Corrupt arrangements are characterized by a high risk of opportunism. Moreover, denunciation and extortion add another layer of uncertainty for participants in corrupt transactions. This paper demonstrates how legislators can use an asymmetric design of criminal sanctions to amplify these...

This paper argues that contracts induced by means of bribery should be valid. Nullity and voidability decrease the incentive for voluntary disclosure, assist corrupt actors with enforcing their bribe agreements and provide leeway for abuse. Thus, they run counter to effective anti-corruption. It...

Even though high penalties for corruption offences have a deterrent and preventive effect, they also entrap bribe-takers and bribe-givers in their corrupt relationship. Moreover, pending penalties can be misused to make threats against opportunistic behavior and can thus stabilize risky bribe...

Governments, companies and organizations across the world have implemented strategies for countering corruption. A growing body of so-called best practice has emerged in the last 20 years. But some approaches have been criticized for being costly, ineffective or even counterproductive. This...

Psychology has inspired economics to recognize intentions in addition to outcomes as being relevant for utility and behavior. Reciprocal behavior, in particular, has been related to the kindness of chosen actions and how kindness can be derived from the benefits obtained in unchosen...

Corruption among central banks induces distorted policies by, first, increasing the inflation bias and, second, potentially inducing a pro-cyclical adjustment of employment. In response to a negative supply shock a corrupt central banker is tempted to decrease money supply. In this case, he...

Recent empirical studies claim that, in addition to levels of corruption, investors are deterred by its unpredictability. I claim instead that it is petty corruption that deters investors. I employ seven subcomponents of corruption for a sample of 102 countries that appear in the 2003 Global...

The latest Argentinean debt restructuring was the first time the resolution of a modem financial crisis was completely handed over to the private financial markets without official intervention by public institutions. We argue that the resulting harshest haircut for private creditors in history...

The Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite index with a focus on cross-section information. The usage of the data in the form of time series has been discouraged in the past, due to changes in the composition of sources. Basing assessments only on sources that...