ABSTRACT
Public and commercial corruption, involving the illicit exchange of money or its equivalent for illicit benefits, dominates research and anti-corruption efforts, but the specific underlying behaviours are not always clearly identified. This study examines several hundred corruption cases occurring over a three-year period. These cases are grouped into five different types from the least to most organised forms of corruption. A tipping point is reached when a business or government agency turns from exploiting the system by pilfering or low-level bribery to operating like a criminal enterprise with organised schemes involving solicitation of bribes and extortion. Examples are provided from actual cases to illustrate a hierarchy of corrupt conduct and how organised forms of corruption are less common, but usually more serious, than individual or less organised graft. It is proposed that applying the principles of both enterprise theory and situational crime prevention might provide a path forward in anticipating and reducing the incidence of such corruption.
