C- Fighter Anti-Corruption Guide - Word for the Day - 01-09-09

BRIBERY

Definition

The offering, promising, giving, accepting or soliciting of an advantage as an inducement for an action which is illegal, unethical or a breach of trust. Inducements can take the form of gifts, loans, fees, rewards or other advantages (taxes, services, donations, etc.).

Example in practice

- More than 15 percent of respondents to a national household survey in Guatemala reported that they paid a bribe when trying to (re)connect to the public water system.
- In Bangladesh, 64.5 percent of citizens in a national survey responded that they paid a bribe when interacting with law enforcement agencies. Bribery across all agencies in Bangladesh is estimated to reduce the country’s national income by 3.84 percent.
- The State Administration for Industry and Commerce in China reported that in the first quarter of 2009 a total of 584 business bribery cases were uncovered, which was a decrease of 1.18% over the same period in 2008.


Relevant links

—— OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.
www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_34859_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

——Transparency International’s Bribe Payers Index.
www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/bpi

——Transparency International’s Business Principles for Countering Bribery.
www.transparency.org/global_priorities/private_sector/business_principles