Self-interest as a Means of Preventing Corruption

Corruption is one of the big challenges to society in the 21 century. There are several reasons that give rise to this claim. First, as explained above, this is a transnational governance challenge that is very diffi cult for any government to tackle ( Rasche, 2012, p. 679; Scherer & Palazzo, 2008, p. 423). Second, corruption is a phenomenon that is diffi cult to grasp as it occurs in so many different forms. Third, the sheer magnitude of corruption and the profound negative consequences that creep into all spheres of society make corruption one of the great challenges of this epoch. Before presenting Coordinated Governance Initiatives as a novel approach to combating corruption, it is important to answer the question of what corruption actually is and why it is considered so harmful. The need to adopt an approach of “self-interested voluntariness” (Lü tge, 2010b) if the private sector, and particularly MNCs, are to be involved effectively in combating corruption is also demonstrated.