The report “Determinants of Bribery in International Business: Cultural and Economic Factors” was written by Rajib Sanyal for the Journal of Business Ethics. In his research, the author emphasizes that bribery is one of the most significant issues in international business. To obtain commercial favors, public officials, or others who have influence, are often being offered bribes, which is considered to be one of the greatest evils to the economy. The reason for this statement is that money used for bribes is taking away the possible source of income, and, thus, making the economy less stable.
According to the author, bribing in international business exists for three reasons. Firstly, in some countries, regular business deals cannot be completed without paying bribes. Secondly, in many societies, it is customary to bribe, even though most of the countries see it as morally wrong. Lastly, some companies are desperate to profit from doing business. Since the law of most countries and international organizations sees it as a crime to receive financial or non-financial favor in exchange for commercial advantage; it has significantly lowered the percentage of bribes in international business relationships. The author highlights determinants for bribing in certain societies are economic, cultural, legal, and other factors. It is crucial to obtain the knowledge of these specialties before doing business with a particular country would give a stakeholder an advantage in making a profitable deal, but keeping it legal. For example, before negotiating with countries like China, where bribery is not morally wrong, but somewhat necessary, one should find the most correct and polite way to decline it.
Based on data collected from the World Bank and measures developed by Geert Hofstede, the author brings attention to four dimensions of national culture, which are Power Distance, Individualism/Collectivism, Masculinity/Femininity, and Uncertainty Avoidance. Power Difference means how people accept the difference in power between individuals and groups. Individualism/Collectivism describes whether people see themselves as individuals or prefer to belong to the group. Masculinity/Femininity explains whether society is ambitious and achievement-oriented or tends to gain gender and social equality, and Uncertainty Avoidance determines to what extent people are ready to take a risk.
These four principles allow measuring how cultural and social specialties of a particular nation influence bribing on the domestic or international level. The analysis of the data based on these dimensions helped the author make the following conclusion: countries with high Power Distance and Masculinity are more likely to tolerate bribery and not be challenged by the law or moral values of the society. The author believes that the long-run anti-bribery policy is the key to solving the problem. Moreover, understanding the community, its cultural specifics, and rules can also help it.
The findings in this research conclude that while the government can influence the economic and legal factors of bribery, the cultural one is harder to resist. Moreover, culture can impact the law of the country, thus the legal and economic factors as well. It can lead to international policy implications between two societies, one of which doesn’t consider bribing immoral, another sees it as a crime.
While bribing exists in some countries, it would be impossible to eradicate it. It is because, from a cultural aspect, some counties do not consider it morally wrong, and legally it is not a major crime. Moreover, they try to influence other societies into accepting their offers. However, to keep economic balance in the world and international business, the rules must be the same for everyone, with no exceptions.