Transparency International (TI) released last Wednesday its Bribe Payers Index (BPI), which ranks 28 leading exporting countries according to the likelihood of their companies to pay bribes abroad. The index is based on a survey with 3,000 business executives from developing and developed countries.
The index shows that firms from Russia and China are considered to be the most likely to bribe abroad, whereas companies from the Netherlands and Switzerlan are the least likely to pay bribes in foreign countries.
The survey results used to produce the index also revealed that bribery by firms in foreign countries is a widespread practice. They commonly take place between companies and public officials and aim at securing public tenders, avoiding regulation or influencing governments policies. Particularly vulnerable to bribery are the public works and construction sector and the extractive industries. The study also shows that companies are just as likely to bribe other companies.
An article by Deborah Hardoon posted on TI’s blog discusses the survey’s results into more detail and compares each country’s BPI scores with their Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores and their volume of exports and investments abroad, thereby contextualizing their economic impact.
Another post on TI’s blog also discusses Russia’s having the lowest score among all 28 countries. According to Elena Panfilova, TI Russia’s Director, the Russian government has adopted many pieces of legislation to fight corruption in recent years, but the main problem lies in insufficient enforcement of those laws.
Read TI’s press release Companies from emerging giants China and Russia most likely to bribe abroad on transparency.org. The picture featured above is from themalaysianinsider.com.
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