Corruption, ethics and disclosures
Researchers
- Edward Tello
- Mercedes Luque-Vilchez; and
- Carol Tilt
Background
Corruption, in its different manifestations, is a grand challenge in developed and developing economies, particularly in the latter. While limited, there have been studies on corporate disclosures of corruption-related matters. These studies focus on ‘what’ is being reported; however, they do not contextualise the results to a particular country’s circumstance. This is more relevant when the developed/developing country divide is considered as corruption in developing countries impacts severely the poor and disadvantaged. This project examines corruption-related disclosures of companies operating in Peru involved in the “Club de la Construcción”, which is a major corruption case involving companies in the construction industry.
Method
Drawing from the notions of accountability and organisational stigma, this paper follows a case study approach, primarily informed by reports published over a 12-year period by the companies involved in the case. Additionally, we analysed press releases and the United Nations Global Compact database.
Findings
Preliminary findings show that disclosing companies reported corruption-related information, but the frequency varied. There are some disclosures regarding the case, but strategies differ.