Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Corporations – Canada – Corrupt practices'

Corporate corruption is a widespread phenomenon that persists in the functioning of both public and private companies of differing size, performance, industry, and national origin. As it generates negative effects both within and outside the organization, corporate corruption has been the subject of scholarly research. Yet, despite attempts to understand its antecedents and consequences, companies continue to struggle to eliminate corruption in their business practices. Thus, the overarching research question for this dissertation is "Why do companies continue engaging in corruption?" To answer this research question, I focused on the topic of organizational corruption control, i.e., a set of mechanisms that purposefully target the prevention of corrupt practices within an organization. Specifically, I investigated the trident of organizational corruption control via its effects and implications on three constructs - corporate social performance, opportunity attractiveness of organizational corruption and corporate corruption recidivism. Using distinct methodologies, I examined corporate corruption control in three separate studies to address 1) the effect of corruption control on the opportunity attractiveness of organizational corruption 2) the effect of corruption control on corporate social performance and 3) the implication of ineffective corruption control on organizational corruption recidivism. Based on interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and several secondary data sources, the hypothesized effects were empirically tested and insights were derived from a multiple case study approach. The three studies used different firm samples. Study 1 was based on the data of the United States enforcement actions for violations of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (FCPA) formally prohibiting foreign bribery; firm-level data from the Bloomberg terminal; and a country-level measure from Worldwide Governance Indicators. In Study 1 (N=71 firms involved in foreign bribery), results supported hypotheses that regulatory sanctioning in host countries and bureaucratic controls at a firm level were negatively correlated with corruption opportunity attractiveness. Furthermore, vigilance controls help strengthen negative effect of bureaucratic controls on corruption opportunity attractiveness. Study 2 was based on reports of anti-corruption programs of the world's largest companies from Transparency International, corporate social performance scores from CSRHub, and firm-level financial indicators from the Bloomberg terminal. The findings of Study 2 (N=102 firms) supported hypothesis that corporate corruption controls positively affect Sustainable Resource Management, a sub-dimension of CSP. Importantly, the use of a cross-lagged design helped to specify that the relationship between Corruption Controls and CSP dimensions is not reciprocal (2-way) as was previously discussed in the literature. Study 3, was based on 6 cases of corruption recidivists identified via FCPA enforcements' database, and utilized data from court proceedings, annual reports, and news articles. Data were coded following prescribed steps to arrive at categories and themes. An inductive qualitative analysis performed in Study 3 resulted in a descriptive framework of ingenious deviance that underpins the profile of corporate corruption recidivists. The analysis revealed that a) a combination of underlying contextual and situational factors provided fertile ground for corruption, b) the phenomenon of recidivism occurred in the presence of multiple competing logics, and c) internal controls were subverted through ingenious deviance to facilitate bribery.

Despite being mentioned in most international anti-corruption instruments, trading in influence appears only rarely in the spotlight of legal practice and literature. This paper aims to shed some light on the issue. The main objective is to highlight the different forms of trading in influence stipulated in various international agreements and national laws in order to draw a comprehensive picture of this offence. Furthermore, by identifying and critically appraising the core issues connected with trading in influence, this paper aims to provide recommendations which may be of use to states obliged to implement or to consider implementing this offence.

The objective of this study was to assess the affect of economic performance, relative performance and corporate structure on the frequency of corporate crime. The data utilized in this study were obtained from the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research and were originally collected by Marshall Clinard and Peter Yeager (1979). In addition to this data source, disaggregated economic data were collected in order to assess the volatility of economic performance for the corporations in the study. The collected data were then merged with the existing data set using the corporate identification numbers provided with an agreement of anonymity. Pearsons's r was used to assess the zero-order relationships among all the variables in the analysis. A series of T-tests were also performed to examine whether offending corporations had significantly lower economic performance measures than did their non-offending counterparts. Finally, multiple regression techniques were utilized to assess the predictive capability of economic performance and corporate structure on corporate offending. The bivariate analysis showed little correlation among the economic performance variables and the total and total serious violation categories. Concentration and diversification were significantly correlated with the violation categories. Diversification was also found to be highly correlated in a negative direction with all of the volatility measures. Similar results were found when analyzing the relative performance measures. When comparing the mean economic scores of offending and non-offending corporations, mean performance was generally lower among offending corporations. Offending corporations, however, were shown to experience less economic volatility than their non-offending counterparts. With respect to relative performance, offending corporations were found to have lower mean economic performance measures than non-offending firms. However, offenders were found to be less volatile relative to their industry than non-offenders. The regression analysis revealed a positive relationship with the trend of profit and a negative relationship with volatility of profit, both contradict theoretical expectations. In addition, the structural variables were found to be positively related to corporate violations, but they had little mediational effect with respect to the economic variables, as hypothesized. Based on the findings of this study, the limitations and implication for an economic explanation of corporate offending are discussed.
M.S.

Economic recession took effect in Malaysia in late 1984 and continued through 1985 and 1986. During this period, there was a sudden surge in economic crime. Its scale has Increased over recent years. When economic crime is on the increase, the costs to society are also increasing, not only in terms of money and property stolen by perpetrators, but also in terms of loss of confidence and respect by the public at large in our government. With the present rapid growth in business and commercial activities, economic crime has found a fertile ground. Economic crime is a 'growth industry'. Unless we study it, understand it, and develop tools to deal with it effectively, we may be witnessing only the beginning of a phenomenon that could undermine the social, economic and political stability of the country. Today's cost of economic crime in Malaysia is estimated to be more than $200 million a year. It victimises thousands of individuals. It undermines the very legitimacy of our institutions. With continued innovation in information and communications technologies, the dimensions of the problem expand; yet our legal and business systems cannot cope with what is happening today. In the opinion of the researcher, there can be little doubt that economic crime will continue to rob society as it has In the past. Despite its current scale, there has not been a study of economic crime In Malaysia. The reason is obvious; for a researcher to embark on a study in this particular area of criminal activity, there would need to be the accessibility to the highly sensitive data on such activities (while recognising that not all the crimes are detected). Many of the agencies charged with Investigation and prosecution of these non-traditional crimes, quite correctly, do not make their detailed findings public. Aggregated data, which are made available to the public, are often not sufficiently specific for research purposes. The secrecy of the Government agencies Is necessary in order for them to function effectively as law enforcement Instruments. Sutherland [1977, page 38] noted that explanations for crime could not be found in poverty alone; criminality is a much more complex phenomenon. For example, he noted that poverty Is no explanation for crimes of the rich and the professional segments of the society. It is noted by this researcher in his three years experience as the Head of Banking and Financial Investigations at the special unit of the Commercial Crime Department, Police Headquarters, Kuala Lumpur, that the problems In dealing with economic crimes could not be addressed in the same manner as In traditional crime. Studies were needed to explain and understand these crimes. From this knowledge base, there would be a better opportunity to formulate policy strategies to address the problems. This research, even though focussing in Malaysia, is meant to act as a springboard for future research within the researcher's organisation, the Royal Police Force of Malaysia, and also at least be useful for new Developing Countries which may have to encounter a similar economic crime phenomenon. The study also examines the major economic institutions in Malaysia such as cooperatives, insurance and stock-exchange and concludes that some of the main causes of economic crime are problems of management. They are: * poor quality and laxity of discipline and management; * financial and technical mismanagement in the operation of companies; * breaches of the law; * poor documentation and record keeping practices; * inadequate and ineffective control system. The findings of the research survey shows that the causes of economic crime in Malaysia are consistent with situational, opportunity and personal pressures. Economic crime in Malaysia is largely due to people who are in position of trust, who have abused their powers in a situation of poor accounting practices. Economic crime could possibly be prevented by improving the system of auditing, improving the management information system and improving the management environment.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether publicly disclosed violations by U.S corporations, resulting in convictions or settlements, erode shareholder investment in the offending organizations. This study was designed to assess whether or not the shareholders' reactions to corporations' violations were related to a decline in organizations' stock valuations across sectors. In addition, this study attempted to assess whether or not shareholder support, expressed by stock prices, declined more after a corporation was prosecuted or reached a settlement for violations, as compared to corporations that disclosed earnings disappointments. Also, this study investigated the stock prices of violating corporations compared to the non-offending corporations from within the same business sector, as well as considered the percentage decline for repeat offenders for violation two compared to violation one. Opposite to hypothesis, results showed that stock prices for the violating companies were significantly greater 12 months after the violation compared to the other months and no significant differences in percent decline between the eight sectors on any of the five decline measures. There were also no differences between violating companies and their matched companies. Companies with a violation had significantly greater stock prices overall than those without a violation.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
The focus of the study is the socio-economic impact of systemically corrupt institutions on developing countries. The unit of analysis is systemic corruption. The study seeks to make a contribution towards the understanding of, and insight into, corruption in private and public institutions. Corruption is a subsystem of the social system that is embedded in the economy, politics, science and technology, ethics, and aesthetics. Systemic corruption is not only an impairment of integrity, virtue and moral principle(s), but a departure from the original purpose, processes, structure, governance and context of systems created with the intention to be pure and correct and to enable development. Systemic corruption is destructive for development. Corruption is a social pathology. As a systemic problem situation, corruption does not have root causes, but co-producers. These co-producers are obstructions to first-order-development of an institution and society. If these first-order-co-producers interact, e.g. when marginal groups are powerless and do not have any hope of being accommodated in formal society (that is synonymous with a better life) the impact thereof co-produces second-order-problems, e.g. alienation and polarisation. Alienated people organise themselves and for survival create their own values and culture that contradict those of formal society. For example, organised criminal groups are not accommodated within the formal structures of society; they are labelled, feared and detested. Marginal groups use the negative impact they experience during alienation and polarisation, i.e. absolute, relative, and total deprivation from goods, services, knowledge, influence, norms and identity, to justify their corrupt practices. Corruption cannot be solved with linear solutions, but should be addressed by a systemic approach, e.g. system dynamics, soft - and complex systems. This approach aims to change the „culture of corruption‟ by changing the environment that contributes to corruption, i.e. by eliminating programmes that co-produce corruption, by developing moral and transformational leaders and role models, and by developing innovative, transparent and accountable institutions. This dissertation is primarily a hermeneutic study. Exploratory research provided insight into and comprehension of the co-producers and impacts of corruption. Although a substantial volume of literature on corruption exists, very few employ a systemic framework that provides a holistic understanding of corruption and its relationship with other variables within the context of the developing world. The relationship with these variables is important to gain an understanding of the complexity of corruption. Corruption can be a concept, a condition, a manifestation, and a co-producer that contribute towards poverty and under-development. Corruption can also be a co-impact on poverty and under-development. The multidimensional dynamics of corruption to take on various „masks‟ make it an elusive phenomenon. As a complex subsystem, corruption takes on a life of its own that is self sustaining - corruption strengthens corruption. Corruption‟s co-producers, various manifestations and devastating impacts can at best be understood in terms of contextualising these from a systemic and complex system perspective. The dissertation offers a conceptual framework for identifying systemically corrupt institutions. Strategies were developed for change management to transform such institutions to international best practices. These strategies are based on the principles of good governance, institutional capital and trust, quality personnel, a culture of discipline, and sustainability. The concept of „quality‟ is central to the creation of social/institutional capital, an integrated institution and also in the control and management of these strategies. Strategies and processes were developed for a complete institutional change and transformation, by creating institutions that enhance participation, parity, organisation, adaptation and innovation. These strategies were developed by integration, e.g. developing social capital; differentiation, e.g. application of specialised knowledge and skills about procurement; coordination; and control of systemic corruption. For every level of differentiation, a minimum required level of integration is required. Therefore, all strategies „balance‟ opposing developmental aspirations. A discussion of developing countries‟ corruption problem situations, based on examples of real incidents of corruption, illustrates what can be done if reform of people and transformation of systems are applied systemically. Corrective change management strategies were tailored for suiting a unique context, governance, structure, purpose and processes. The discussion assessed the key drivers and key uncertainties with possible directions of how these alternatives can unfold in terms of the Namibian corruption problem situation. Leverage points describe how to implement the most effective containment strategies with the best outcome in the shortest time. Containing strategies include hard, formal and tactical-operational strategies. Dissolving strategies focus on soft, informal and long-term sustainable transformation.

This study investigates reputational penalties for two main types of corporate scandals in China: accounting scandal vs. corruption. Compared with U.S. firms that experienced an average of 41% drop in firm value if accounting scandal was disclosed, I find that accounting scandals are less destructive to firm value in a relationship-based economy such as China. However, while pure accounting scandals are relatively innocuous in China, I find that corruption charges against the firms' senior executives have serious consequences. I explore several explanations for such difference in market reaction to the two types of scandals, including political network effect, accounting write-off effect, corporate governance effect, incentive effect, and executive turnover effect. My empirical evidence provides consistent support to the political relationship explanation which indicates that the damaged social and political networks and the ability to contract caused by the corruption charges would have a more negative impact on firms' operations and performances. Although my results do not fully eliminate all the other alternative explanations, they are likely to be a less important reason for the stronger reputation penalties for corruption charges than accounting scandals in China.
Zhang, Fang.
Adviser: T.J. Wang.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-11, Section: A, page: .
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-61).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstract also in Chinese.

違規給企業帶來的主要後果是企業名譽的損失。然而，我們對以下問題卻知之甚少：企業在違規事件中是怎樣損失名譽的？為什麼同樣程度的違規給不同企業帶來的名譽損失卻不同？等等。本文綜合了來自犯罪學、財務學和社會心理學方面的文獻，把企業名譽定義為利益相關者對企業的情感，同時把違規事件看成是導致這種情感變化的誘因。
本文構建了一個綜合的理論模型，研究企業股東和企業自身的情感和情感變化。首先，本文提出，企業違規違反了股東對企業的道德期望和基本情感，使股東的情感發生偏移，並最終導致企業名譽的損失。在情感偏移的形成過程中，股東傾向于根據違規線索的診斷性特徵，把他們的基本情感用作透視鏡或者參照點來評價違規企業。第二，本文認為，違規企業通過在致歉公告中列出恢復性行動或語言，可以恢復股東對企業的基本情感並且減少企業名譽的損失。然而在情感恢復過程中，股東傾向于將恢復性行動或語言的心理距離與違規線索的心理距離進行比較，並據此調整他們對企業的評價和情感。第三，與其他違規企業相比，那些表達了愧疚感的違規企業在未來會約束自己的行為，降低了反復違規的傾向。但是隨著本次懲罰強度的不同，以及企業直接或間接地被懲罰經歷的不同，違規企業對本次懲罰的目的和道德意義的評價也會不同，並由此影響企業表達愧疚感的傾向。
本文的貢獻主要集中在以下四個方面。首先，通過強調情感在企業和股東關係中的重要性，豐富了關於公司治理的研究。第二，本文從情感視角去探討存在于股東和企業在資訊評價中各種的偏見，而這些偏見會影響他們對違規事件的情感和行為反應，以此拓展了集中於經濟視角的企業違規研究。第三，本文通過借鑒解釋層次理論中的觀點來研究企業恢復性行動和語言的特徵以及他們在股東情感恢復和企業榮譽恢復過程中的作用，這豐富了關於企業層的影像管理和危機管理研究。第四，本文通過強調企業內化懲罰在約束企業違規行為方面的作用，這對補充了關於懲罰的研究，並具有現實意義。
A consequence of corporate fraud studied in the literature is reputational penalty on the fraud firm. However, little is known about how a fraud firm loses its reputation after the fraud incident and why firms receive different levels of reputational penalty given the same level of fraud severity. Integrating literatures from criminology, finance, and social psychology, this dissertation conceptualizes firm reputation as stakeholders’ (mainly shareholders here) sentiment toward the firm and a fraud incident as a trigger of shareholders’ sentiment changes.
In this dissertation, I develop an integrated model that examines the sentiment changes of shareholders and sentiment restoration efforts made by the fraud firms. In the first study, I propose that corporate fraud violates shareholders’ normative expectations and fundamental sentiments toward the fraud firm, which leads to shareholders’ sentiment deflection and subsequently propels them to implement behavioral penalty on the fraud firm, that is, reputational penalty. During the process of sentiment deflection, shareholders tend to use the fundamental sentiment that they have adapted to as reference points to evaluate the fraud firm, depending on the salience of the fraud incident and the salience of the fraud firm. In the second study, I argue that the fraud firm can restore shareholders’ sentiment and minimize its reputation loss by expressing restorative actions in public apology announcement. However, during the process of sentiment restoration, shareholders tend to adjust their evaluation of the firm based on the relative psychological distance of the restorative actions compared with that of the fraud cues and sentiment cues. The third study focuses on guilt sentiments of the fraud firm, which have been found to have long-term impact on the fraud firm by transforming their future behaviors. I propose that fraud firms that express guilt sentiments after fraud punishment are more likely to restrain from repeated fraudulent behaviors in the future. However, variations in punishment intensity, together with the fraud firms’ direct and indirect punishment experiences, will influence their tendency to express guilt sentiments.
This dissertation aims to offer several contributions. First, by underscoring the importance of sentiment in the firm-shareholder relationship, it contributes to the corporate governance literature that mainly uses cognitive frameworks in the analysis. Second, it takes a sentiment approach to explore various biases embedded in shareholders’ and the firm’s evaluation of the informational cues that could influence their sentimental and behavioral reactions to the fraud incident, thus extending the corporate fraud literature that predominantly focuses on economics perspectives. Third, by examining the characteristics of firms’ restorative actions and languages and their effects on shareholders’ sentiment restoration and firm reputational repair, this dissertation contributes to the literatures of corporate turnaround and organizational-level impression management. Finally, it also contributes to the punishment literature by highlighting the internal transformation of the fraud firms, thus providing implications to stock exchange regulator and policy-makers in emerging economies.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Xu, Yuehua.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-137).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstract also in Chinese.
ABSTRACT --- p.I
CHINESE ABSTRACT --- p.III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.V
LIST OF TABLES --- p.IX
LIST OF FIGURES --- p.X
Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- Motivation and Research Questions --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- Theoretical Framework and Premise --- p.4
Chapter 1.3 --- Contributions --- p.9
Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of the Dissertation --- p.11
Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- STUDY ONE: A SENTIMENT MODEL OF FIRM REPUTATIONAL PENALTY FOLLOWING CORPORATE FRAUD --- p.13
Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.13
Chapter 2.2 --- Theoretical Background --- p.15
Chapter 2.2.1 --- Corporate Fraud and Reputational Penalty --- p.15
Chapter 2.2.2 --- Sentiment --- p.19
Chapter 2.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.21
Chapter 2.3.1 --- Re-conceptualization of Firm Reputation and Theoretical Framework --- p.21
Chapter 2.3.2 --- Stimuli - Sentimental Reaction - Behavior: The Process from Fraud Detection to Reputational Penalty --- p.26
Chapter 2.3.3 --- Adaptive Levels of Moral Sentiment and Sentiment Rigidity --- p.28
Chapter 2.3.4 --- The Moderating Effects of Cue Diagnosticity and Firm Visibility --- p.30
Chapter 2.4 --- Methods --- p.34
Chapter 2.4.1 --- Empirical Setting --- p.34
Chapter 2.4.2 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.35
Chapter 2.4.3 --- Measurement --- p.37
Chapter 2.5 --- Results --- p.45
Chapter 2.6 --- Discussion --- p.56
Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- STUDY TWO: FIRM RESTORATIVE EFFORTS AND REPUTATIONAL REPAIR AFTER CORPORATE FRAUD --- p.59
Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.59
Chapter 3.2 --- Theoretical Background --- p.61
Chapter 3.2.1 --- Firm Efforts to Turn Around from Fraud Incidents --- p.61
Chapter 3.2.2 --- Apology --- p.63
Chapter 3.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.65
Chapter 3.3.1 --- Sentiment Restoration and Pragmatic Attitudes toward Restorative Efforts --- p.65
Chapter 3.3.2 --- The Construal Level of Restorative Cues --- p.68
Chapter 3.3.3 --- The Distance of Problem Cues: The Delay of Punishment --- p.70
Chapter 3.3.4 --- Shareholders’ Negative Sentimental Reaction: Media Negative Comments --- p.72
Chapter 3.4 --- Methods --- p.74
Chapter 3.4.1 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.74
Chapter 3.4.2 --- Measurement --- p.75
Chapter 3.5 --- Results --- p.79
Chapter 3.6 --- Discussion --- p.84
Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- STUDY THREE: THE EFFECTS OF PUNISHMENT ON FRAUD FIRMS’ GUILT SENTIMENT EXPRESSION --- p.86
Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.86
Chapter 4.2 --- Theoretical Background: Punishment --- p.88
Chapter 4.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.90
Chapter 4.3.1 --- The Expression of Guilt Sentiment and Repeated Fraud --- p.91
Chapter 4.3.2 --- Punishment Intensity and Guilt Sentiment --- p.93
Chapter 4.3.3 --- Normalization: The Moderating Effects of Direct and Indirect Punishment Experience --- p.95
Chapter 4.4 --- Methods --- p.98
Chapter 4.4.1 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.98
Chapter 4.4.2 --- Measurement --- p.99
Chapter 4.5 --- Results --- p.102
Chapter 4.6 --- Discussion --- p.110
Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.111
Chapter 5.1 --- Conclusion --- p.111
Chapter 5.2 --- Contributions to Theory and Practice --- p.112
Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations and Implications for Future Research --- p.115
REFERENCES --- p.117

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of a Masters in Commerce. March 2016
The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a systematic difference in the textual characteristics of information in the chairman’s statement of profitable and unprofitable companies on the JSE main board. This would indicate the existence of impression management in management commentary. The difference of profitable and unprofitable companies was analysed in relation to six pre-determined textual characteristics. The primary conclusion drawn is that impression management does exist in the chairman’s statements of companies listed on the main board of the JSE. Another finding of the study was that ‘extremely unprofitable’ companies are less likely to employ impression management. The findings of this research indicate that users of annual reports should be alert to the existence of reporting bias introduced by management in its commentary. Users of the annual report should carefully consider the usefulness of management commentary in their decision making, discounting these disclosures for the use of impression management techniques employed in corporate reporting strategies. Studies on impression management techniques in narrative disclosures within the annual report have not been piloted in South Africa before. This is the first study of linguistic variation employed in management commentary within the South African context. The study was exploratory in nature and did not set out to identify the causes of impression management being employed within the South African context. Future research may explore this further and may also be extended to determine whether impression management is present in other sections of the annual report and even the integrated report. Key words: Chairman’s statement, impression management, management commentary, reporting bias
MT2017

The pillaging of companies by those who control them is becoming a common occurence in South Africa. The problem arises where those in control of a company are its sole shareholders and the property they are charged with stealing, though not legally belonging to them, is vested in an entity which itself belongs to them. One defence is that there can be no theft where the company consents to the appropriation of its funds. It is argued that a theft is committed only where all the criminal elements of the crime of theft are satisfied, notwithstanding the consent, or absence thereof, by the company. Case law indicates that a conviction depends on the : solvency or insolvency of the company; degree of control and victim of the appropriation. It is submitted that it is inappropriate to base a conviction on these criteria. All abuses of the corporate structure should be punished.
Mercantile Law
LL. M.

The enactment of the FCPA and the formation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention created two historical events for theoretical analysis: because the FCPA unprecedentedly criminalized transnational bribery in 1977, its wisdom was initially questioned. Then, since the Convention endorsed the FCPA approach in 1997, academic focus was shifted to the practical effect of the Convention in controlling transnational bribery-—which is also the topic of this study.
This study develops argument based on an awareness of the limitation of a popular methodology in current literature-—the problem-solving paradigm. This paradigm is grounded in the rational-choice tradition, assumes signatories’ enforcement of the Convention as resulting from their self-serving purposes, labels the current level of Convention enforcement as “ineffective-enforcement”, and borrows solutions from conventional collective action theories to prescribe. This paradigm well explains why most signatories have brought few enforcement actions. Yet its excessive commitment to orthodoxies prevents scholars from grasping the uniqueness of the collaboration and prescribing successful solutions. Besides, it avoids explaining why some signatories have indeed enforced the Convention. A historical approach that draws causality from a process’s historicity is thus proposed as a supplementary methodology.
This study analyzes signatories’ compliance with the Convention by four steps: First, it explains a seemingly outdated but unexplained question—the dynamic of the institutionalization of the OECD anti-bribery collaboration, and finds that the central institutions did not result from signatories’ trading off conflicting values and interests, but from their attempts to coordinate demands of different stakeholders within given institutional contexts.
Second, this study explains why most signatories tend to defect rather than faithfully enforce the Convention, following the logic of the problem-solving paradigm: destabilizing factors in the indigenous collaboration encourage defection in the first place, and the monitoring program in the collaboration fails to resolve these destabilizing factors in the second place. More fundamentally, the surreptitious nature of transnational bribery fails central monitoring—a conventional effective solution to collective action problems.
This study then formulates a three-level solution model to address the monitoring problem: first, this model encourages private sector actors to report clues of transnational bribery so as to resolve the lack of first-hand information. Second, given the weakness of private sector actors in collecting solid evidence, this model stresses the dominant role of national prosecutors in the home country of bribe-paying companies to conduct in-depth investigations. Third, given that prosecutors may shirk duty because of protectionism, this model suggests to authorize prosecutors in the home country of victimized competitors the right to monitor the investigation process.
Forth, this study takes the US as an example to analyze the positive side of Convention enforcement. Given that FCPA enforcement is embodied in the SEC and the DOJ’s independent performance of their own statutory duties, this study reviews variation in the SEC and the DOJ’s enforcement efforts in past decades, and finds that this variation results from their adherence to their own missions in an evolving institutional context—which gradually incorporates their duties of enforcing the FCPA into their central missions.
美国的《反海外贿赂法》和世界经合组织的《关于反对在国际商务活动中贿赂外国公务人员行为的公约》（《公约》）为学界提供了两个重要课题：《反海外贿赂法》开创性地将跨国商业贿赂规定为犯罪，其合理性曾饱受质疑；《公约》将《反海外贿赂法》的精神推广到其他国家后，学界进而关注其执行效果，并提供政策建言—此亦是本文的论题。
本文的论述建立在对学界的“问题导向型”研究范式批判继承的基础之上：该范式植根理性主义传统，假定国家决策的自利属性，将《公约》的执行现状拟制为“非有效执行”，并试图从传统集体行动理论中借鉴对策。该范式阐释了为何多数缔约国执行《公约》乏力。然而其过于依赖传统理论，忽略《公约》项下集体行动的独特性，难以找准对策。同时该范式完全回避解释少数缔约国认真履约的现实。因此，本文在肯定该范式的理论贡献之上建议采用历史分析方法，从《公约》执行实践中总结经验，以为补充。
本文首先分析了《公约》项下反贿赂集体行动的制度化进程，发现《反海外贿赂法》和《公约》等核心制度的产生并非源自各缔约国对利益和价值的权衡取舍，而是立法者在既定的社会制度和价值体系中协调各主体的利益关切的必然选择。随后，本文立足于 “问题导向型”范式的理论成果，阐释了大部分缔约国不执行《公约》的原因：反贿赂集体行动存在着诸多结构性不安定因素，而《公约》项下的监督体制未能克服相关问题。《公约》项下集体行动问题需要系统的、三层次的应对模式：鼓励私人主体提供贿赂案件的原始线索；将私人主体获取原始线索的优势和公权力搜集确凿证据的优势整合；赋予受损的竞争者的母国对调查取证的参与权，促成缔约国相互监督。最后本文分析了美国日益激进的战略，发现其对《反海外贿赂法》的执行力度随着执法部门的执法义务和本部门中心任务的逐渐兼容而得以加强，其轨迹不同于理性主义对国家行为逻辑的预测。美国的激进战略客观上造就了国际规制竞争，为提高公约执行水平提供了新路径。
Liu, Lianlian.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 337-355).
Abstracts also in Chinese.
Title from PDF title page (viewed on 15, September, 2016).
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Construction companies, in particular, abuse the objectives of BEE in order to secure multimillion-rand contracts. Misrepresentations, specifically to the Department of Public Works, are made in various forms and stages during the submission of tender documentation by contractors. The status of BEE company owners is abused in order to secure contracts. Apartheid in South Africa prevented black citizens from entering the corporate world and thereby attaining a quality education. The South African government has, since 1994, adopted the BEE policy in order to redress racial and economic imbalances of the past. Fronting (which is regarded as fraud) is detrimental to the objectives of BEE, which are governed by legislation. Fronting further negatively affects the transformation of the South African economy which could be globally competitive. Fraud detection and its investigation are two concepts which are closely linked to each other and are vitally important to any fraud investi-gator.
Police Practice
M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

Fraudulent behaviour by management has become a global problem that cuts across cultural and ideological divides. Therefore, given the high incidence and cost of fraud internationally and locally, as well as the fact that stakeholders, including shareholders, governments and non-governmental organisations, are increasing the pressure on organisations to manage unethical behaviour more effectively, it is astonishing that fraud per se has not attracted more research efforts. Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Andersen, among others, have underscored the fact that the current modes which are governing companies are not sufficient to protect investors and public interests, because it is easy for otherwise honest people to be swept along in a climate of corruption. The aim of this study was to propose a model to predict potential risk of management fraud based on the organisational climate of the organisation. An interpretative framework was used to develop a conceptual model. Analytical induction and Lawshe’s content validity ratio were applied to validate the conceptualised model. The conceptual model assumes that there are certain organisational climate factors (determinants and dimensions) within an organisation which could indicate the direction of climate within the organisation. The determinants are leadership style, managerial values, trustworthiness, and organisational values. The following dimensions were identified: level of individual autonomy, reward system of organisation, degree of open communication between employees and management, perceived individual pressure, and fairness and innovation. The conceptual model further assumes that, although employees’ acceptance and/or tolerance of unethical behaviour might be high, not all managers will engage in fraud, as the various aspects of the fraud diamond also impose a form of constraint on the organisation. The level of individual constraint as imposed by the fraud diamond is moderated by an individual’s gender, tenure, education and age, which form part of an individual’s capability and comprise the acquired traits of an individual. Apart from these biographical traits, the model includes personal traits that will also have an impact on an individual’s capability. The limitations, practical implications and recommendations for future research are also discussed. This study, not only augments fraud literature, but also contributes to industrial/organisational psychology by studying individual deviance from an organisational perspective.
Psychology
D. Phil. (Consulting psychology) : illustrated (some colored)

This study examined the investigation of tender irregularities within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CoT) and employed semi-structured interviews with investigators attached to the CoT Group Audit and Risk (GAR) Division within the Protection Service to obtain data. A literature study relating to aspects of tender irregularities and the investigation of non-compliance was conducted. From the results of this research, it appears that participants do not optimally investigate the non-compliance of tender procedures by service providers to reduce tender irregularities within the CoT. However, it is apparent that participants experience challenges to efficiently investigate the non-compliance of tender procedures by service providers within the CoT to reduce tender irregularities. The study makes recommendations that could assist investigators at the CoT GAR Division to enhance their investigations of the non-compliance of tender procedures by service providers.
Criminology and Security Science
M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

Conducting internal investigations in the corporate environment in South Africa has become an everyday occurrence where companies need to take action after an incident took place. Each company has a different view regarding their processes followed when investigating internal matters, and the different objectives that drive the process. Some companies would prefer the suspects be disciplined and removed from their employment, and no further action taken after the dismissal and some companies would have a different approach and would follow the process through the disciplinary, the criminal prosecution and institute civil litigation to recover losses. Investigation differs, and the approach would be different as well with various reasons for the approach of the company. To establish what the methodology is that is followed when initiating an internal investigation and the drive behind the methodology followed was done. The methodology and process followed determines how the internal investigation process is done and concluded to ensure that similar incidents do not occur again, and thus protect the corporate environment in South Africa.
Police Practice
M. Tech. (Forensic Investigation)

This study investigated and examined the effectiveness and implementation of the existing internal controls designed specifically for exempted micro-enterprises (EMEs) contracting with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), in order to minimise the risk of possible tax evasion within the supply-chain management (SCM) processes. The research was completed by conducting a document review and face-to-face interviews with SASSA‟s SCM practitioners, risk manager, fraud and corruption manager, internal-control manager and internal auditor in order to identify risks of possible tax evasion within the SCM processes. It was concluded that there is a risk of possible tax evasion within the SCM processes due to the ineffectiveness and inconsistent implementation of internal controls designed for EMEs contracting with SASSA. This risk could be minimised by incorporating possible anti-tax-evasion procedures in the risk-assessment process, and ultimately in SASSA‟s broader fraud and corruption strategies. Such procedures should then help minimise funds being lost to the fiscus due to tax evasion in the SCM processes.
Taxation
M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

It is a well-known fact that criminals derive an income from their illegal activities, live lavish lifestyles, flaunt their wealth for all to see and acquire luxury goods. It is also a well known fact that criminals living from the proceeds of crime do not want to not want to keep financial records of their transactions or illegitimate business for fear of being detected by the authorities and to escape being taxed. It is also a known fact that criminals do not declare income from criminal activities for income tax purposes to the revenue authorities for fear of the illegal origin of the income being made known to the investigating authorities and law enforcement. During the investigation of financial crimes, such as tax evasion and money laundering, it may be required that the amount or value of money, income or assets accrued by a subject is determined in order to determine for instance their liability to pay tax. This research project examines the Net Worth method as an indirect method to circumstantially quantify income during the investigation of financial crime.
Police Practice
M.Tech. (Forensic Investigation)