Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty and to incline the individual to act contrary to their duty and the known rules of honesty and integrity.[1] With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corrupt solicitation, acceptance, or transfer of value in exchange for official action."[2]
Gifts of money or other items of value that are otherwise available to everyone on an equivalent basis, and not for dishonest purposes, are not bribery. Offering a discount or a refund to all purchasers is a legal rebate and is not bribery. For example, it is legal for an employee of a Public Utilities Commission involved in electric rate regulation to accept a rebate on electric service that reduces their cost of electricity, when the rebate is available to other residential electric customers. However, giving a discount specifically to that employee to influence them to look favorably on the electric utility's rate increase applications would be considered bribery.
A bribe is an illegal or unethical gift or lobbying effort bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct. It may be money, goods, rights in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, objects of value, advantage, or merely a promise to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.[3]
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 has a target to substantially reduce corruption and bribery of all forms as part of an international effort aimed at ensuring peace, justice, and strong institutions.[4]
Society often goes through changes that bring long-lasting positive or negative complications. Similar has been the case with bribery, which brought negative changes to societal norms as well as to trade. The researchers found that when bribery becomes part of social norms, one approach is not enough to tackle bribery due to the existence of different societies in different countries.[5][6] If severe punishment works in one country, it doesn't necessarily mean that severe punishment would work in another country to prevent bribery.[6] Also, the research found that bribery plays a significant role in public and private firms around the world.[7]
- ^ What is bribery?, Black's Law Dictionary, 4 November 2011, archived from the original on October 1, 2015, retrieved September 30, 2015
- ^ LII Staff (6 August 2007). "Bribery". LII / Legal Information Institute. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
- ^ See generally T. Markus Funk, "Don't Pay for the Misdeeds of Others: Intro to Avoiding Third-Party FCPA Liability," 6 BNA White Collar Crime Report 33 (January 13, 2011) Archived March 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (discussing bribery in the context of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act).
- ^ Doss, Eric. "Sustainable Development Goal 16". United Nations and the Rule of Law. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
- ^ Tiki, Samson; Luke, Belinda; Mack, Janet (October 2021). "Perceptions of bribery in Papua New Guinea's public sector: Agency and structural influences" (PDF). Public Administration and Development. 41 (4): 217–227. doi:10.1002/pad.1913. ISSN 0271-2075. S2CID 236221436.
- ^ a b Rimskii, Vladimir (2013-07-01). "Bribery as a Norm for Citizens Settling Problems in Government and Budget-Funded Organizations". Russian Politics and Law. 51 (4): 8–24. doi:10.2753/RUP1061-1940510401. ISSN 1061-1940. S2CID 197656271.
- ^ Lee, Seung-Hyun; Weng, David H. (December 2013). "Does bribery in the home country promote or dampen firm exports?: Does Bribery Promote or Dampen Firm Exports?". Strategic Management Journal. 34 (12): 1472–1487. doi:10.1002/smj.2075.