Corruption forms in the construction industry: Literature review

Over the past decade, corruption has elicited increasing attention in the construction industry, and several studies have been conducted and published on the topic of forms of corruption in the construction industry. However, a systematic review of the existing studies on corruption forms, which is essential for the future endeavor, is not available. This paper systematically reviews the existing body of knowledge about forms of corruption in the construction industry. Reviewing 39 selected peer-reviewed journal papers reveals 28 different forms of corruption. The most reported corruption forms in the literature are bribery, fraud, collusion, embezzlement, nepotism, and extortion. A conceptual framework is also developed for better understanding of the forms. The findings of this study contribute to deepened understanding of the forms of corruption in the construction industry, which would be useful for industry practitioners, policy makers, and anticorruption institutions to develop suitable anticorruption frameworks and strategies to effectively deal with corrupt practices in construction. The checklist and framework on corruption forms also make this paper useful for researchers to conduct further empirical studies on the topic.