Headline Oct 25, 2014/

''' GRANDMA-BR​IBE ! : 

*SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!* '''

WHAT it was that persuaded me to think that tracking and collecting sterling work on bribe,  might be a damn good idea, I cannot remember-

But it quickly faded in  -on and off modes, as I began getting clobbered by unseen forces and invisible hands.

In my youth, my principal, Mr Hugh Catchpole, MA (Oxford) considered it character building in some nebulous way. He considered  ''bribe spotting''  as a healthy hobby!?

That I now understand, was some luxury!? 

BRIBERY is very, very, very hard to stamp out.

In a global fraud survey by Ernst & Young,  a professional services firm,  39% of businesses say corruption is common in countries where they operate.

Corporate standards are more liable to slip when times are tough:

15% of surveyed firms think cash payments to win business can be justified if they help companies to survive an economic downturn, compared with 9% last year.

One in 20  think the same of misstating their financial performance.

Bribery would be less of a problem if it wasn't also a solid investment.

A new paper by : Raghavendra  Rau of Cambridge University and Yan Leung Cheung and Ares Stouratis  of the Hong Kong Baptist University examines 166 high profile of bribery since 1971:

Covering payments made in  52  countries by firms listed on 20 different stockmarkets.

Bribery offered an average return of  10-11 times  the value of  the bung paid out to win the contract, measured by the jump in stockmarket value when the contract was won.

America's Department of Justice found similarly high returns in cases it has prosecuted.

Returns depend on which officials are having their palms greased.

Higher-ranking officials get bigger bribes not only in cash terms but also as a proportion of the value of the contracts they dish out-

***With heads of state securing up to  4.7%  of the contract value compared with just 1.2%  for low-ranking officials***.

Senior officials also capture more of the benefit from graft, typically taking over 50% of the returns from contracts they hand out; their subordinates capture just 20% of the value.

The size of bribes is also affected by the institutional set-up in each country.

Cash bribes are bigger in poorer countries with larger armed forces and  higher customs burdens.

The authors suggest such countries  typically have weaker institutions and less constrained government officials.

Bribes pay more, both in cash terms and as a share of project value, when there is a lower newspaper circulation at home.

Not all dirty money is spent equally well. The authors find that firms with better overall financial performance outperform in this area,  too, getting better value for their bribes.

Returns are also higher where overall levels of bribery are held down by greater disclosure and director liability,  perhaps because such scrutiny deters entry into the bribe paying market by other firms.

The problem is getting caught.

Another paper, by Jonathan Karpoff of the University of  Washington, Scott Lee of Texas  A & M   University and  Gerald Martin of American University, found that :

American firms facing bribery-enforcement action lose 9% of their market value-

Mostly they have other problems with misrepresentation and fraud.

With great respectful and loving dedication to the O''Captain Imran Khan.

With respectful dedication to the whole of Mankind.  See Ya all on !WOW! -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' !WOW! Arbitrage '''

'''Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless