Questions about Corruption
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What happened to the Kaunas Golden Toilet project in 2009?
The municipality of Kaunas, Lithuania, commissioned a shipping container to be converted into an outdoor public toilet for the sum of 500,000 litai, which equated to approximately 150,000 euros. This facility remained closed for years due to its inherent dysfunctionality and became a symbol of the city's mismanagement. The scandal eventually triggered a lengthy anti-corruption investigation that resulted in prison sentences for several public servants involved in the procurement process for recklessness and misuse of power.
How did German law allow foreign corruption before 1999?
A 1994 study by the German Parliamentary Financial Commission revealed that foreign corruption was legal within Germany, provided it was not directed at domestic officials. This specific legal framework allowed German corporations to deduct bribe payments as business expenses, effectively subsidizing international graft through the tax code. The law, valid until 1999, permitted companies to pay bribes to foreign officials without disclosing the recipient's name, creating a powerful instrument for blocking foreign legal jurisdictions from fighting corruption.
What is access money according to political economist Yuen Yuen Ang?
Access money refers to high-stakes rewards extended by business actors to powerful officials not to speed up a process, but to gain exclusive, valuable privileges. Unlike simple bribery which is always illegal, access money can encompass both illegal and legal actions, often involving entire institutions where no single person is individually liable. In wealthy democracies like the United Kingdom, this manifests as a hub for money laundering and influence peddling, where London serves as a global center for illicit financial flows.
How does the resource curse affect corruption levels in different nations?
Research indicates that countries rich in extractable resources like diamonds, gold, oil, and forestry tend to have increased levels of corruption, a phenomenon known as the resource curse. While mineral exports like gold and diamonds are associated with reduced corruption in wealthier countries, they increase corruption in poorer nations. The presence of fuel extraction and export is unambiguously associated with corruption, creating a cycle where the very resources meant to build a nation instead fund the very systems that undermine it.
When was the term state capture first used and what does it mean?
The term state capture was first used by the World Bank in 2000 to describe how small corrupt groups in Central Asian countries used their influence over government officials to appropriate decision-making for their own economic gain. This form of corruption seeks to influence the formation of laws to protect and promote influential actors, differing from other forms that merely seek selective enforcement of existing laws. The result is a shadow state where the government system is repurposed to serve other, often corrupt purposes, and where the distinction between the state and private interests is erased.
Which organization publishes the Corruption Perceptions Index and when did it start?
The Corruption Perceptions Index is published annually by Transparency International since 1995 and ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. A study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2020 claimed that the Emirati city of Dubai was an enabler of global corruption, crime, and illicit financial flows, serving as a haven for trade-based money laundering. The Global Corruption Index, designed by the Global Risk Profile, covers 196 countries and territories, measuring the state of corruption and white-collar crimes around the world, specifically money laundering and terrorism financing.