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Corruption, Re-corruption and What Transpires in Between: The Case of a Government Officer in India

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Abstract

Empirical studies suggest that re-corruption is a common occurrence in developing countries, and we know little about what transpires between corruption and re-corruption. The objective of this empirical study is to discuss the practices of government officers in between phase of corruption and re-corruption. It does so by considering the case of a government officer working in an agricultural marketing yard of India. The findings from the case suggest that officers choose to mimic honest dispositions after their transfers to new postings as it gives them more choices in the practice of corruption. The hibernation model of re-corruption is used to explain this behavior of the officers. The study is critical and inspired by Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice. The findings from it will directly contribute to the design of anti-corruption policies.

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Funding

This study is based on the doctoral thesis of Dr. Ranjan Vaidya. Dr. Vaidya was supported by the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Information Architect, Information Technology Strategy, Policy and Planning Unit, The University of Auckland, 58 Symonds Street, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

    Ranjan Vaidya

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  1. Ranjan Vaidya
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Correspondence to Ranjan Vaidya.

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The author declares that he has no conflict of interests.

Ethical Approval

This study is based on the doctoral thesis of Dr. Ranjan Vaidya. The study obtained the approval of University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee.

Human and Animals Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Vaidya, R. Corruption, Re-corruption and What Transpires in Between: The Case of a Government Officer in India. J Bus Ethics 156, 605–620 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3612-5

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