NCJ Number
85636
Journal
Fortune Dated: (December 1, 1980) Pages: 56-62,64
Date Published
1980
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article surveyed 1,043 major corporations to explore the extent of corporate crime (here limited to instances of bribery, criminal fraud, illegal political contributions, tax evasion, and criminal antitrust violations). It lists significant corporate offenders and offenses between 1970 and 1979.
Abstract
Of the corporations surveyed, 11 percent have been involved in at least one major delinquency in the period covered. Some companies have been multiple offenders. All the cases resulted either in conviction on Federal criminal charges or in consent decreases. These business crimes are often perceived as victimless by both the business actors involved and the public. The common practice of running a company though decentralized profit centers, giving each manager total reponsibility but holding them strictly accountable of results, often provides a setting conducive to crime. The temptation comes when heightened competition or a recession squeezes margins. Some companies violate the law because of tough regulations limiting normal sales techniques. Economic incentives explain much illegal behavior; corruption seems to pay, at least in the near term. Moreover, few corporate executives are held responsible or prosecuted for their actions. Whether corporate criminality is on the upswing is a topic for further research.