Abstract
Quantitative data on bribery are sparse, for obvious reasons; only 20 cases are cited from U.S. history. In all 20 cases (a) there was a victim or victims, and (b) the victim's cost was greater than the bribe. The cost/bribe ratio was calculated and the cost was typically between seven and twenty times as great as the bribe; the median was 15. It is concluded that bribery is important to the economy and worth studying.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.