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Corporate Crime and Systemic Corruption in Brazil

Applicant Professor Dr. Markus Pohlmann, since 9/2022
Subject Area Empirical Social Research
Criminology
Political Science
Sociological Theory
Criminal Law
Term from 2018 to 2025
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 404991678
 
Final Report Year 2024

Final Report Abstract

The research project aimed to identify and explain the patterns of corporate crime and political corruption in Brazil, employing a mixed-methods approach that combined both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This comprehensive approach analyzed data related to four major corruption and illegal electoral financing cases, each known by their investigative and judicial processes (operations): (1) Lava Jato (Car Wash), (2) Mensalao, (3) Satiagraha, and (4) Castelo de Areia. These case studies provided access to a wealth of publicly available data from 77 judicial proceedings involving illegal transactions between Brazilian state officials, key figures from major contracting firms, informal brokers, and intermediaries—many of whom were convicted. Using extensive documentation from the Brazilian judicial system, the researchers created a dataset of criminal cases and later conducted interviews with 71 individuals involved in the cases, including perpetrators, witnesses, judges, prosecutors, and attorneys. The findings were disseminated through various academic publications and other contributions. The data from judicial documents and interviews informed a multi-level framework that initially included an institutional analysis and other qualitative methods especially, the collective mindset analysis. The study's findings not only contributed to unveiling the modus operandi of organizational misconduct by companies and political parties but also focused on the underlying mindsets of both perpetrators and law enforcement officials. Although the research was primarily based on qualitative methods, quantitative analyses were also employed, particularly in constructing a prosopography of the individuals involved in rule-breaking behavior and examining the varied anti-corruption responses when brought before the judicial system, according to the groups perpetrators belonged. The research centered on three key questions: (1) How do economic and political corruption operate systematically within the case studies? (2) How effective have institutional and organizational regulations been in combating corruption and corporate crime? (3) What role does the anti-corruption regime play in shaping the evolving patterns of corruption within political and economic organizations, as well as in influencing collective mindsets? To address these questions, the researchers drew on new institutionalist theory to assess the functioning of organizations through both formal and informal rules. Additionally, they applied rational choice theory and criminological concepts to explain deviant behavior in several of their publications.

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