Corruption as illegitimate violation of the division of moral labour

A substantial amount of research has been conducted into the incidence of corruption, its consequences, and what determines the actions of potentially corrupt public officials. Much less effort has been devoted to studying the role of the private sector in corrupt transactions, what determines the behaviour of firms in terms of corruption, and what can and should be done to reduce their opportunities and incentives for bribery of public officials. Moreover, the ethical aspects of corruption are highly understudied in the academic literature. On what ethical basis is corruption viewed as problematic, and what does this imply in terms of responsibilities and priorities of individuals and organizations in refraining from corrupt acts, and contributing to its reduction? By eliciting the corruption-related responsibilities of corporations from a basic ethical foundation, this paper addresses these two omissions in the literature.