Bribe Paying Export Countries
Russia, China, Mexico & India Ranked Highest for Illegal Payoffs
Dec 17, 2008
Transparency International (TI) recently published its 2008 Bribe Payers Index. Based in Berlin, TI is an international coalition against corruption and also a registered German charity.
The 2008 Bribe Payers Index (BPI) ranks 22 leading international or regional exporting countries on the probability that their private firms would offer bribes as incentives to win business.
Combined global exports and foreign direct investment from the 22 ranked countries represented three quarters of the 2006 world total.
2008 Bribe Payers Index Survey
The 2008 BPI was developed from survey results from a minimum of 100 senior business executives living in one of 26 developed and developing countries. Depending on the senior executive’s home country, surveys were either face-to-face interviews, via telephone or online.
A total of 2,742 participating senior managers first identified those countries that served as headquarters for foreign companies with which the executive’s firm did business as a client, competitor, partner or supplier. Excluded was the participant’s home country.
Survey participants then scored each specified country on how often firms headquartered there engage in bribery with the senior executive’s home country. An ascending 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (almost always) was used during the interview. Results were then converted to a descending 10-point scale system to arrive at the 2008 BPI rankings below.
Countries Most Likely to Offer Payola
Final results from the 2008 Transparency International survey rank export companies from Russia, China, Mexico and India as most likely to bribe.
- Russia … 5.9 (33% more likely to bribe than Canada or Belgium)
- China …6.5 (26.1% more likely)
- Mexico … 6.6 (25% more likely)
- India … 6.8 (22.5% more likely)
- Brazil … 7.4 (15.9% more likely)
- Italy … 7.4 (15.9% more likely)
- South Africa … 7.5 (14.8% more likely)
- South Korea … 7.5 (14.8% more likely)
- Taiwan … 7.5 (14.8% more likely)
- Hong Kong … 7.6 (13.6% more likely).
Countries Least Likely to Grant Illegal Incentives
The BPI survey ranked Canada and Belgium as home to exporting firms perceived as more ethical and therefore apt to avoid illegal payoffs.
- Canada … 8.8
- Belgium … 8.8
- Switzerland … 8.7 (1.1% more likely to bribe than Canada or Belgium)
- Netherlands … 8.7 (1.1% more likely)
- United Kingdom … 8.6 (2.3% more likely)
- Japan … 8.6 (2.3% more likely)
- Germany … 8.6 (2.3% more likely)
- Australia … 8.5 (3.4% more likely)
- United States … 8.1 (8% more likely)
- Singapore … 8.1 (8% more likely)
- France … 8.1 (8% more likely)
- Spain … 7.9 (10.2% more likely).
Credibility of Bribe Payers Index Results
The BPI survey rankings do not scientifically prove the frequency of bribery in any of the listed countries. Undoubtedly, countries like Canada and Belgium also have companies that engage in bribery; any comparison with other exporting nations remains uncertain.
Some critics of the BPI prefer that the ranking focus on multinational companies rather than on countries.
Another weakness of the survey is that the number of respondents varies dramatically by exporting country. For example, 264 senior executives evaluated Canada while 252 scored Belgium – less half of the number of participants who evaluated the United Kingdom (506), Germany (513) and the United States (718). Only 123 respondents rated Mexico, while even fewer senior executives (114) answered the interview questions for doing business with the bottom-ranked nation Russia.
Survey Excludes Chinese Senior Executives
The BPI survey did not interview any senior executives from China. With its US$1.22 trillion in exports in 2007, the People’s Republic is on target to replace Germany as the world’s top exporter. Given that China is perceived as one of the most likely export countries to participate in bribery, including Chinese executive perception of countries most easily bribed would make the survey more comprehensive and credible.
Survey Excludes Almost Half of Global Business Flows
Similarly, the BPI survey did not include senior executive responses from Canada, Belgium, Switzerland or the Netherlands – the survey’s four most credible countries least apt to bribe. The analysis was limited to senior business executives from the following 26 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Senegal, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, United Kingdom and the United States.
The total Foreign Direct Investment and export flows from the above 26 countries represent only 54% of global totals in 2006. This makes the BPI survey a partial picture of international executive perceptions of countries engaged in bribery.
Reference:
Transparency International’s 2008 Bribe Payers Index (BPI).
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