Yeah it's happened like that in local communities where I live. Big company says to city government "if you don't give us a big tax break we'll move our [headquarters|factory|operations|etc] to our branch in [that other town]".
More often than not the city relents and the tax breaks are enacted. No city officials are paid off, it's all about arm-twisting.
Seems to me this is a form of extortion not bribery. Of course extortion is no more ethical than bribery, but it's not illegal to use the threat to take one's business elsewhere. Call it "negotiating", it happens all the time.
More often than not the city relents and the tax breaks are enacted. No city officials are paid off, it's all about arm-twisting.
Seems to me this is a form of extortion not bribery. Of course extortion is no more ethical than bribery, but it's not illegal to use the threat to take one's business elsewhere. Call it "negotiating", it happens all the time.