Financial Assignment: Can Bribes Be Justified For Any Reason?

Question

Task: Discuss certain scenario for bribes and explain whether it is justified or not.

Answer

Introduction
Corruption continues to plague governments across the globe and this financial assignment focuses on what drives bribery and how the scorge can be reduced in future. Bribes have been termed as a vice all nations are facing in the but while some claim its illegal, immoral and unethical other say it’s for a noble cause and is justified in certain situations[1]. Bribes are a widely contested topic but while some may think bribes are limited to the corporate sector, many don’t realize it but bribes start from home and also constantly being experienced within the family setting[2]. This makes this Financial assignment topic quite controversial and one that requires in-depth analysis to be performed to clearly understand and addressed bribes. To better understand bribes certain scenario will be discussed and explained to determine whether it is justified or not.

What Causes General Bribe collection
The meaning of the term bribes has been widely contested and understood differently by different members of society. bribes have NO clear definition and while some definitions describe it to be collecting financial proceeds in exchange for favours, it can also be linked to accepting goods and services in exchange of the favours[3].  As per research performed on this Financial assignment, the degree of bribes is performed is greatly depending on how the bribes are being executed.

Levels of Bribes

While some officials expect bribes to perform small favours such as approving official paperwork, bribes can also be experienced at a much lower level where the parking tender will expect a small tip to save you the best parking spot. On this Financial assignment we identify that bribes can be as simple as offering the parking attendant a tip but it’s truly a form of bribes since the parking attendant received a wage to perform that work and should oblige to offer the parking without expecting any help in return.

Bribes at Home
This Financial assignment also identifies that bribery is also commonly practiced at home and children begin being corrupt from an early age while many parents don’t realize it. This form of bribery does not involve financial proceeds at an early stage but as the children grew older they tend to also begin asking for money. As mentioned earlier, bribery at home begins very early and can be observed in children from a very young age where a baby may not agree to eat until fed by a particular person. It’s also common to find some babies demanding to carries and rocked so as for them to sleep which is also a form of bribery. While the baby is small these demands may be viewed as babyish and so ignored but the habit can grow out of hand if not managed.

Bribes are also found happening among older members of a family and will involve all members including children, parents and grandparents each having a specific form of bribes. In 90% of the situation linked to family-based bribes forms, the corrupt members will not expect financial favours but rather demand certain acts of things to be done. While some may turn to corrupt approaches to get items or services they want a select number will turn to even demanding finances from parents and other family members[4].

Profession Related Bribes
The most commonly understood form of bribes is related to the government and commercial sectors where officials manning most post and offices are famous for expecting favours before performing their duty. Bribes are most rampant in government departments with certain departments being considered to be more attractive for corrupt officials. The Police, Legislature, Tax and contract and tender approval officials among some more attract the most attentional linked to bribes. In most situation bribes is linked to ethics and poverty where the officials lack ethics linked to performing their duty without needing to be offered an extra favour or financial incentive. In some situation, the official grows too greedy and expect bribes without even obligated to complete the process in question.

Commercial or professional bribery with the sole aim of gaining financial benefits or assets is also highly addictive. Once official begin receiving financial proceeds for their corporation they only grow more addicted and dependant on bribes as a source of income. In most situations, it’s common to find corrupt official collecting bribes that amount to 10-20 times what they receive from their salaries. This results in the official rapidly growing their wealth thus making younger generating losing their morals linked to joining their government posts. Today most young professionals are struggling to join government jobs simply because they want to enter this corrupt system to help them secure large amounts of financial gain without needing to work hard[5].

What is Noble Cause Bribes
Bribery has also been performed for a noble cause with certain people accepting bribes with a specific purpose of helping others[6]. While some people become corrupt to benefit themselves and families finically others are more focused on using the financial, goods and services acquired from bribes to assist the underprivileged. This form of bribes is called noble bribes and is considered widely by the public to be an acceptable form of bribes. This form of bribes also comes in many different formats ranging from acceptance of finances to the misuse of one’s body to achieve certain demands. Noble bribery has also been recorded in history with several peasant heroes like Robin Hood who stole the king’s tax funds and distributing it to the poor. The same has continued and being experienced in modern times. Some examples of noble bribes cases include.

Public Protests
Public protect, revolutions and employees sticks are also considered as a form of bribes since they are aimed at pressurizing a government, department, organisation or individual to make changes in their favour.  This is a common form of noble bribes where a group of people will be demanding certain changes to be made and to implement their authority they will organise for a protest. These public protests and strict can be aimed at the government or a specific organisation head and could have different demand such as demand for pay rises or the removal of certain organisations heads or managers.

Personal protests
It’s also possible to find individuals organising protests and sticks where they could even make simple moves like entering into a hunger strike if their requirements are not met. This was experienced in India in 2013-14 when a political Anna Hazare went on a hunger strike after certain demand of his were not met by the Indian congress government. The hunger strike lasted several days before the demands were met and this can also be considered as a form of bribes where an individual takes a public stage for their demands to be met. This is the most common form of noble bribes where the individual sacrifices themselves to help the society and community benefit from certain changes.

Conclusion
Noble cause bribes focussed in this financial assignment are more commonly accessed then many people would imagine thus making it very important to understand the different forms of noble bribes many even being experienced at home. Bribes are usually associated and linked to government and the commercial sector but it’s commonly being experienced at home as well among most family members. Children, parents, fathers and wives are all using dome form of bribes within the family setting. This form of bribes is also confused to be blackmail but in many situations, this form of bribes is aimed at capturing a person’s attention and helping improve their concentration towards the family’s affairs. This makes it clear that bribes could be considered as a negative aspect by many societies, cultures and governments but noble bribes can also be used to deliver some important benefits to people[7].

[1] Benjamin A Olken, “Corruption Perceptions vs. Corruption Reality” (2009) 93 Journal of Public Economics 950.

[2] Ritva Reinikka and Jakob Svensson, “Using Micro-Surveys to Measure and Explain Corruption” (2006) 34 World Development 359.

[3] Abigail Barr and Danila Serra, “Corruption and Culture: An Experimental Analysis” (2010) 94 Journal of Public Economics 862.

[4] Selçuk Akçay, “Corruption and Human Development” (2006) 26 Cato Journal 29.

[5] KA Getz and RJ Volkema, “Culture, Perceived Corruption, and Economics: A Model of Predictors and Outcomes” 7.

[6] Randall Grometstein, “Prosecutorial Misconduct and Noble-Cause Corruption” (2007) 43 Criminal Law Bulletin 1.

[7] Jeff Everett, Dean Neu and Abu Shiraz Rahaman, “Accounting and the Global Fight against Corruption” (2007) 32 Accounting, Organizations and Society 513.

Reference List
Akçay S, “Bribes and Human Development” (2006) 26 Cato Journal 29

Barr A and Serra D, “Bribes and Culture: An Experimental Analysis” (2010) Financial assignment 94 Journal of Public Economics 862

Everett J, Neu D and Rahaman AS, “Accounting and the Global Fight against Bribes” (2007) 32 Accounting, Organizations and Society 513

Getz KA and Volkema RJ, “Culture, Perceived Bribes, and Economics: A Model of Predictors and Outcomes” 7

Grometstein R, “Prosecutorial Misconduct and Noble-Cause Bribes” (2007) 43 Criminal Law Bulletin 1

Olken BA, “Bribes Perceptions vs. Bribes Reality” (2009) 93 Journal of Public Economics 950

Reinikka R and Svensson J, “Using Micro-Surveys to Measure and Explain Bribes” (2006) 34 World Development 359