Final Version - Private sector corruption in the developing world

Abstract

The paper proposes a perspective on the nature and extent of private sector corruption in Kenya, and in order to do so, certain premises are advanced. Firstly, one cannot understand corruption in developing countries without an appreciation of the role played by the public sector in defining and shaping the business environment. Secondly, accessing or capturing the nature and extent of private-to-private corruption in African countries is itself a challenging task, despite recent efforts by organizations like Transparency International or KPMG to bring this information into the public domain. Thirdly, it remains to be seen whether developing countries are capable of avoiding the worst effects of major scandals, most recently seen in the activities of the US company Halliburton in Iraq, and Parmalat in Europe, which are shaking confidence in the seemingly incorruptible economies of the Western World.