"The port authority should raise prices without changing pay or (dis)incentive structures for low level officials" seems like a straw-man, and I don't think tha

"The port authority should raise prices without changing pay or (dis)incentive structures for low level officials" seems like a straw-man, and I don't think that's what OP meant. You can pay the pilots and low-level officials more money and implement "There are lots of other people who want your cushy job -- you will be summarily fired if you are caught soliciting bribes" policies as well as surveillance and reporting systems to enforce them. This requires political will from the people at the top, and often results in anger from the people at the bottom, so it doesn't usually happen until the bribery problem is out of control. Argentina is a good example. Maritime cargo hold inspectors famously made a habit of soliciting larger and larger bribes. They became an outlier, and eventually the shipping companies started to notice, and they put pressure on Argentina to clean up: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22581590 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22581590