????當然，也有可能是因為更多的案件沒有被媒體曝光。但隨著美國當局開始加大懲處企業賄賂行為，公眾已聽到了越來越多的案件。正如《財富》雜志（Fortune）史蒂芬?甘代爾本周早些時候指出，聯邦官員正在調查更多賄賂案件，因為2002年《薩班斯-奧克斯利法案》（Sarbanes Oxley Act）要求首席執行官和首席財務官保證公司遞交的財務文件必須正確無誤，其中也包括報告賄賂行為。

????結果我們發現，賄賂和回扣在墨西哥、中國和俄羅斯更盛行，至少從透明國際（Transparency International）2011年的行賄者指數（Bribe Payers Index）來看是這樣。行賄指數根據企業海外行賄傾向的高低對全球主要經濟體進行排名，分數越高表明行賄可能性越低。荷蘭和瑞士的得分都是8.8，在28個經濟體中并列第一。美國緊隨其后，為8.1。墨西哥（7.0）、中國（6.5）和俄羅斯（6.1）墊底。

????人們或許很容易得出結論，認為在腐敗國家做生意就得靠行賄。但最終，行賄總是讓公司得不償失。

????譯者：早稻米

????It's likely that there are many more cases that have gone unreported. However, it could also be that the public has started to hear of more cases as U.S. authorities become more aggressive about punishing corporate payoffs. As Fortune's Stephen Gandel pointed out earlier this week, federal officials are pursuing more bribery cases thanks to the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 that effectively requires CEOs and CFOs to certify their companies' financial filings are correct. And that includes reporting bribes.

????As it turns out, the culture of bribery and kickbacks is more prevalent in Mexico, China and Russia, at least according to Transparency International's 2011 Bribe Payers Index, which ranks the world's major economies by the tendency of their companies to offer bribes abroad. A high score reflected a low likelihood of bribery. The Netherlands and Switzerland both scored 8.8, the highest of 28 economies. The U.S. came close scoring 8.1. Mexico (7.0), China (6.5) and Russia (6.1) scored the lowest.

????It might be easy to assume that bribery is just the way business is done in corrupt states, but at the end of the day, it almost always ends up costing companies more than they realize.