Problematising the Public-Private Corruption Dichotomy: A Comparative Analysis of Six Cases of Malfeasance in Australia

Abstract

<p>Given the predominant focus by academic researchers and policymakers on public office as the primary locus of corruption manifestation, this study explores the nature of corruption, its constitutive elements and contributive factors, by asking how and why corruption manifests in the Australian public and private sectors and whether it is a dichotomous concept that differs depending on the sector in which it occurs, or whether it is a singular entity that occurs in the same elemental form in both the public and private sectors. These questions are significant because there is a link between the accuracy of our understanding about corrupt malfeasance and the likely efficacy of the corruption-prevention policies that are guided by the findings of academic research on the subject. Using qualitative comparative methodology from a neo-institutionalist, Actor-Centred Institutionalism analytical perspective, three criminal law cases involving corrupt malfeasance within the Australian public sector were compared with three cases involving similar acts of malfeasance in the Australian private sector. The results of this study indicate that all the essential elements of corruption displayed in the public sector cases were also present in the private sector cases. The results also found a similarity between both sectors regarding the underlying factors that contribute to the manifestation of corruption, the dominance of power as a corruption-contributive factor, and the possible influence of institutional entrepreneurship on corrupt decision-making and behaviour. The findings raise doubts regarding the accuracy of our understanding of corruption and the likely efficacy of corruption-preventative measures that focus exclusively on the misuse of public office. The results suggest that corruption is a homogenous and universal phenomenon that can occur in the same form in both the public and private sectors. The findings also suggest that future research and policy development on the subject should examine corruption as it manifests in both sectors, and the institutional and actor-related factors that empower the corruption-contributive motivations and strategies of the organisational actors who are embedded within those institutional fields. </p>