经济学人251:贿赂 移花接木无处遁形

 　　Bribery²

　　贿赂

　　Graft³ work

　　移花接木

　　A new study lights up the shadows

　　无处遁形

　　GONE are the days when multinationals⁴ could book bribes⁵ paid in far-flung countries as a tax-deductible expense. These days would-be palm-greasers have to contend with ever-tougher enforcement of old laws, such as America's Foreign Corrupt⁶ Practices Act of 1977, and a raft of new ones in countries from Britain to Brazil.

　　有种日子一去不复返了，想当年，跨国公司可以先行贿，然后在远远找个国家支付以抵扣公司税。 如今，想要伸手的人必须面对依然严峻的原有法令，例如1977年的美国反海外贿赂法，以及从英国到巴西等国家的一大堆新颁法令。

　　贿赂.jpg

　　As policing is stepped up, however, much about the practice of bribery remains⁷ murky⁸. The OECD's first report on the subject, published on December 2nd, sheds some light by analysing more than 400 international bribery cases that have been brought since the anti-bribery convention of this group of mostly rich countries came into force in 1999.

　　虽然加强了监管，但是，许多贿赂行为仍然在暗处作祟。国际经合组织首次就此问题撰写的首次报告在12月2日发表，通过分析从1999年主要是由发达国家组成的该组织颁布的反贿赂公约生效以来的超过400起跨国贿赂案例，而发人深省。

　　Some findings confirm what was known or suspected. The most bribe¹ riddled⁹ sectors¹⁰ are oil, gas, mining, construction and transport. At the other end of the spectrum¹¹, financial services and retailing¹² are fairly clean. Most bribes go to managers of state-owned companies, followed by customs officials. And America leads the enforcement pack, with 128 cases that resulted in sanctions (see chart).

　　一些调查结果证实了那些所知到的和所怀疑的东西。贿赂最泛滥的领域是石油、天然气、采矿、建筑和运输业。而在该序列的另一端，金融服务和零售业则相当清白。大多数贿赂聚焦在国有企业的管理人员，其次是海关官员。美国查处力度最大，处置了128起案件。

　　But the report also undermines some common beliefs. Bribery is not a sin of rogue¹³ employees or poor countries. In 53% of cases payments were made or authorised by corporate¹⁴ managers (and in 12% of them by the chief executive). More than 40% of the time, the bribe-taking official was in a developed country (though this figure is probably inflated¹⁵ by rich countries' greater willingness to criminalise bribery and co-operate with cross-border investigations¹⁶). Authorities are often alerted by firms themselves: those that co-operate quickly are often treated leniently¹⁷.

　　但报告也对一些常识造成了冲击。贿赂不是居心不良的员工和贫穷国家才有的罪恶。在53%的案件中由公司管理者亲自或授权支付贿款，其中12%由总裁进行。超过40%的案件中，受贿的公务人员来自发达国家（虽然这个数据可能被发达国家的惩治贿赂以及进行跨国协作调查的强烈意愿夸大了）。当局常常收到公司自己的报案：毕竟坦白从宽嘛。

　　Nevertheless, the cleanest countries tend to be rich, and the dirtiest poor. Four of the five best-performing countries in Transparency International's latest corruption-perceptions index, also published this week, were Nordic. The worst were North Korea and Somalia. (Interestingly, China's score slipped despite a recent high-profile campaign against corrupt officials.)

　　尽管如此，最清廉的国家仍然是那些富国，而最糟糕的还是穷国。五个在“透明国际”组织最新的清廉指数中（也是本周刚刚发布）表现得最好的国家是北欧。最差的是朝鲜和索马里。（有意思的是，尽管近期有高调的反腐运动，中国的评分仍然下降了）

　　The cost of bribery varies by industry. Builders pay a modest average of 4% of a transaction's value; extractive companies a hefty 21%. Add to that the rising costs of paying penalties and conducting internal probes—these cost Siemens, for example, $2.4 billion when it was mired¹⁸ in a graft scandal a few years ago—and bribery starts to look bad not just for reputations, but also for bottom lines.

　　行贿的成本因行业而异。建筑商平均支付成交价的4%，较为适中；而采掘业企业则高达21%。加上那些日益上升的罚款和进行内部调查的支出（以西门子为例，当数年前深陷贪污门之时，这些费用高达24亿美元），于是，如今行贿可不仅仅是名誉上看起来不妙，更关乎盈亏生死。

　　Even for firms that are not caught, the business case for bribery is far from clear. A 2013 study by Harvard Business School and America's National Bureau of Economic Research found that what bribe-paying companies gain in higher sales in corrupt countries, they lose in lower profit margins¹⁹. According to the OECD, the average bribe costs 11% of the transaction's value and 35% of associated profits.

　　即使是对那些还没有东窗事发的公司，搞贿赂的生意也是一摊烂账。2013年由哈佛商学院和美国全国经济研究局的研究表明，行贿公司虽然在一些腐败国家的赢得了更高的销售额，但实际上由于降低了利润率而蒙受损失。根据经合组织的调查，平均的行贿支出占到交易额的11%和相关利润的35%。

　　Nevertheless, graft remains alive and well. One of the OECD report's authors told a conference this week that 390 cases are under investigation—not far short of the total number resolved since the OECD convention took effect 15 years ago. The number of cases concluded each year has dipped since a peak in 2011 as the time taken to complete investigations and prosecutions²⁰ has climbed to more than seven years, from under four in 2008.

　　即使这样，贪腐仍然搞得有声有色。经合组织报告的一位作者在本周的一次会议上谈到目前正在调查390起案件，与自从经合组织公约15年前生效以来已了结总案件数差的不远了。每年结案的数量自从2011年达到峰值以来逐年下降，因为那正开展全面调查和起诉，从2008年不到4起攀升到七年来的最高峰的时候。

　　One possible reason for the slowdown is that bribery techniques are growing more sophisticated and thus harder to detect. Another could be the widespread use of opaque²¹ corporate structures to conceal²² wrongdoing. These can be devilishly difficult to unpick, especially when they are stacked in several layers and fronted by nominee²³ directors. Anonymous²⁴ shell companies and other intermediaries—sometimes dressed up as “consultants”—were used to move or to house payments in more than 70% of cases. The OECD report underlines the importance of cracking down on the misuse²⁵ of shell companies and enforcing more clarity over ownership of companies and trusts, whether through accessible corporate registers—a move being pushed by some G20 countries, led by Britain—or by tougher regulation of service providers that do the paperwork for new firms.

　　放缓的原因之一是收受贿赂的手段越来越玄妙，从而更难于察觉。另一个原因可能是普遍使用的不透明公司结构隐匿了丑行。剥离这些结构异常艰难，特别当是这种组织层层堆叠，由提名董事来在前面顶缸的时候。在70%的案例中，匿名的皮包公司和其他中间人（通常扮演“顾问公司”角色）用来转移或隐匿所支付款项。经合组织的报告凸显了打击滥用空壳公司和明晰公司及信托公司权属的重要性，要么是通过方便的公司注册检索（一些G20国家推动了该项运动，由英国牵头），要么对负责经办新公司事宜的服务商的严格监管。

1 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

2 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

3 graft   

n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接

参考例句：

• I am having a skin graft on my arm soon.我马上就要接受手臂的皮肤移植手术。
• The minister became rich through graft.这位部长透过贪污受贿致富。

4 multinationals   

跨国公司( multinational的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These local companies are only small fry compared with the huge multinationals. 同那些跨国公司比，这些当地的公司不过是小鱼小虾。
• Some people believe that the multinationals have too much power. 有人认为跨国公司的权力太大了。

5 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

6 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

9 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

12 retailing   

n.零售业v.零售(retail的现在分词)

参考例句：

• career opportunities in retailing 零售业的职业机会
• He is fond of retailing the news. 他喜欢传播消息。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

14 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

15 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

17 leniently   

温和地，仁慈地

参考例句：

• He marked the paper leniently. 他改考卷打分数很松。
• Considering the signs he showed of genuine repentance,we shall deal leniently with him. 鉴于他有真诚悔改的表现，我们将对他宽大处理。

18 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

20 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

21 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

22 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

23 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

24 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

25 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。