Internationalization of business and democratization of many countries have created greater awareness of the corruption endemic to many countries. Wherever people exercise some control, there are likely to be bribes, extortion, and kickbacks, except where strong social and political barriers have been erected against them. This book contains papers presented at a conference on corruption at the Institute for International Economics. Taken together, they address the conceptual or definitional issues -- actions considered corrupt in one country may be considered merely facilitating payments in another or necessary campaign contributions in a third -- that encourage corruption, its impact on national economic performance, and steps that might be taken to reduce it, at least insofar as it affects foreign trade and investment. There are no definitive answers here, but the book offers a useful review of what is now known about a salient current issue.
