Initiative Publications Events CSIS . . . Zeyno Baran Corruption is bad for development.
Human beings are prone to self-seeking behavior.
What constrains behavior and makes it conform with the larger collective ends includes the laws that form the core of norms and institutions. So corruption can never be completely or permanently eliminated. If there is one overarching lesson from research and country experience on corruption, it is that endemic corruption will not be reversed and controlled with moral crusades. People respond to incentive structures, not moral appeals. Officeholders will not abstain from corruption unless it no longer appears in their interest to behave corruptly.