Date of Graduation

2007

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Transnational corruption is the type of corruption that crosses borders, involves corporate and state actors, and employs sophisticated and grand schemes to siphon the wealth of a country from its rightful owners: the people of the country. Quite simply, it is the grand theft of public funds for private gain. This is a significant problem because the amount of money stolen each year is staggering. Over one-quarter of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) is lost to corruption annually, and in Latin America about ten percent of their GDP vanishes due to corruption. Transparency International estimates that at least four hundred billion U.S. dollars a year is lost to bribery and corruption in public procurement, increasing government costs by approximately twenty to twenty five percent. In Asia, corrupt public procurement requires countries pay twenty to one hundred percent more for goods and services than they would have had to otherwise. Beyond the loss of valuable and scarce dollars, this form of corruption is particularly devastating to developing countries because it scares off much needed development aid. It also has the potential to create a disaffected civil society where citizens do not support their elected leaders or respect the rule of law, allow their institutions to erode, and could ultimately see their society teetering on the brink of collapse. Understanding transnational corruption requires one to draw on political science, economic, public administration and international relations theories. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine and better understand transnational corruption in the developing world. The dissertation will examine the actors, or sources of corruption, that include politicians, the bureaucracy, and private industry/business. Transnational corruption involves local actors as well as international ones. The dissertation will examine impact or effects of corruption as well as review some of the causes. Primarily however, this dissertation will attempt to debunk the myth of a culture driven cause and focus more on untangling how these interrelated state and corporate actors steal. One of the largest targets for such corruption is the state procurement system and this dissertation will undertake a thorough examination of the process and its vulnerabilities. Lastly, this dissertation will examine other international actors such as nongovernmental organizations and the treaty making conference in international law and assess their impact in this field.

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