Sunday, December 11, 2016 http://dailyasianage.com/news/40900/bribe-payoff-culture-in-bangladesh
EDEN BUILDING TO STOCK EXCHANGE
Bribe-payoff culture in Bangladesh M S Siddiqui
Literature in all societies on corruption deals with conflict between citizens and government officials or politicians who take or solicit payoffs, but corruption also occurs in private institutions. The outcomes of bureaucratic corruption are bribe and payoff in sectors of business or services to the citizens. Society of Bangladesh is an exception because there is a habit of hiding the corruption of bureaucrats and loudly criticizing politicians and businesspersons for corruption. The word 'bribe' is almost not available in literature and publications. The bribery use to initiate all sorts of corruption in our society. International organizations and some of the Nongovernment organizations (NGO) like Transparency International and donor agencies are vocal on this issue. The bribes are negotiated and fixed on the basis of market mechanism through demand and
supply of services. Most of the models of corruption do not include this aspect of the problem and assume either a fixed bribe price or an equal division of the rents. The briber and the bribe- taker may bargain over the amount of the bribe in the light of the benefit of briber out of the decision and action of bureaucrats or probable penalty for the bureaucrats. In countries like Bangladesh bureaucracy is protected and hardly penalized for corruption. The bureaucrats have advantageous position in the bribe-payoff market. Government officials have monopoly in the corruption market of Bangladesh. The social barriers are only obstacles on enjoying full profit of monopoly position. Bribers cannot negotiate in case of monopoly position or sole authority over decision of certain chairs. The prevailing social status of high officials is not suitable for direct negotiation. The bribe- takers to negotiate the deal through agents like lower level staffs, relatives and friends. The agents are very close and trusted associates of officials. Agents use to demand commission and may also share the bribe with receiver. At some point of negotiation, the bribe recipient demands such an amount which is beyond costs outweigh the benefits of the payer. In contrast, the briber may be willing to contemplate very large corrupt deals to cover up cost and enjoy higher benefits for higher investment in business and bribe. Bangladesh Public Works Department and Roads and Highway department usually invite tender on the basis of estimate of work mentioned in the tender schedule. The offer has two dimensions of working at lower cost (compromising quality of work) and higher bribe. Moreover, the bribe has two categories: one is fixed bribe for certain regular order and inspection and other is variable bribe for extra service like approval of some quality of work or delay of work. The bidding contractors only offer the price higher or lower than the cost estimate. Usually, bidders offer lower price. The price includes bribe, extortion of local ruffians etc. Ultimately, the investment in the target project is really much lower than the actual cost and finally all the expenses are adjusted by compromising the quality of construction. Corruption in different service providing government departments is in the form of 'selling' free service on payments and the 'cost' of service is fixed and usually not negotiable. The social costs of bribery include inefficiencies introduced by payoffs, the unfair distribution of public benefits, and the erosion of legal entitlements. The social security and property security is almost absent from our society for the common citizens except government officials and politicians. Common citizens truly buy the social security and properties. It is interesting to note that with development of business and transaction, monopoly control of owners has declined. It has created a new generation bureaucracy in private sector. This corporate bureaucracy is more corrupt than public bureaucracy. This has no direct social impact
since the corruption does not have direct impact on the society. But it has impact on cost of service and products. Some legal systems in other countries criminalize private-to-private bribery, but in many jurisdictions including in Bangladesh, such transactions are not against the law unless they involve another illegal offense, such as extortion or operation of an illegal business. The private tort law or employment law may prevent such offences. Time will demand criminalization of private-to-private corruption since the corruption is harmful to the bribe taker's employer as well as the economy. Different types of bribery have different costs that depend on background conditions. It is possible that some bribes can be beneficial, if they overcome unfair, inhumane or inefficient practices. For example, bribery might permit someone to escape an oppressive regime or it might allocate importing quotas to the most efficient firms. However, bribery is always a second best outcome. Private actors frequently make payments to public officials to obtain a benefit or to avoid harm. Corrupt systems, especially if supported by credible threats, have distributive consequences even if resources and services are properly allocated. Corrupt officials share the profits of private firms and households may obtain few benefits from a public program. The effects may be purely distributive or they may have long-term impacts on entry into the corrupted businesses or activities. They have more than enough power to decide on licensing, awarding contracts and other approval conditionality over the business transactions. Business houses must go for interactions with government bureaucrats and it provides a way for a firm to cement a monopoly position that harms other customers and suppliers. The anti corruption process in this area goes beyond its direct impact on private business and merges with the discussion of public sector corruption. Bribes may be paid not only to propagate business but also to dilute product quality, enforce cartels and limit entry. Bangladesh is a heaven of open negotiation and transaction of bribery. Official tolerance of bribery leaves in place the transaction costs of corruption, favors those who disrespect the law, encourages officials to create even more red tape and delay to increase incentives for payoffs, and undermines state legitimacy. Corruption has its foundation in the administrative system and professional immunity. Bureaucrats have maximum discretionary power and the service rules protect them from offences through complicated and lengthy procedure. Moreover, the government is actively considering the protection of the government officials through new proposed Administrative Act making a provision of prior permission of government before filing case against government officials. Bangladesh has a long way to fight corruption. Fight against bribery may start with reduction of discretionary power and reduction of size of bureaucracy. A overhauling of administrative, legal system and social transformation is essential to eliminate the mother of corruption - the bribery.
The writer is a Legal Economist