Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia - Ethiomedia

246 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
The risk versus reward model. To help understand what drives an
individual to engage in corrupt practices in the construction sector—or
deters that individual from doing so—the study adopted an approach
of balancing risks and rewards. In such a model, the risk is typically built
up from a combination of elements: (a) the risk of detection, (b) the
risk of prosecution and loss of face if detected, and (c) the consequences
of prosecution.
Countering these elements is the corrupt act’s reward, which may be
either personal or indirect—that is, a perceived benefit to one’s company,
political party, or other organization.
In the absence of any ethical considerations, a decision about whether
to engage in corrupt practices would be based simply on this risk versus
reward balance, with the result that anyone who thought they could get
away with it (that is, have no risks) would act corruptly where there was
a perceived benefit. This dynamic potentially gives rise to a particular
problem in the construction sector, where opportunities abound for corrupt
acts to remain undetected along with many situations in which those
responsible for high-value contracts earn low salaries.
In practice, however, ethical considerations do play a role in that most
people, given the choice, would prefer not to engage in corrupt practices.
Within the engineering profession, such an ethical stance can be reinforced
by professional standards and related training that encourages
fair-minded professional behavior even when opportunities exist for
shortcuts. Realistically, though, such ethical and professional considerations
are not always strong enough to overcome a strong sense that the
only choice is to engage in corrupt activities.
Corruption Risks in Ethiopia’s Construction Sector
This study provides a preliminary overview of the nature and scope
of corruption in Ethiopia’s construction sector in order to identify
areas of concern and those requiring more detailed study. The findings
are therefore necessarily tentative, given the size and diversity of
the sector and the limited scope of the study. However, they do
reflect an internally consistent view of those parts of Ethiopia’s construction
and public works sector that have so far been studied. As
such, this mapping exercise may help guide both further study and
initial policy development, but it should in the process be treated
with due caution.