As an example of just how corrupt many developing countries are, a recent report by Transparency Mexico suggests that bribery to obtain government services is endemic throughout Mexico.
In a survey of almost 14,000 Mexican households, Transparency Mexico estimated that more than 200 million individual bribes occur in the country annually, at a cost of $2.5 billion.
And these are just for normal everyday services. The average bribe measured in the survey was only $12. Want to get married in Mexico? Give a civil servant a $10 bribe to secure the date you want. Need to get a driver’s license? Don’t forget to bribe the clerk administering the test. Everything from enrolling children in schools to obtaining garbage collection and water service in Mexico involves regular bribes to the authorities.
Mexican President Vincente Fox was elected on promises to reform Mexico’s corrupt bureaucracy, but so far Fox’s anti-corruption campaign doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect on business-as-usual.
Sources:
For many in Mexico, bribes a way of life. Kevin Sullivan, The Washington Post, October 31, 2001.
Mexico’s Harsh Bribery Reality. James F. Smith, Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2001.
The Bribery Is a Way of Life in Mexico by Brian Carnell, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.