Transparency and Business Advantage: The Impact of International Anti-Corruption Policies on the United States National Interest

Abstract

What are the benefits and costs to the United States from statutes, treaties, and "soft-law" initiatives that seek to constrain bribery in international business transactions? Hard statistics are not available, but we argue that much of the debate has been overly focused on the possibility that U.S. firms will lose contracts and exports to corrupt competitors, especially ones from emerging economies such as China, Russia, or India.