Defining Corruption through Workers’ Lived Experiences: A Study on Financial Workplaces in Vietnam

Abstract

Considering the ever-changing impacts of corruption on civil society around the world, understandings of the concept and its contemporary presumptions require ongoing reflection and revision. However, existing work on corruption, both in academia and practice, tends to focus on Western-centric formulations and ‘macro’ corruption, using a limited range of methods and perspectives. This realistically overlooks important nuances and contexts, including grey areas between corruption and discrimination. The thesis thus responds to such gaps in knowledge, exploring a novel definition and ways to understand everyday corruption. It considers ‘micro’ victimisations and the multiple socio-cultural normative impacts of workplace corruption within the financial sector in Vietnam. The study used a mixed methodology, including a preliminary quantitative survey followed by semi-structured qualitative interviews with workers from various local financial institutions. The analysis utilised simple summaries and statistical tests to capture the local attitudes and perceptions towards workplace corruption from the survey data. These insights were then expanded and clarified using narrative analysis of the local lived experiences with corruption from the interview data. The proposed framework guiding the study was also revised into a final dynamic norm-corruption cycle, using regressions and narrative structure analysis. The main outcomes comprise an extensive definition of workplace corruption via the lived experiences of financial workers in Vietnam and a general framework of corruption from a micro perspective. The thesis also provides a novel corruption-discrimination scale as nuanced spectrums and representations of these concepts. Overall, most corruption forms are also perceived as discrimination, with notable variations within and between them. These findings and insights contribute to local and global knowledge and practices of corruption. The results also provoke implications on the need for local normative reforms in order to enhance standards and improve receptiveness to the demands of local workers.