A recent study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that 13 Pakistani Diplomats based in NY with the United Nations have violated New York Cities Traffic codes a whopping 900 times over a period of five years averaging a medallion of 180 parking tickets per year. The title of the study Cultures of Corruption: Evidence From Diplomatic Parking Tickets starts of with a simple premise.
We develop an empirical approach for evaluating the role of social norms in corruption by studying parking violations among international diplomats living in New York City. Consular personnel and their families benefit from diplomatic immunity, a privilege which allowed them to avoid paying parking fines prior to November 2002. We examine differences in the behavior of government employees from different countries, all living and working in the same city, all of whom can act with impunity in (illegally) parking their cars. The act of parking illegally fits well with a standard definition of corruption, i.e., “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain,2 suggesting that the comparison of parking violations by diplomats from different societies serves as a plausible measure of the extent of corruption social norms or a corruption “culture. – NBER (PDF Paper 219K)
They seemed to quite accurately correlate the level of corruption to each diplomat to his/her home country, finding that diplomats from low corruption countries (e.g., Norway) behave remarkably well even in situations where they can get away with violations, while those from high corruption countries (e.g., Nigeria) commit many violations, suggesting that they bring the social norms or corruption culture of their home country with them to New York City.
A closer look at the study shows that the Diplomats from United Kingdom have barely any violations in NY (0.0 reported violations from 31 diplomats) but on the other hand a BBC report shows that the United States Diplomatic core based in England have a pilled up a whopping £271,000 in parking fines, closely by Nigeria at £202,150 in a short period of six months from October 2005 to April 2006 – BBC News. This is a very interesting revelation showing that the American Diplomats could possibly be the MOST corrupt in the world if we are to base our findings according to the premise placed by the NERB report.
Coming back to Pakistan, I am extremely embarrassed to see our name on such a list especially when these diplomats who have been entrusted to promote the image of Pakistan in a foreign land start abusing the local laws and hence creating a bad name for my country. I simply stand offended and object wholeheartedly hoping that someone along the chain of command listens to this plight and starts to make mends.
Comments
10 responses to “Pakistani Diplomats – 10th Most Parking Violations”
woo hoo. we are on a top ten list again. too bad that it doesnt show us in a good light. i think pakistanis are the same the world over. we never change our stripes. if we dont know how to drive and park here what makes us think we can do this abroad?
doc u forgot to mention the fact that the americans dont pay the congestion charge in the UK. its not the parking charges which are a hassle. the americans dont think its justified for them to pay the congestion charge to travel within the central london areas.
Mr. Shobz We can do it here and abroad.Atleast ppl like you should not be saying this and instead be taking an initiative to lift Our country image. Other wise whats the difference between ……… 😉
the writing is on the wall. we cant deny the fact that we have no regard for the rules. it doesnt make a difference if we take an initiative or not. the difference is that we are just talking about how lame we can be at times. its not as if i have revealed a state secret. gasp pakistanis are bad drivers who dont obey the rules. boy this is a good story. wait till the world finds out. people are not blind mr ki. i think they should feel a bit ashamed of themselves by reading this. commenting about it is just my way of expressing my thoughts. so ppl like u should also do something and not point fingers at others who note these shortcomings.
To keep the record staright, I would like to ask SHOBZ if americans think that they are exempted from paying congestion charges then WHY DO THEY PAY THE SIMILAR CONGESTION CHARGE IN NORWAY AND SINGAPORE.
It has been a matter of discussion and its pretty starnge that why americans are screwing up their closed partner by not paying congestion charge, not to mention money they owe in terms of previous unpaid congestion charge.
Read! what newyork times suggested american administration on this matter.
http://www.london.gov.uk/londoner/06may/p5c.jsp?nav=news
No doubt that we cannot deny the fact. But for example, if you dont have skilled labour/staff to work for you what do u do?? criticise them or train them ???? thats the point Mr.Shobz u ppl can only sit back n talk on whatever is happening. According to me you are also 1 of them. So just trying to give u an eye opener. My OPINION!
Mr.Ki you are absolutely right, & Mr. Shobz ALWAYS REMEMBER pani ka aik aik boond mil kur darya banta hai.
Salaams,
wow you actually exist! A dentist blogger! Really interesting:P
Jazakallah for leaving that comment on my blog, I was of the view that painkillers are not to be used because it should be as natural as possible.
But will take one, insha’Allah.
🙂
@nocturnal first of all i am not an American nor am i am a spokesperson for them.i dont care if they dont pay their congestion charges. i dont run their departments so i dont know why they pay their charges in other countries. maybe its the fact that they cant get away with it there!!! i dont understand why u are asking me if the americans should be exempted when u already know the answer. u have already read the piece in the new york times so then u have ur answer.
@ki duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
what does untrained labor or skill have to do with anything?ur comment doesnt make any sense at all. are u sure u werent sniffing glue before u started to write? if u have untrained labor u can get them to work for u coz they have to make money and they cant afford to be dicks and loose their jobs. however they will still have the same old mentality which will never die. driving rashly is not limited to class alone. its a widespread thing where loads of people are always in a hurry. for starters i dont drive in pakistan coz the traffic is horrendous here as people dont know how to drive. i stick by the rules and dont break them unlike some ppl.yeah u have physcic powers which tell u that i am one of them. wowee. i have taken my stand by declaring that our ppl are rash. its not as if i have formed a “drive like a mad man and dont care about others” alliance and am encouraging other people to join in as well. ur opinion is half baked. do u want me to go and stop every rash driver and lecture him/her about the perils of rash driving,breaking the rules,etc? i dont think so. there is the need to create awareness which i sadly think will never happen coz we all have short term memories and dont care about anyone else. last of all thank u for the eye opener. wow it was like a new beginning for me (am being sarcastic here if u didnt get my tone).
@meef whatever.read the paragraph above.
The big surprise here is that the Swiss made the UK list. They have a reputation for being extremely law abiding. While every country should take its diplomats to task for failing to follow the law of the host country, perhaps the people with the most tickets take the least amount of public transportation.