Small-scale bribery is caused by poverty. Someone throws 10 euros at a traffic officer to avoid a speeding ticket which would cost 10 times as much and distort

Small-scale bribery is caused by poverty. Someone throws 10 euros at a traffic officer to avoid a speeding ticket which would cost 10 times as much and distort the monthly family budget. The officer is willing to accept the bribe because his daily pay is about the same as the bribe. At the end of the day, the offender has still paid for his offence and the officer brings in more money home, completely avoiding any interference with the corrupt government. Large-scale corruption happens almost everywhere in the Western world behind closed doors of corporate meeting rooms. But when some of it goes public it is considered a "scandal", not "corruption".