Bribery

Lore & Background

Bribery involves a person in charge of an official duty acting contrary to that duty in exchange for a private favor. Gifts available to everyone on an equivalent basis, such as a rebate offered to all customers, are not bribery. For example, a utility regulator may accept a rebate available to all residential customers, but a discount given specifically to influence a decision is bribery.

Reader's Guide

Bribery has significant negative effects on societal norms and trade. Research indicates that when bribery becomes part of social norms, a single approach is insufficient to address it, as different societies require different strategies. Severe punishment may work in one country but not another. Bribery plays a significant role in both public and private firms worldwide. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 includes a target to substantially reduce corruption and bribery. Legal systems often distinguish between active bribery (offering or giving an undue advantage) and passive bribery (requesting or receiving an undue advantage), making early steps of a corrupt deal an offence and easing prosecution.

Did You Know?

• Bribery may be divided into two classes: inducing a person with power to use it unjustly, or purchasing the suffrages of those who can impart power.
• In some Spanish-speaking countries, bribes are called mordida, meaning 'bite'.
• A state where bribery has become a way of life is called a kleptocracy.