Keywords

JEL Codes

Introduction

This chapter summarizes the results of 17 studies that were conducted on the relationship between employment status and attitude toward bribery. Additional summaries will be published in the second volume of this series, The Ethics of Bribery: Country Studies (McGee & Benk, 2023). This volume includes summaries of the following studies:

  • Age – 26 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023a)

  • Confidence in government – 15 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023b)

  • Confidence in the justice system/courts – 6 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023k)

  • Confidence in the police – 7 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023c)

  • Education – 23 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023d)

  • Employment status – 17 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023e)

  • Ethnicity – 8 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023f)

  • Gender – 31 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023g)

  • Happiness – 19 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023h)

  • Health – 11 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023i)

  • Income – 18 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023j)

  • Marital status – 20 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023l)

  • Political viewpoint – 16 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023m)

  • Religious denomination – 19 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023n)

  • Religiosity – 12 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023o)

  • Social class – 20 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023p)

  • Sector of employment – 14 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023q)

  • Size of town – 10 studies (McGee & Benk, 2023r)

  • Twenty-four studies – 24 studies (McGee, 2023b)

  • Twenty-eight studies – 28 studies (McGee, 2023a)

Methodology

This chapter summarizes some of the findings of prior studies on the ethics of bribery. Some of the studies used the World Values Survey database as the basis for examining the relationship between employment status and the ethics of bribery. The survey question on bribery asked participants whether it is justifiable to accept a bribe in the course of business using a 10-point Likert scale where 1 = never justifiable and 10 = always justifiable. Other studies solicited the opinions of students and others.

Country Studies

Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia [Three Latin American Countries]

(Hernandez & McGee, 2013a)

  • Housewives were most opposed to bribe taking; students and the unemployed were least opposed.

Australia

(Hernandez & McGee, 2014a)

  • Retired people were most strongly opposed to bribe taking, followed by housewives, the self-employed, students, full-time and part-time employees, and unemployed.

Brazil

(McGee, 2014)

  • The only significant difference in mean scores was the comparison between housewives and full-time employees. In that case, housewives were significantly less opposed to bribe taking but only at the 10% level.

  • The “Other” categories were all equally opposed to bribe taking (full-time, part-time, self-employed, retired, unemployed, students).

Brazil, China, Germany, and the USA [Four Large Countries]

(Hernandez & McGee, 2012a)

  • The retired group had the strongest opposition to bribe taking, followed by the self-employed, full-time and part-time workers, housewives, students, and the unemployed.

Canada, Mexico, and the USA [North America]

(Hernandez & McGee, 2013b)

  • Retired people tended to be most opposed to bribery, followed by full-time and part-time employees. Housewives and the unemployed were least opposed to bribery.

Egypt

(Hernandez & McGee, 2013c)

  • Retired and those who were employed full-time were significantly more opposed to bribe taking. Students and the unemployed were least opposed.

Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, and Iraq [Four Muslim Countries]

(Hernandez & McGee, 2014b)

  • Full-time employees, retired, and others were most strongly opposed to bribery. Those who were unemployed were least opposed. Part-timers and the self-employed were only slightly less opposed.

Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa [African Countries]

(Hernandez & McGee, 2014c)

  • Housewives were most opposed to bribe taking. Self-employed and retired people tied for second place. Full-time employees, students, and the unemployed were in the next group. Part-time employees were least opposed to bribe taking

France

(Hernandez & McGee, 2012b)

  • For the 1981 study, those most opposed to bribery was the “Other” category, which consisted of retired, housewives, students, unemployed, and others.

  • The “Other” category could also be labeled not in workforce. Part-time workers were least opposed to bribery. For the 2006 study, part-time workers were most opposed to bribery, while self-employed individuals were least opposed.

France, Germany, Great Britain, and Italy [Four European Countries]

(Hernandez & McGee, 2012c)

  • The group showing the strongest opposition to bribe taking was the retired group.

  • There was a tie for second place between housewives and part-time employees. In the fourth place was the self-employed group.

  • Tied for the fifth place were full-time employees and the “Other” group. There was a tie for least opposition between students and the unemployed.

The USA

(Hernandez & McGee, 2013d)

  • In 1982, part-time workers and those in the “Other” category, which includes retired, housewives, students, and others, were most opposed to bribery, while self-employed individuals were least opposed.

  • In 2006, the group most opposed to bribery was the part-time group. However, this finding must be heavily discounted, since the sample size for the part-time group was only 4. The group least opposed to bribery in 2006 was the full-time employee group.

  • A comparison of the 1982 and 2006 data finds that the full-time and other categories became less opposed to bribery over time, while the self-employed group became more opposed.

Religious Studies

Atheist Attitudes Toward Bribery

(McGee et al., 2023b)

  • The unemployed group showed the weakest opposition to bribe taking; the retired/pensioned group showed the strongest opposition. Differences in mean scores among the eight groups were often significant.

Buddhist Attitudes Toward Bribery

(McGee et al., 2023c)

  • Students had the least opposition to bribe taking, while those in the “Other” and retired/pensioned categories showed the strongest opposition. However, the difference in mean scores was only significant at the 10% level.

Christian Attitudes Toward Bribery

(McGee et al., 2023d)

  • Those in the “Other” category were least opposed to bribe taking; the retired/pensioned group showed the strongest opposition to bribe taking.

Hindu Attitudes Toward Bribery

(McGee et al., 2023e)

  • Although students showed the least aversion to bribe taking, and the retired/pensioned group showed the highest aversion, the differences in mean scores were not significant.

Jewish Attitudes Toward Bribery

(McGee et al., 2023f)

  • Although students had the least aversion to bribe taking and those in the retired/pensioned group had the strongest opposition, the difference in mean scores was not significant, perhaps due to the small sample size.

Muslim Attitudes Toward Bribery

(McGee et al., 2023a)

  • Is a significant variable. Homemakers not otherwise employed showed the strongest opposition to bribe taking. Those working part-time (less than 30 h per week) tended to have significantly less opposition to bribe taking than several other groups.