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Article
Publication date: 7 January 2019

Olatunde Julius Otusanya and Sarah G. Lauwo

Corrupt practices” is a recurring feature of media coverage. The paper seeks to encourage debates about the influence of institutional structures on agency to break away from…

Abstract

Purpose

Corrupt practices” is a recurring feature of media coverage. The paper seeks to encourage debates about the influence of institutional structures on agency to break away from methodological individualism. This paper aims to encourage reflections on the role of both the structures and actors which have shaped the continuous expansion of corrupt practices in Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

Whilst recognising that deviant behaviour by some individuals is always possible, this paper has rejected methodological individualism and shows the value of locating anti-social practices within the broader socio-political and historical context. Within a socio-political framework, this study adopts the theories of critical realism, developmental state and globalisation to understand the relationship between social agency and society, focusing upon the institutional structures and the role of social actors.

Findings

The evidence shows that socio-political and economic development, politics, power, history and globalisation have continued to reproduce and transform the institutional structures and actors which have facilitated anti-social practices in Nigeria. The paper concludes that large sums of government revenue have been undermined by the anti-social practices of the Nigerian political and economic elite (both local and international), which have enriched a few, but impoverished most, Nigerians.

Practical implications

As a consequence of recurring corrupt practices in Nigeria, there is a pressing need for reform to curb these practices which have had, and continue to have, a serious effect on Nigeria and its future development.

Originality/value

It provides a framework for understanding and explaining the inter-relations of actors and institutional structures and the linkages and influences that have shaped the practices in Nigeria.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2021

Tony de Souza-Daw and Robert Ross

Academic corruption and fraudulent practices have become problematic in recent years. Governments around the world have introduced dedicated higher education commissions to…

Abstract

Purpose

Academic corruption and fraudulent practices have become problematic in recent years. Governments around the world have introduced dedicated higher education commissions to regulate higher education providers. The purpose of this paper is to design a system for the detection and prevention framework of fraudulent behaviour in higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper performs a survey on academic misconduct practices and expands the survey by analysing the accreditation process. This study further identifies common corrupt practices in the accreditation process with reference to particular accreditation standards or laws. If the accreditation process is as thorough as, this paper is led to believe, a higher institute may stop being compliant immediately after the accreditation process. playing a catch-me-if-you-can at the next accreditation cycle. The survey of the accreditation process and identification of corrupt practices lead to an identification of preventative and detective measures.

Findings

The review of accreditation procedures and conditions identifies that fraudulent practices can occur at every part of any policy and procedure. The framework prevents repudiation and allows for spontaneous investigations internally and externally. The blockchain prevented changes to the system and allow for auditing of changes. A system such as this could suppress accreditation fraud and minimise its corrupt impact. Not to mention identify with relative ease the severity and life of corrupt practice.

Originality/value

Contributions are made in the framework for detecting and preventing corrupt practices in Higher Education using blockchain immutable transactions. This enables real-time accreditation compliance checks and monitoring of conditions. External complaints or reviews can be conducted with minimum interactions from higher education providers.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 August 2022

Christopher Amoah and Demetri Steyn

Complying with the code of conduct by professionals in the construction industry worldwide has become a significant issue over the years. This has led to projects' failure…

8035

Abstract

Purpose

Complying with the code of conduct by professionals in the construction industry worldwide has become a significant issue over the years. This has led to projects' failure, leading to losses to both the client and contractors. The study's objective is to identify the challenges of construction professionals in complying with their code of conduct and preventing corrupt practices.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative approach was used to collect empirical data by sending questionnaires to 56 construction professionals in South Africa. Data gathered were analysed through Excel statistical tool. Mean values were calculated for the quantitative data, whilst thematic content analyses were used to generate frequencies and percentages for qualitative data.

Findings

The findings indicate that construction professionals experience many unethical issues in their work duties such as inflated tender prices, overpricing the rates, tender-based kickbacks, bribes for projects, unethical methods of project execution, use of lower grade materials than specified, discrimination, among others. However, issues such as greediness, acceptance of corruption as usual practice, lack of knowledge about the code of conduct, the only way to get contracts, part of the process, and peer pressure create a challenge in complying with the code of conduct and preventing corrupt practices among construction professionals.

Practical implications

Construction professionals face many unethical and corrupt practices in their project management and execution, which they cannot overcome due to many factors. Therefore, there is the need to sensitise the professionals in the construction industry regarding their code of conduct as well as the danger associated with engaging in corrupt practices in their work and their implication on project performance.

Originality/value

The findings give an insight into the critical factors curtailing the construction professional's ability to comply with their code of conduct and be corrupt-free in their line of duty. Thus, professional associations can use the findings in guiding their members.

Details

International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, vol. 41 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 January 2023

Maryna Murdock, Thanh Ngo and Nivine Richie

This study aims to investigate the effect of public corruption on the performance and risk of financial institutions domiciled in the USA..

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the effect of public corruption on the performance and risk of financial institutions domiciled in the USA..

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Public Integrity Section Reports to proxy corruption. The analysis is performed by bank size and includes robustness checks for omitted variables and endogeneity concerns.

Findings

The results show that a corrupt environment is associated with lower bank performance without a reduction in risk. Larger banks tend to underestimate the increase in credit risk. Small- and medium-size banks seek to “re-capture” returns in corrupt districts by reducing their liquidity.

Research limitations/implications

The implication of this research is that financial institutions do not thrive in corrupt environments and are unlikely to participate in corrupt practices. Overall, this study documents the tangible harm inflicted by corrupt practices.

Practical implications

A practical implication is that banks may attempt to re-capture lower returns resulting from corrupt environments by extending more risky loans, specifically, commercial real estate loans.

Social implications

This study demonstrates the costly impact of corruption on large and small banks. While larger banks report higher share of non-performing loans, smaller banks show an increase in the provision for loan and lease losses, suggesting that smaller banks may be more risk averse.

Originality/value

Prior studies investigate corruption in US firms while excluding financial institutions. This study fills this gap by investigating the effect of public corruption on the performance and risk of financial institutions domiciled in the USA.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 30 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 May 2012

Olatunde Julius Otusanya

Contemporary literature has paid scholarly attention to financial criminal practice from a variety of competing perspectives. However, this paper seeks to encourage reflections on…

1344

Abstract

Purpose

Contemporary literature has paid scholarly attention to financial criminal practice from a variety of competing perspectives. However, this paper seeks to encourage reflections on some questionable practices of the political and economic elite which increase their capital accumulation but harm citizens.

Design/methodology/approach

Within a socio‐political framework, this study adopts the theories of the developmental state and globalisation in order to understand the relationship between social agency and society, and focuses on the institutional structures and the role of social actors.

Findings

The paper used publicly available documents to construct case studies to provide some evidence of the strategies and tactics used by political elite to facilitate their capital accumulations. Evidence is provided to show that large sums of government revenue have been undermined by the financial criminal practices of the Nigerian political and economic elite (both local and international), which have enriched a few, but impoverished most, Nigerians.

Practical implications

Financial criminal practices have played a major role in causing serious damage to the economic and social landscape of Nigeria, which in turn, has undermined social welfare and also investment in the public services, thereby eroding the quality of life and producing a decline in average life expectancy. As a consequence of recurring corrupt practices by the political and economic elites in Nigeria, there is a need for reform in order to curb the practice which has had and continues to have, a serious effect on Nigeria and its future development.

Originality/value

Broader accounts of the impact of financial criminal practices on development in developing countries are relatively scarce. Previous studies have tended to individualise the problem.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 19 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 January 2017

Michel Dion

The purpose of this paper is to circumscribe the various philosophical connections between the classical and the modern notion of corruption from Enlightenment to post-modernity.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to circumscribe the various philosophical connections between the classical and the modern notion of corruption from Enlightenment to post-modernity.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzed to what extent the classical notion of corruption (Plato, Aristotle and Cicero) still influenced the way philosophers perceived the phenomenon of corruption during the Enlightenment (1625-1832), the transition period (1833-1900) and the post-modernity (1901 onward). Taking those historical periods as reference points, the author will see how literature about historical, social and political conditioning factors of corruption could convey the presence/absence of the classical or the modern notion of corruption.

Findings

The paper finds that the classical notion of corruption implies the degeneration of human relationships (Plato and Hegel), the degeneration of the body-and-mind unity (Aristotle, Pascal and Thomas Mann) or the degeneration of collective morality (Cicero, Locke, Rousseau, Hume and Kant). The modern notion of corruption as bribery was mainly introduced by Adam Smith. Nietzsche (and Musil) looked at corruption as degeneration of the will-to-power. The classical notion of corruption put the emphasis on the effects rather than on the cause itself (effects-based thinking). The modern notion of corruption as bribery insists on the cause rather than on the effects (cause-based thinking).

Research limitations/implications

In this paper, the author has taken into account the main representatives of the three historical periods. Future research could also analyze the works of other philosophers and novelists to see to what extent their philosophical and literary works are unveiling the classical or the modern notion of corruption.

Originality/value

The paper presents a philosophical and historical perspective about corruption. It sheds light on the way philosophers (and sometimes novelists) deal with the issue of corruption, whether it is from an effects-based or from a cause-based perspective.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Jon S.T. Quah

The purpose of this paper is to explain why Singapore has succeeded in curbing the problem of police corruption and to identify the six lessons which other Asian countries can…

3017

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain why Singapore has succeeded in curbing the problem of police corruption and to identify the six lessons which other Asian countries can learn from Singapore's experience.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes the causes of police corruption in Singapore during the British colonial period and describes the measures adopted by the People's Action Party government after assuming office in June 1959 to curb police corruption. The effectiveness of these measures is assessed by referring to Singapore's perceived extent of corruption according to three international indicators and the reported cases of police corruption from 1965 to 2011.

Findings

The Singapore Police Force has succeeded in minimizing police corruption by improving salaries and working conditions, cooperating with the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, enhancing its recruitment and selection procedures, providing training and values education for its members, and adopting administrative measures to reduce the opportunities for corruption. Other Asian countries afflicted with rampant police corruption can learn six lessons from Singapore's success.

Originality/value

This paper will be of interest to those policy makers, scholars, and anti-corruption practitioners, who are interested in learning how Singapore has succeeded in curbing police corruption.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 January 2009

Ahmed Seleim and Nick Bontis

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness) project national cultural dimensions of values and…

9264

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness) project national cultural dimensions of values and practices and the Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

Design/methodology/approach

Most empirical research on culture dimensions and corruption is based on Hofstede's dataset of culture conducted more than 25 years ago. Evidence from a more recent dataset of culture dimensions is needed before current generalizations can be made. The GLOBE project is based on the perceptions of 18,000 individuals.

Findings

The results provide empirical support for the influence of uncertainty avoidance values, human orientation practices, and individual collectivism practices on the level of corruption after controlling for economic and human development, which, in turn, adds to the efforts to build a general theory of the culture perspective of corruption.

Research limitations/implications

The findings offer valuable insights on why cultural values and cultural practices should be distinguished as they relate to corruption.

Practical implications

International policy makers as well as managers at multinational corporations can benefit from the findings of this research study.

Originality/value

The research reported is among the first to investigate the issue of corruption from the perspective of national cultural values and practices.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2020

Shang Gao, Sui Pheng Low and Sarah Xin Xuan Lee

Due to the fragmented and complex nature of the construction industry, many countries, including Singapore, have progressively encouraged greater collaboration amongst major…

Abstract

Purpose

Due to the fragmented and complex nature of the construction industry, many countries, including Singapore, have progressively encouraged greater collaboration amongst major stakeholders in the industry. It is hoped that doing so will result in an increase in the quality of construction projects. Given the long duration of typical construction projects, it is plausible for collaborating parties to develop close and personal relationships. In recent years, corruption cases arising from familiar collaboration have caught the public's attention. This study seeks to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed research method was adopted, with a questionnaire survey distributed to 32 respondents representing client and contractors. This was followed by interviews to validate the survey findings.

Findings

The findings suggest that, when there is a lack of surveillance, familiar collaboration is likely to lead to favouritism and dishonesty, which can have an adverse impact on the quality of construction projects. The findings additionally suggest that value for money, conformance to specifications and fitness for purpose are the main aspects of quality that are likely to be adversely affected by corrupt practices bought about by familiar collaboration.

Originality/value

In this paper, these relationships are described using the term familiar collaboration. Strong and intimate relationships of this type may lead to a danger of parties committing corrupt practices. This study is one of the very attempts seek to better understand familiar collaboration and its adverse impacts on the quality of construction projects.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2021

Nurfarizan Mazhani Mahmud, Intan Salwani Mohamed and Roshayani Arshad

This paper aims to provide a proper understanding of corruption in the private sector, also known as the supply-side of corruption. It also presents the causes of corrupt practices

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a proper understanding of corruption in the private sector, also known as the supply-side of corruption. It also presents the causes of corrupt practices and points out the corporations’ actions to mitigate corrupt behaviour in the business environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reviews the prior literature on the phenomenon of corruption in the private sector, its causes and the preventive measures that should be implemented.

Findings

Corruption in the private sector was associated with a firm’s interaction with the public sector, and the most common corruption in the private sector is grand corruption, which is improper contribution made to high-level public officials and politicians. The causes of corruption in the private sector can be explained from several dimensions: economy, psychosocial and legal and regulation. Preventative measures encompass both internal strategies, which are endogenous to business and external strategies like exogenous legislation and restrictions enforced by the government or outside organizations.

Originality/value

The efficient strategies in combating corruption need active cooperation and participation from the supply-side of corruption. Thus, this study contributes to the literature on the theoretical understanding of the corruption problem from the supply-side and responsibility play by the private sector in global anti-corruption initiatives.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

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