Two out of five firms in Africa and Latin America report having to make unofficial payments to "get things done." One in six is expected to present "a gift" when meeting with tax inspectors. The "Graft Index of Firm Transactions" (below) shows that African firms are three times more likely to be asked for money than their Latin American counterparts.
The index relies on hard data from 10,000 firms and their encounters with corruption in 33 countries. Authors Alvaro González, Ernesto López-Córdova and Elio Valladares found that firms in Africa pay higher bribes, as a percent of sales, than firms Latin America: 2.7 and 1.4 percent, respectively.
View their new paper with a recipe on how to reduce corruption in Africa by 85 percent here. And don't forget to do your own analysis.
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