The Ethics of Bribery: Theoretical and Empirical Studies

Abstract

While most people assume that all bribery is unethical, the literature provides examples and philosophical arguments to support the proposition that some bribery may actually be ethical, based on utilitarian grounds. This book provides a theoretical and empirical examination of bribery from an ethical perspective. It examines empirical data from over 80 countries and reports on attitudes toward bribery examining demographic variables such as gender, age, ethnicity, education, income level, religion and social class. Multi-country comparisons are provided to determine whether views toward bribery differ by geographic location.