Corruption in China and the United States: A Comparative Criminological Analysis

• In Event: Comparative Analyses of Corporate Corruption and State Crime

Abstract

This paper employs a comparative perspective to identify forces affecting modalities of corruption and official responses in the U.S. and China. First, it considers factors that have been identified as responsible for corruption in the U.S., and discusses general issues related to political and organizational corruption and white-collar crime. It then focuses on police corruption in the U.S. in order to highlight both individual and organizational elements of these acts and the specific social forces associated with them, and also considers corporate codes of conduct in the U.S. as they relate to the prevention of corruption and corporate crime, including foreign bribery. Following this, it examines the problem of white-collar crime and corruption in China, focusing on general issues and patterns, including the relationship between gambling and corruption in the world’s most lucrative casino industry in Macau. The paper then considers the theoretical and practical issues of system capacity and non-issue making in relation to corruption and other white-collar crimes, and compares enforcement and detection issues in China and the US. Finally, the paper examines the utility of enforcement campaigns designed to deter corrupt practices and offers directions for future research.

Authors

• Henry Pontell, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Adam Kavon Ghazi-Tehrani, University of Alabama