The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than men

Researchers have repeatedly argued that women engage less in corruption and bribery than men because they are more risk-averse. I argue that female risk-aversion can be offset by sufficiently high benefits from bribery and propose that these benefits vary depending on the area of government services...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Natascha S. Neudorfer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Political Research Exchange
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2025.2513320
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849330945071513600
author Natascha S. Neudorfer
author_facet Natascha S. Neudorfer
author_sort Natascha S. Neudorfer
collection DOAJ
description Researchers have repeatedly argued that women engage less in corruption and bribery than men because they are more risk-averse. I argue that female risk-aversion can be offset by sufficiently high benefits from bribery and propose that these benefits vary depending on the area of government services. Previous authors have argued how the gender-interest mechanism prevents women from engaging in grand corruption and how female representation improves government service provision in Europe. Looking through a different lens, I provide a systematic micro-level argument for how the gender-interest mechanism can stimulate petty corruption. Using Afrobarometer data (2011–2013, 2014–2015, 34–36 countries), I find that women are less frequently involved in bribery than men in relation to general government services but equally involved in the health and education sector.
format Article
id doaj-art-5e2fadc3f572414abbfca7fdd0150f5e
institution Kabale University
issn 2474-736X
language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Political Research Exchange
spelling doaj-art-5e2fadc3f572414abbfca7fdd0150f5e2025-08-20T03:46:46ZengTaylor & Francis GroupPolitical Research Exchange2474-736X2025-12-017110.1080/2474736X.2025.2513320The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than menNatascha S. Neudorfer0Department for Politics, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, GermanyResearchers have repeatedly argued that women engage less in corruption and bribery than men because they are more risk-averse. I argue that female risk-aversion can be offset by sufficiently high benefits from bribery and propose that these benefits vary depending on the area of government services. Previous authors have argued how the gender-interest mechanism prevents women from engaging in grand corruption and how female representation improves government service provision in Europe. Looking through a different lens, I provide a systematic micro-level argument for how the gender-interest mechanism can stimulate petty corruption. Using Afrobarometer data (2011–2013, 2014–2015, 34–36 countries), I find that women are less frequently involved in bribery than men in relation to general government services but equally involved in the health and education sector.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2025.2513320BriberygenderAfrobarometer
spellingShingle Natascha S. Neudorfer
The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than men
Political Research Exchange
Bribery
gender
Afrobarometer
title The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than men
title_full The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than men
title_fullStr The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than men
title_full_unstemmed The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than men
title_short The temptation of the dark side: why women bribe differently than men
title_sort temptation of the dark side why women bribe differently than men
topic Bribery
gender
Afrobarometer
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2025.2513320
work_keys_str_mv AT nataschasneudorfer thetemptationofthedarksidewhywomenbribedifferentlythanmen
AT nataschasneudorfer temptationofthedarksidewhywomenbribedifferentlythanmen