IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v116y2013i2p297-310.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Media Corruption: A Chinese Characteristic

Author

Listed:
  • Ren Li

Abstract

Misbehaviour and malpractices of Chinese journalists in recent years have brought media corruption under the spotlight. The lack of professionalism and scarcity of fully established ethics in media organisations have made the case worse. However, while Chinese media and academics concentrate narrowly on paid-for news or gag fee by prompting the enforcement of disciplinary restraints and ‘thought education’, this hot issue has been largely ignored by western scholars and has only been occasionally reported by some western media. Based mainly on prominent cases and document studies, this article classifies three major types of media corruption in the Chinese context: (1) individual red-envelope taking, (2) institutional profit seeking and (3) personal businesses benefiting from the identity of a reporter. It then explores two major endogenous causes of media corruption: media’s unique role in China’s political power structure and their monopoly in information collection and delivery. Two current countermeasures undertaken against this phenomenon in China are finally analysed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Ren Li, 2013. "Media Corruption: A Chinese Characteristic," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 297-310, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:116:y:2013:i:2:p:297-310
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1464-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1464-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1464-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Antonio Argandoña, 2007. "The United Nations Convention Against Corruption and its Impact on International Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 481-496, September.
    2. Timothy Besley & Andrea Prat, 2006. "Handcuffs for the Grabbing Hand? Media Capture and Government Accountability," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 720-736, June.
    3. Vito Tanzi, 1998. "Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope, and Cures," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 45(4), pages 559-594, December.
    4. Argandoña, Antonio, 2003. "Private-to-private corruption," IESE Research Papers D/531, IESE Business School.
    5. Mr. Vito Tanzi, 1998. "Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope, and Cures," IMF Working Papers 1998/063, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Chenting Su & Ronald K. Mitchell & M. Joseph Sirgy, 2007. "Enabling Guanxi Management in China: A Hierarchical Stakeholder Model of Effective Guanxi," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 301-319, March.
    7. Manion, Melanie, 1996. "Corruption by Design: Bribery in Chinese Enterprise Licensing," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 167-195, April.
    8. C. Fred Bergsten & Charles Freeman & Nicholas R. Lardy, 2008. "China's Rise: Challenges and Opportunities," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 4174, April.
    9. Lambsdorff,Johann Graf, 2007. "The Institutional Economics of Corruption and Reform," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521872751, September.
    10. Ruth Aguilera & Abhijeet Vadera, 2008. "The Dark Side of Authority: Antecedents, Mechanisms, and Outcomes of Organizational Corruption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 77(4), pages 431-449, February.
    11. Niki A. Nieuwenboer & Muel Kaptein, 2008. "Spiraling Down into Corruption: A Dynamic Analysis of the Social Identity Processes that Cause Corruption in Organizations to Grow," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 133-146, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Noman Shaheer & Jingtao Yi & Sali Li & Liang Chen, 2019. "State-Owned Enterprises as Bribe Payers: The Role of Institutional Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 221-238, September.
    2. Gillen, Jamie & Mostafanezhad, Mary, 2019. "Geopolitical encounters of tourism: A conceptual approach," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 70-78.
    3. Huang, Tzu-Lun, 2018. "The puzzling media effect in the Chinese stock market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 129-146.
    4. Yunqiang Xue & Hongzhi Guan & Jonathan Corey & Bing Zhang & Hai Yan & Yan Han & Huanmei Qin, 2017. "Transport Emissions and Energy Consumption Impacts of Private Capital Investment in Public Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Liu, Mingzhi & Tang, Songlian & Wu, Zhenyu & Zeng, Rong, 2023. "The impact of foreign ownership on the media’s role in curbing insider trading around private meetings," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Laureen Albarrán Díaz de León & Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa, 2014. "Analyzing Organized Crime From A Business Perspective: The Case Of Mexican Meth Mafia," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(9), pages 977-990, September.
    7. Riedel, Nadine & Stüber, Robert, 2019. "Overearning – Revisited," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 75(PA).
    8. Shiqun Li & Baosheng Zhang, 2016. "Research of Coalbed Methane Development Well-Type Optimization Method Based on Unit Technical Cost," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-12, August.
    9. Yi Ru & Jian Xue & Yuan Zhang & Xin Zhou, 2020. "Social connections between media and firm executives and the properties of media reporting," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 963-1001, September.
    10. Huang, Can & Huang, Hung-Yi & Ho, Kung-Cheng, 2024. "Media coverage and stock liquidity: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 665-682.
    11. Michael A. Sartor & Paul W. Beamish, 2020. "Private Sector Corruption, Public Sector Corruption and the Organizational Structure of Foreign Subsidiaries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(4), pages 725-744, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Madelijne Gorsira & Linda Steg & Adriaan Denkers & Wim Huisman, 2018. "Corruption in Organizations: Ethical Climate and Individual Motives," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, February.
    2. Ram Mudambi & Pietro Navarra & Andrew Delios, 2013. "Government regulation, corruption, and FDI," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 487-511, June.
    3. Pier Luigi Marchini & Tatiana Mazza & Alice Medioli, 2020. "Corruption and sustainable development: The impact on income shifting in European international groups," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 717-730, March.
    4. Madelijne Gorsira & Adriaan Denkers & Wim Huisman, 2018. "Both Sides of the Coin: Motives for Corruption Among Public Officials and Business Employees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 179-194, August.
    5. Everett, Jeff & Neu, Dean & Rahaman, Abu Shiraz, 2007. "Accounting and the global fight against corruption," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 513-542, August.
    6. Konstantinos Rontos & Petros Sioussiouras & Ioannis S. Vavouras, 2012. "An Incentive Model of Corruption in the Mediterranean and Balkan Region," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 2(2), pages 1-99.
    7. Klaus Abbink & Bernd Irlenbusch & Elke Renner, 2002. "An Experimental Bribery Game," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 428-454, October.
    8. Eva Kotlánová & Igor Kotlán, 2012. "Vliv institucionálního prostředí na velikost korupce: empirická analýza [The Influence of the Institutional Factors on the Corruption: The Empirical Analysis]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(2), pages 167-186.
    9. repec:pdn:wpaper:79 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Juan C. Correa & Klaus Jaffe, 2015. "Corruption and Wealth: Unveiling a national prosperity syndrome in Europe," Papers 1604.00283, arXiv.org.
    11. Wen-wen Zheng & Li Liu & Zhen-wei Huang & Xu-yun Tan, 2017. "Life Satisfaction as a Buffer of the Relationship Between Corruption Perception and Political Participation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 907-923, June.
    12. Jacopo Costa & Roberto Ricciuti, 2013. "Sources for the Euro Crisis: Bad Regulation and Weak Institutions in Peripheral Europe," Working Papers 15/2013, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    13. Krisztina Kis-Katos & Günther G. Schulze, 2013. "Corruption in Southeast Asia: a survey of recent research," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 27(1), pages 79-109, May.
    14. Duvanova, Dinissa, 2014. "Economic Regulations, Red Tape, and Bureaucratic Corruption in Post-Communist Economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 298-312.
    15. Luca Correani, 2004. "Corruzione burocratica e preferenze sociali: un modello interpretativo," Public Economics 0406008, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Jayoti Das & Cassandra E. DiRienzo, 2012. "Spatial Decay of Corruption in Africa and The Middle East," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 31(4), pages 508-514, December.
    17. repec:pdn:wpaper:70 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Andreas Kyriacou & Leonel Muinelo-Gallo & Oriol Roca-Sagalés, 2015. "Construction corrupts: empirical evidence from a panel of 42 countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 123-145, October.
    19. Adang Budiman & Amanda Roan & Victor Callan, 2013. "Rationalizing Ideologies, Social Identities and Corruption Among Civil Servants in Indonesia During the Suharto Era," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 139-149, August.
    20. Kanyam, Daniel A. & Kostandini, Genti & Ferreira, Susana, 2017. "The Mobile Phone Revolution: Have Mobile Phones and the Internet Reduced Corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 271-284.
    21. Norman Bishara & Cindy Schipani, 2009. "Strengthening the Ties that Bind: Preventing Corruption in the Executive Suite," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(4), pages 765-780, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:116:y:2013:i:2:p:297-310. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.