Thursday, December 9, 2010
Would you pay a bribe to get something done?
An interesting report on corruption both in developing and developed world and when businesses pay bribes to be able to conduct business. An interesting point is raised toward the end of the report when corruption in India and China is compared and the one of the reporter claims that corruption in China is more efficient.
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2 comments:
This talk shows how participating in corruption can be the most efficient decision for an individual agent in the economy. Small businesses, especially, have a harder time turning down bribes because refusing to participate in corruption could cause the business to fail. If employees become unemployed, it could be argued that paying the bribe would've been more reasonable. Depends on one's moral compass.
I think corruption, from a different perspective, can be seen as a way to make businesses more efficient. In countries such as India, China, or Vietnam where a large portion of labors work for public sectors, these government workers are not working as hard because their pay are relatively low compared to those who work at private sectors. Businesses deals are often time delayed because the workers really don't get any extra benefits whether the contracts are made sooner or later, or not even made at all. If one party finds bribe is a better way to make the contracts done then it would be a lot more efficient to do it. Of course there is negative outcome as well and we all know about it. But corruption has pretty much become a cultural thing in these countries and it's hard to believe that they will ever be able to get rid of it. We just have to learn and deal with it if we want our businesses to be successful.
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