Abstract
Corruption has received increased attention from scholars and international organizations over the last 25 years. They have emphasized the importance of reducing corruption because of its detrimental consequences to society. Knowledge about the nature and causes of corruption becomes important in this context. This paper investigatesthe nature and causes of corruption in Norway by looking at convictions. Using a version of a comparative case design that makes it possible to investigate 55 corruption cases, I try to describe det attributes of most of the Norwegian corruption cases since new legislation was introduced in 2003. The paper is based around testing theories about rational choice, collective action, gender and age. It also includes the testing of findings from a somewhat similar Dutch study in the Norwegian context. This includes personality traits, interpersonal relationships, how the corruption cases were exposed and what industry the corruption happened in. The results show that predominantly men are convicted of corruption, and that construction is the only industry where corruption happens the most. A personal relationship of some sort also seems to be important in almost every corruption case, and most of the cases lasted a certain period of time. Almost half the cases were uncovered internally in the organization where corruption happened, which is fairly positive compared to expectations. All these findings need to be viewed in light of the fact that the results solely come from known cases with convictions, but they can still be important findings by increasing knowledge about corruption in Norway.
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