Bribery Challenges and Business Ethics in Afghanistan

A market-oriented business environment can create opportunities for efficiency as well as various forms of corruption such as acceptance and tolerance of bribery, especially when the government is not well established to enforce fair rules and policies. Various media outlets regularly cover cases of bribery in Afghanistan but not necessarily other forms of corruption. As such, most Afghans seem to have a good understanding of the negative consequences associated with bribery, yet seem to be more tolerant of other questionable practices. This study assessed respondents’ level of tolerance for questionable practices to determine their level of ethical maturity. The research question is whether Afghan respondents have higher or lower tolerance for bribery practices compared to other less blatant unethical dilemmas. The Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) surveys were given to Afghans either face-to-face or electronically through email. The responses were totaled for analysis and a t-test of the means for relevant dilemmas. This results from 313 Afghans show that these respondents had less tolerance for bribery than other corrupt practices. English-speaking Afghans living in Afghanistan and abroad were surveyed as they were accessible.