Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in public awareness of white-collar crime. One form of white-collar crime that has spread from national to international levels is bribery. However, despite this, international bribery remains an important growth area which requires more research (Rollings 2008). The aim of this paper is twofold, aiming to: a) provide an in-depth understanding of international bribery by adopting an opportunity-focused theoretical framework, namely, the routine activity theory; and b) provide information that could enhance the investigation, detection and prevention of this crime. Understanding the context in which international bribery occurs is an important step in being able to investigate, detect and prevent it. To explore this, a case study analysis is conducted on Australia's largest international bribery case, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) Scandal. Data analysis enabled the construction of a chronological timeline of the key events which is analysed against theoretical elements drawn from the routine activity theory and relevant literature. This method is found to be useful in providing an in-depth understanding of international bribery, from which suggestions are made as to how the regulation of this crime may be improved. This study contributes valuable information to the international bribery discourse, which currently lacks empirical research. It confirms the suitability of opportunity-focused theories to explain white-collar crime and highlights a number of areas which have implications for future research.
Authors: Felicity Marie Frain, Peter Bell, Mark Lauchs
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2137775187