ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the participation in corruption by officials and the persons and businesses they regulate in terms of the opportunities which are available for corruption and incentives to take advantage of those opportunities. Corruption can only occur when an official has an opportunity to use his or her authority in a way which would lead someone to want to pay for favorable treatment. However, some decisions made in land-use and building regulation are more attractive than others as opportunities for corruption. The chapter also discusses the attractiveness that would be affected by: the visibility of the decision, congruence with other community policies, the number of officials involved, who takes the initiative in corruption negotiations, impact on applicant's activities, and impact of past and future activities. Applicants and officials bring to their current roles a lifetime of experiences which shape, with varying degrees of clarity, definitions of corruption and expectations about the consequences of corrupt and non-corrupt behavior.
