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What you said feels so "obvious" but really it's profound. Corruption and Incompetence DO go hand in hand! And where there is one, you're likely to find the ot

What you said feels so "obvious" but really it's profound. Corruption and Incompetence DO go hand in hand! And where there is one, you're likely to find the other. Damn it would make an awesome area of study for a sociologist! In my career in both big companies and startups, I feel like I've been exposed to so many mysteriously incompetent departments and executives, only to find later that there was an explanation that I consider corruption. Of course, thats not to say it's illegal. It's usually perfectly legal behavior that optimizes for personal gain rather than the outcome you'd expect from the person or department's title. And that brings us to a point that has been bothering me for a while- When we look at those global 'corruption index' infographics and stuff, they must be measuring the _Illegal Corruption_ in a country, right? Like when a bureaucrat demands a bribe. How could anything measure Legal Corruption? Like when an executive hires friends who are less competent than whatever the 'regular' hiring process would produce? Or when lobbyists get legislators to pass regulations that materially favor their business, stuff like that.

Jtsummers 6y ago
You piqued my curiosity with your comment, I'm trying to find what research is out there. I've found some articles behind paywalls (I may dig further later to find non-paywalled versions, I'm not dropping $44 for a paper, especially one on the periphery of my interests) in public policy research about these issues, which makes sense. Not research, but where it was driven home for me was Venezuela and their oil and energy sector. A major economic concern (before the drop in oil prices) was the drop in oil production rates, which was due, largely, to a reduction in proper maintenance after Chavez (still alive at the time I was reading about this particular issue) had nationalized companies and appointed non-experts into leadership positions. But it's not just them, that was just a particularly well publicized case. While many people probably believe (rightly) that the US federal government is corrupted and incompetent, a lot more corruption (and incompetence) lies at the local and state levels. Probably due to the reduced scrutiny they suffer.
- BeatLeJuce 6y ago
  Sci-hub usually helps you get around paywalled research articles. Otherwise, maybe just drop the links you found here for posterity's sake?
munificent 6y ago
> Corruption and Incompetence DO go hand in hand! Yes! There is a simpler reason to in addition to what the parent comment says. Corruption requires removing accountability. When you remove it for moral reasons, you often lose accountability for all reasons in the process. If the act is done in the dark, not only can no one see if you're doing the right job (morally), they also can't see if you're doing job right (effectively). > How could anything measure Legal Corruption? One metric I know that I think hints at this is "time to open a business": https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.REG.DURS?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.REG.DURS?most_recent... That's a good proxy for how much corruption—legal or not—you have to navigate to get something done.

Jtsummers 6y ago

You piqued my curiosity with your comment, I'm trying to find what research is out there. I've found some articles behind paywalls (I may dig further later to find non-paywalled versions, I'm not dropping $44 for a paper, especially one on the periphery of my interests) in public policy research about these issues, which makes sense. Not research, but where it was driven home for me was Venezuela and their oil and energy sector. A major economic concern (before the drop in oil prices) was the drop in oil production rates, which was due, largely, to a reduction in proper maintenance after Chavez (still alive at the time I was reading about this particular issue) had nationalized companies and appointed non-experts into leadership positions. But it's not just them, that was just a particularly well publicized case. While many people probably believe (rightly) that the US federal government is corrupted and incompetent, a lot more corruption (and incompetence) lies at the local and state levels. Probably due to the reduced scrutiny they suffer.

BeatLeJuce 6y ago
Sci-hub usually helps you get around paywalled research articles. Otherwise, maybe just drop the links you found here for posterity's sake?

munificent 6y ago

> Corruption and Incompetence DO go hand in hand! Yes! There is a simpler reason to in addition to what the parent comment says. Corruption requires removing accountability. When you remove it for moral reasons, you often lose accountability for all reasons in the process. If the act is done in the dark, not only can no one see if you're doing the right job (morally), they also can't see if you're doing job right (effectively). > How could anything measure Legal Corruption? One metric I know that I think hints at this is "time to open a business": https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.REG.DURS?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.REG.DURS?most_recent... That's a good proxy for how much corruption—legal or not—you have to navigate to get something done.