. When successful it creates something simple and elegant: integrity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Private-to-private Corruption

The cases of corruption reported by the media tend almost always to involve a private party (a citizen or a corporation) that pays, or promises to pay, money to a public party (a politician or a public official, for example) in order to obtain an advantage or avoid a disadvantage. Because of the harm it does to economic efficiency and growth, and because of its social, political and ethical consequences, private-to-public corruption has been widely studied. Private-to-private corruption, by contrast, has been relatively neglected and only recently has started to receive the attention it deserves. The purpose of this paper is to offer some thoughts on the nature and importance of private-to-private corruption; the legal treatment it receives in some of the world's leading countries; and the measures that companies can take to combat it, with special consideration of its ethical aspects.     

Does Democracy Have a Different Impact on Corruption in Africa?

The author investigates the relationship between corruption and the newer proxies of democracy for African countries. The regression results suggest that countries that are relatively more democratic are also less corrupt. Of the different aspects of democracy examined, the functioning of government and political participation are found to be significantly correlated with corruption. The estimates suggest that countries with functioning and efficient governments and healthy political competition are less corrupt. Unlike the early empirical studies, the evidence of a nonlinear relationship between corruption and the new proxies of democracy is weak, especially after controlling for other factors and correcting for the endogeneity problem. Our results suggest that ethnolinguistic fractionalization and the level of development are also important determinants of the level of corruption in Africa.     

An analysis of the predictors of software piracy within Latin America

Corruption has become an increasingly salient issue in recent years due to the increasing pressure placed on top management teams of multinational firms to maintain high moral standards in all facets of their operations. The level and scope of corruption in a particular country is worthy of consideration as companies seek potential export markets and global partners. While macro-level academic research related to causes of corruption has burgeoned in the past decade, there is a lack of depth and breadth with respect to corruption research in Latin America. The current study analyzes patterns of software piracy (a notorious type of corruption) for 20 Latin American nations. Results indicate that economic growth, foreign direct investment, Internet usage, and development assistance relate to software piracy rates in Latin America.     

Corruption and Unethical Behavior: Report on a Set of Danish Guidelines

Corruption is defined as private individuals or enterprises who misuse public resources for private power and/or political gains. They do so through abusing public officials whose behavior deviates from the formal government rules of conduct. Ethical behavior is defined as individuals or enterprises adhering to a non-corrupt work or business practice. A review of the academic literature is conducted drawing on perspectives from the political, economic, and anthropological sciences. Insights from a Danish research program are reported on. This program identifies five different actions for dealing with corruption: (1) no action; (2) withdrawals from markets; (3) decentralized decision-making process; (4) establishment of an anti-corruption code; and (5) mutual commitment through integrity pact. The following aspects of ethical behavior should be regulated through an anti-corruption code: the company vis-à-vis political parties; gifts and entertainment expenses; political campaign contributions; and policy against small-scale corruption. Directions for future research are considered including the role of international organizations and multinational companies in fighting corruption and fostering ethical behavior; the role of countries and their governments; and the management systems.     

严查行贿犯罪之实体进路

行贿直接诱发受贿．是腐败产生的温床,严查行贿犯罪是当前我国遏制腐败的必然要求。从实体法上解决查处行贿犯罪面临的“瓶颈”问题是刑法本身的社会性、刑事程序的僵化性、配套法律的欠缺性和国际条约的普适性之必然选择。为此,我们应该围绕严查的标准和需求,检视现行实体法存在的诸多不足,在此基础上,从罪与刑两个方面共同着力,既要严密法网,扩大行为犯罪化,加大追诉力度,又要疏缓刑罚,实现犯罪轻刑化,增加侦破几率．以此切实达到严查行贿犯罪之目的。