Portraying the Nature of Corruption Using an Explorative Case Study Design

Abstract

What is the nature of corruption in Western democracies? To answer this research question, the authors study 10 Dutch corruption cases in depth, looking at confidential criminal files. The cases allow them to sketch a general profile of a corruption case. The authors offer nine propositions to portray the nature of corruption. They conclude that corruption usually takes place within enduring relationships, that the process of becoming corrupt can be characterized as a slippery slope, and that important motives for corruption, aside from material gain, include friendship or love, status, and the desire to impress others. The explorative multiple case study methodology helps to expand our understanding of the way in which officials become corrupt.

Tricky business: The nature of integrity violations in Dutch casinos

“…Only once was an investigation instigated by a peer. This conforms to recent research on reporting in public organizations (de Graaf & Huberts, 2008) in which it was found that only 9% of integrity violations originated from peer reporting, whereas one third were started after regular controls and accountancy and about one quarter by citizen or customer reports. This also concurs in the literature on reporting integrity violations within organizations, which states that loyalty and solidarity are important factors that influence colleagues' reporting behavior (e.g., Gorta & Forell, 1995;Trevino & Victor, 1992;Zipparo, 1999).…”

“…The data presented here resonate with the findings of a similar study (de Graaf & Huberts, 2008) on corruption in public service in which it was concluded that the corrupt were neither inefficient nor ineffective, leading to the following proposition.…”

Both Sides of the Coin: Motives for Corruption Among Public Officials and Business Employees

“…Within the academic literature, the study of corruption cases also forms a popular research method (Andvig et al 2001). Corruption cases offer the opportunity to intensively study actual corrupt transactions and the situations under which they occurred (de Graaf and Huberts 2008). However, casestudy analyses often consist of only a few cases and are solely based on the cases that came to the attention of regulators, while most corrupt transactions are likely to go unnoticed.…”

A Network Perspective and Hidden Corruption

“…Unravelling old-boy network and other networks help to understand the key governance structure that could help different forms of corruption to grow in administrative and political systems from one perspective and destruction of traditional form of legitimacy, which could later lead to the legitimacy of corruption from another perspective (Choi, 2007;Paul, 2008). Members of old-boy network are part of the broader corruption networks that form a lasting relationship in order to stabilize or destabilize corruption in a social system (de Graaf;Huberts, 2008). Gamba and Kleiner (2001: 104), have proposed the following as ways to tackle the problem of old-boy network: 1) Networking, networking and networking; 2) Mentoring, hiring and promoting women and other minorities; 3) Demonstrating superior performance; and 4) Developing skills and communication techniques more traditionally associated with men.…”