It is wrong to assume that corruption is necessarily, or
even mostly, monetary or pecuniary. Corruption is built
on mutual expectations. The reasonable expectation of a
future benefit is, in itself, a benefit. Access, influence
peddling, property rights, exclusivity, licences, permits, a
job, a recommendation - all constitute benefits.
(e) That the service, information, or goods that are
withheld are withheld because no benefit was provided or
promised by the recipient.
Even then, in CEE, we can distinguish between a few
types of corrupt and venal behaviours in accordance with
their OUTCOMES (utilities):
(1) Income Supplement
Corrupt actions whose sole outcome is the supplementing
of the income of the provider without affecting the "real
world" in any manner.
Though the perception of corruption itself is a negative
outcome - it is so only when corruption does not
constitute an acceptable and normative part of the playing
field. When corruption becomes institutionalised - it also
becomes predictable and is easily and seamlessly
incorporated into decision making processes of all
economic players and moral agents. They develop "by-
passes" and "techniques" which allow them to restore an
efficient market equilibrium. In a way, all-pervasive
corruption is transparent and, thus, a form of taxation.
This is the most common form of corruption exercised by
low and mid-ranking civil servants, party hacks and
municipal politicians throughout the CEE.
More than avarice, the motivating force here is sheer
survival. The acts of corruption are repetitive, structured
and in strict accordance with an un-written tariff and code
of conduct.
(2) Acceleration Fees
Corrupt practices whose sole outcome is to
ACCELERATE decision making, the provision of goods
and services or the divulging of information. None of the
outcomes or the utility functions are altered. Only the
speed of the economic dynamics is altered. This kind of
corruption is actually economically BENEFICIAL. It is a
limited transfer of wealth (or tax) which increases
efficiency. This is not to say that bureaucracies and venal
officialdoms, over-regulation and intrusive political
involvement in the workings of the marketplace are good
(efficient) things. They are not. But if the choice is
between a slow, obstructive and passive-aggressive civil
service and a more forthcoming and accommodating one
(the result of bribery) - the latter is preferable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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