undefined | Better HN

0 pointsJaepa6y ago0 comments

I'm not an apologist for Walmart, kind of the opposite actually, but in a lot of places bribes are not seen as malicious or corrupt just unspoken rules.

A friend of mine from Nepal said something along the lines of "bribes are just a lubricate to an intentionally slow and unorganized bureaucracy". Places like China, India, Vietnam, & Taiwan all have pretty well know backdoor policies of this.

Its a bit old but https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardlevick/2015/01/21/new-da... and https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/14/business/china-ge-siemens... are both good read for this.

I've also known of UN project directors who had to convince governmental ministers that the UN's no bribe policy was not just a bargaining method.

0 comments

dreamcompiler6y ago

The FCPA (the law Walmart violated) specifically allows such "lubrication" bribes, where you're basically just paying a lowly government official a small amount to do his/her job a little faster. The forbidden bribes happen when you pay a higher-level official to make a decision in your favor that they otherwise might not have made. Huge difference in the eyes of the law.

LanceH6y ago

I've worked somewhere that the policy was you don't pay bribes. You hire a local company capable of navigating the nuances of the local permitting process.

paulajohnson6y ago

And what happens when your consultant bills you for a big but vaguely described fee?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse