Publications

September 1999
Article

Rents, Competition and Corruption

By: Alberto Ades and Rafael Di Tella

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Competition

April 2001
Case

Corruption in International Business (B)

By: Robert E. Kennedy and Rafael M. Di Tella

Focuses on efforts to combat corruption. Approaches include international laws, international agreements, efforts by international development organizations, and private efforts by firms and nongovernmental organizations. View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Emerging Markets; Policy; Globalization

Educators

October 2011
Article

Government Advertising and Media Coverage of Corruption Scandals

By: Rafael Di Tella and Ignacio Franceschelli

We construct measures of the extent to which the four main newspapers in Argentina report government corruption in their front page during the period 1998-2007 and correlate them with government advertising. The correlation is negative. The size is considerable: a one... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Advertising; Government and Politics; Newspapers; Media; Argentina

March 2012
Teaching Note

Fighting Corruption at Siemens

By: Paul Healy

March 2022 (Revised November 2024)
Background Note

Legal Analysis: Bribery and Corruption

By: Nien-he Hsieh, Louis Caldera, Christopher Diak and Matthew Souba

Educators

August 2013
Article

Customer-Driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices

By: Victor Manuel Bennett, Lamar Pierce, Jason A. Snyder and Michael W. Toffel

Competition among firms yields many benefits but can also encourage firms to engage in corrupt or unethical activities. We argue that competition can lead organizations to provide services that customers demand but that violate government regulations, especially when... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Crime and Corruption; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Consumer Behavior; Customer Satisfaction; Auto Industry; Service Industry

2012
Conference Presentation

Dirty Spoons: Restaurant Employee Corruption

By: Daniel Snow

Article

Don't Let Power Corrupt You

By: Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro

Although power is essential to taking charge and driving change, it makes leaders vulnerable to two traps that can not only erode their own effectiveness but also undermine their teams. Hubris—the excessive pride and self-confidence that can come with power—causes... View Details

Keywords: Humility; Empathy; Hubris; Leadership; Power and Influence; Moral Sensibility; Performance Effectiveness

2012
Chapter

Evidence from the Firm: A New Approach to Understanding Corruption

By: Shawn A. Cole and Anh Tran

Due to its clandestine nature, most of what we understand about corruption comes from survey evidence and self-reported perceptions of corruption: this limits both the range of questions that can be asked and the precision of answers that can be provided. This chapter... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Crime and Corruption; Organizations; Ownership; Asia

November 2018
Supplement

Corruption and Business in Emerging Markets

By: Geoffrey Jones

April 2014
Teaching Plan

Following Lance Armstrong: Excellence Corrupted

By: Clayton S. Rose and Noah Fisher

2006
Chapter

Corruption and the Demand for Regulating Capitalists

By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Economic Systems

October 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Plan

Corruption and Business in Emerging Markets

By: Geoffrey Jones, Tarun Khanna and Nataliya Langburd Wright

Teaching Note for HBS No. 319-054. View Details

08 Mar 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Customer-Driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices

Keywords: by Victor Manuel Bennett, Lamar Pierce, Jason A. Snyder & Michael W. Toffel; Auto

Article

After the Fall: Reintegrating the Corrupt Organization

By: Michael D. Pfarrer, K. A. DeCelles, Ken G. Smith and M. Susan Taylor

We propose a four-stage model of the organizational actions that potentially increase the speed and likelihood that an organization will restore its legitimacy with stakeholders following a transgression. Organizations that work to discover the facts of the... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Reputation; Business and Stakeholder Relations

December 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Infosys in India: Building a Software Giant in a Corrupt Environment

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Rafael M. Di Tella and Prabakar (PK) Kothandaraman

Shortly after Infosys was founded in 1981, its managers faced a major turning point when they made a decision to operate without giving in to the petty corruption rife in the Indian economy. Within just a few years, that decision had truly defined the company. Over the... View Details

Keywords: History; Management Style; Moral Sensibility; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Decisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Situation or Environment; Crime and Corruption; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry; India

Educators

May 2013
Article

Here's a Tip: Prosocial Gratuities Are Linked to Corruption

By: Magnus Thor Torfason, Francis J. Flynn and Daniella Kupor

We investigated the link between tipping, an altruistic act, and bribery, an immoral act. We found a positive relationship between these two seemingly unrelated behaviors, using archival cross-national data for 32 countries, and controlling for per capita GDP, income... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Crime and Corruption; Behavior

August 2013
Article

Customer-Driven Misconduct: How Competition Corrupts Business Practices - Appendix

By: Victor Manuel Bennett, Lamar Pierce, Jason A. Snyder and Michael W. Toffel