The world has been bombarded in recent years with images of the luxurious lives and wealth of corrupt oligarchs and kleptocrats, amassed at the expense of ordinary people. Such images exploit our feelings of injustice, are taken as indicative of moral decay, and inspire a desire to purge our economies of dirty money, objects, and people. But why do anti-corruption efforts routinely fail? What kind of world are they creating? Looking at luxury art, antiquities, superyachts, and populist politics, this book explores the connection between luxury and corruption, and offers an alternative to the received wisdom of how we tackle corruption.

This innovative volume brings together contributions from leading experts in the study of luxury to present the full range of perspectives on luxury business, from a variety of social science approaches. Topics include conceptual foundations and the evolution of the luxury industry; the production of luxury goods; luxury branding and marketing; distributing luxury; globalization and markets; and issues of morality, inequality, and environmental sustainability. The Oxford Handbook of Luxury Business is a necessary resource for all students and researchers of the field as well as for forward-thinking industry professionals.

Traces the principle that luxury corrupts its possessor as seen through a millennium of Greek literature

How high levels of corruption limit investment and growth can lead to ineffective government.

As businesses continue to expand globally into new and emerging markets, bribery and corruption risks have increased exponentially. Bribery and Corruption offers a comprehensive look at this growing problem, and at the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other international anti-bribery and corruption conventions. Presenting hypothetical examples of situations companies will face, along with practical solutions, the book offers detailed global guidance on a region and country-specific basis. The FCPA prohibits US companies and their subsidiaries from bribing foreign officials, either directly or indirectly through intermediaries, for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. It also requires companies to keep accurate records of all business transactions and maintain an effective system of internal accounting controls. Internationally, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) anti-bribery convention has been adopted by 38 countries and creates legally binding standards related to bribery of foreign public officials. Written by renowned accounting fraud experts Richard A. Sibery and Brian P. Loughman, and providing an introduction and overview of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and international bribery laws, Bribery and Corruption considers: How to conduct FCPA risk assessments and investigations How to consider FCPA specific financial controls How to implement an FCPA compliance program and how to measure FCPA compliance The risk of bribery and corruption continues to be an area of concern for companies around the world, but armed with Bribery and Corruption, it is easier than ever to understand the challenges that exist and how to deal with them.

From the prizewinning journalist and internationally recognized expert on corruption in government networks throughout the world comes a major work that looks homeward to America, exploring the insidious, dangerous networks of corruption of our past, present, and precarious future. “If you want to save America, this might just be the most important book to read now." —Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains Sarah Chayes writes in her new book, that the United States is showing signs similar to some of the most corrupt countries in the world. Corruption, she argues, is an operating system of sophisticated networks in which government officials, key private-sector interests, and out-and-out criminals interweave. Their main objective: not to serve the public but to maximize returns for network members. In this unflinching exploration of corruption in America, Chayes exposes how corruption has thrived within our borders, from the titans of America's Gilded Age (Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, et al.) to the collapse of the stock market in 1929, the Great Depression, and FDR's New Deal; from Joe Kennedy's years of banking, bootlegging, machine politics, and pursuit of infinite wealth to the deregulation of the Reagan Revolution--undermining this nation's proud middle class and union members. She then brings us up to the present as she shines a light on the Clinton policies of political favors and personal enrichment and documents Trump's hydra-headed network of corruption, which aimed to systematically undo the Constitution and our laws. Ultimately and most importantly, Chayes reveals how corrupt systems are organized, how they enable bad actors to bend the rules so their crimes are covered legally, how they overtly determine the shape of our government, and how they affect all levels of society, especially when the corruption is overlooked and downplayed by the rich and well-educated.

Corruption has played a pivotal role in determining the current state of the world - from mass poverty in developing countries, to the destruction of natural resources and to the erosion of trust in political parties. Laurence Cockcroft here argues that corruption has to be seen as the result of the interplay between elite 'embedded networks', greed and organised crime. He shows how the growth of corruption has been facilitated by globalisation, the integration of new and expanding markets into the world economy, and by the rapid expansion of 'offshore' financial facilities. These facilities provide a home to largely unregulated pools of finance derived from personal fortunes, organised crime and pricing malpractice in international trade. By identifying the main drivers of corruption world-wide and analyzing the current action to control them, this book suggests ways in which the problems caused by corruption can be addressed and ultimately prevented.