Results

Based on the responses of 2,742 senior business executives from companies in 26 developed and developing countries (selected by the amount of their imports and inflows of foreign direct investment) Belgium and Canada came joint first with a score of 8.8, indicating that Belgian and Canadian firms are seen as least likely to engage in bribery when doing business abroad. Netherlands and Switzerland occupy third place in the index, each with a score of 8.7. At the other end of the scale is Russia, coming in last with a score of 5.9, just behind China (6.5), Mexico (6.6) and India (6.8).

Scores range from 0 to 10. The higher the score for the country, the lower the likelihood of companies from this country to engage in bribery when doing business abroad.

“The BPI provides evidence that a number of companies from major exporting countries still use bribery to win business abroad, despite awareness of its damaging impact on corporate reputations and ordinary communities,” said Transparency International Chair, Huguette Labelle. “The inequity and injustice that corruption causes make it vital for governments to redouble their efforts to enforce existing laws and regulations on foreign bribery and for companies to adopt effective anti-bribery programmes. In this spirit, all major exporting countries should commit to the provisions of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.”

Industry bribing

The 2008 Bribe Payers Survey, which is the basis for the 2008 BPI, enables two new sector rankings to be compiled that highlight the likelihood of firms in 19 specific sectors to engage in bribery and exert undue influence.

The first ranking reveals how likely companies in each sector are to bribe public officials. According to senior business executives, companies in public works contracts/ construction; and real estate and property development are the worst offenders. In comparison, fisheries and the banking and finance sector were seen as the cleanest sectors.

Possible scores range from 0 to 10. 0 represents the view that ‘bribes are almost always paid’ and 10 that ‘bribes are never paid’ by a sector.

The second sector ranking shows the frequency that sectors attempt to exert influence on government legislation, laws and decision-making through private payments to public officials, a practice commonly referred to as state capture. The public works contracts/ construction sector is viewed again as the worst performer, followed closely by oil and gas. Light manufacturing and fisheries were seen as being the least likely to engage in state capture. It is notable that the banking and finance sector performs considerably worse in terms of state capture, illustrating the considerable influence it is seen to have on regulation.

Possible scores range from 0 to 10. 0 represents the view that ‘bribes are almost always paid’ and 10 that ‘bribes are never paid’ by a sector.

The way forward

The findings of the 2008 BPI and sector rankings highlight that government and business cannot be complacent. Even the best performers among the 22 countries are to a degree likely to pay bribes, as illustrated by 16 percent of respondents considering Belgian companies to ‘often’ or ‘almost always’ use familiar or personal relationships to win public contracts.

Companies, particularly those headquartered in the world’s most economically influential countries, have a duty to ensure anti-bribery standards are far reaching and strictly enforced. “Accountability must be guaranteed across borders, include improved risk management and reach all the way down a company’s supply chain,” said Cobus de Swardt, Transparency International’s Managing Director. “Businesses face a complex challenge, but efforts to improve labour practices, for instance, by working with intermediaries, suppliers and affiliates, show that there is no excuse to not extend anti-bribery standards globally in a similar fashion.”

Governments bear responsibility to make certain that companies headquartered in their countries do not engage in foreign bribery. It is both surprising and concerning that three-quarters of senior businesspeople indicated that they were not at all familiar with the OECD Anti-bribery Convention, the primary international legal instrument for tackling the supply side of international bribery. Governments need to build awareness of the Convention within the business community and ensure that commitments made are not founded on empty rhetoric, rather rigorous implementation. Two-thirds of senior business executives are under the impression that governments are ineffective in the fight against corruption.

Above all, efforts by government and business need to be combined so as to halt the abuse of power for entrusted gain and mitigate the destructive consequences corruption has on lives and livelihoods.