Guy DeBorgore posted:

I think the "something else" you're looking for is what political scientists call structural incentives. Part of the job of political institutions, like government, is to structure individual incentives in such a way that a person's individual best interest coincides with the best interests of society. So, in an institution where there's little room for upward mobility, with a weak legal system, it's in my best interests to scam the system for all it's worth. Introduce transparency and a strong legal system, corruption goes down. It's not very simple, since every society's institutional arrangement is unique and you can't just look at one institution in a vacuum, but it's better than a facile appeal to culture.

Jargonless version: don't blame the player, blame the rules of the game.