BRIBERY AND EXTORTION IN WORLD BUSINESS - A STUDY OF CORPORATE POLITICAL PAYMENTS ABROAD

• NCJ Number: 58876
• Author(s): N H JACOBY; P NEHEMKIS; R EELLS
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 294 pages
• Corporate Author: Macmillan
• Sale Source: Macmillan
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

CORPORATE BRIBERY AND GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ARE EXAMINED, AND ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF CORPORATE POLITICAL PAYOFFS ARE ANALYZED.

Abstract

IN FOCUSING ATTENTION ON FOREIGN POLITICAL PAYOFFS MADE BY U.S. ENTERPRISES, NO ATTEMPT IS MADE TO DEAL WITH COMMERCIAL BRIBERY INVOLVING IMPROPER TRANSACTIONS BETWEEN DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FIRMS. POLITICAL PAYOFFS ARE AN INSTITUTIONALIZED FACT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS. UNLIKE THE UNITED STATES WHERE MOST CORPORATE MANAGERS HAVE LITTLE DIRECT CONTACT WITH GOVERNMENT, THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS OVERSEAS FREQUENTLY INVOLVES PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CORPORATE MANGERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AT ALL LEVELS. POLITICAL PAYOFFS ARE PREVALENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, INDIA, SOUTHEAST ASIA, LATIN AMERICA, WESTERN EUROPE, THE COMMUNIST WORLD, AND THE UNITED STATES. EVIDENCE FROM THESE COUNTRIES INDICATES THAT PERVERSION OF THE BUSINESS-GOVERNMENT RELATIONSHIP, AT LEAST IN OBVIOUS FORMS, DECLINES AS SOCIETY ADVANCES IN ITS AWARENESS AND SUPPORT OF NATIONHOOD, IN WEALTH, IN POLITICAL AND LEGAL STABILITY, AND IN THE BUILDING OF STRONG SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS. IT IS CONTENDED THAT POLITICAL PAYOFFS CANNOT BE ELIMINATED SOLELY BY ACTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES OR EVEN BY ACTIONS TAKEN IN CONCERT WITH OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS. CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO THE EMERGING CENSORSHIP OF FOREIGN POLITICAL PAYMENTS (SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION INVESTIGATIONS AND ITS DISCLOSURE SYSTEM, INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE INVESTIGATIONS, THE CONGRESSIONAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, AND MEDIA CENSORSHIP), CLASSES OF FOREIGN POLITICAL PAYMENTS (BY LEGAL FORMS, TYPE OF FOREIGN RECIPIENT, MODE OF PAYMENT, AND PURPOSE OF PAYER), THE ECONOMICS OF POLITICAL PAYOFFS, THE POLITICS OF CORRUPTION IN BUSINESS-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON FOREIGN POLITICAL PAYMENTS, AND REFORM PROPOSALS TO DEAL WITH CORPORATE BRIBERY AND GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION. NOTES AND AN INDEX ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)