Laura Citron at nEUrosis wonders why she hasn't experienced the high levels of graft and corruption she had so often heard about before going to work in Russia. The reason: most corruption in Russia has been incorporated into the state apparatus.
The economist Pranab Bardhan offers one interesting explanation: in countries with a strong central state, corruption is centralised to the single source of power. You only have to pay once – he calls it ‘one–stop-shopping.’ In a decentralised system, you have to pay bribes all over the place to get the same job done. Perhaps Putin’s policy of strong central government has succeeded in centralising corruption?
Seems like a pretty twisted demonstration of bureaucratic efficiency.
I read the article and the main problem comes with defining "corruption." From my personal experience, corruption in Russia is very subtle and may not even be defined as corruption, even by the populace. Let's take as a case in point medical care. I have heard of many cases where individuals have to give a "gift" to a doctor to receive medical care that is supposed to be free. It may not even be considered as corruption by the populace as it is so common, it is simply a fact of life. Yet, if I were asked by my doctor in Canada for a "gift" before doing an operation that was paid for by the state, I would certainly call it corruption.
In other cases, corruption has been eased by the creation of official methods of payment. A case in point: students who want to get into a university program of their choice. Now, students can write the entrance exams and a small proportion of the best students can gain free access to the university program of their choice. This of course is part of the Soviet tradition where a university education was free. In the last 5-10 years, universities have created "commercial" streams whereby students pay to study and the entrance requirements are relaxed. This has certainly reduced the need for direct corruption (paying a bribe to get into the university and program of your choice) but the question remains whether the money is properly managed and spent once it is received by the university, as much of the corruption defined by individuals siphoning off funds for their own benefit takes place out of view of students and their parents. This falls into the theme of the "centralization" of corruption, but in this case it is not centralization by the state per se, but by local institutions with presumably the blessing of the state.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment - I fully agree with you that defining corruption is notoriously problematic in Russia, and that there isn't necessarily a strict duality between only state corruption vs. the improvised graft of the private sector.