In the 2008 Bribe Payers Index, recently released by Transparency International, shows that businesses in the world’s developing economic powers – Russia, China, India and Mexico – use bribery more often to win deals abroad. The survey sampled over 2,700 high level executives, asking them to assess the likelihood of their firms offering bribes abroad to win business.
Bribes distort markets, undermine the rule of law, and subvert citizen’s trust in their own government. Perhaps the most shocking result of the report is the relatively small difference between the world’s developed and developing economies. The majority of the countries surveyed were signatories to the OECD’s Convention Against Bribery, yet no country scored higher than an 8.9 (on a scale of 10) signaling that both government and business have work to do. Given the results of the survey it seems that the market for bribes is alive and well, now how do we shut it down?
Read the summary of the report here, or download the entire report here.
Published Date: December 11, 2008