Corruption has two main lenses, economy and society. The moral legitimacy of the governing body is put into question when corruption rises. On the economic side corruption is often viewed in the "rent seeking" perspective (zero-sum).
In the economic view corruption is traditionally seen as a downward pressure on the economy since corrupt members of society take away resources that would be circulated in the system for benefit of society. On a pure rational (non-moral) perspective corruption is basically an informal/illegal bonus like that in the private sector. In the private sector there is nothing wrong with asking for a bonus once you have justified to your boss the value you have created for them and the organization. The bonus acts as an incentive for more good work to create more utility for your organization. The same can be said about government institutions. But once you ask for a bonus greater than the value you created in your organization that's when problems come, your boss would see you as being unreasonably greedy. It is vital that we separate rent seeking corruption and value creating corruption. Corruption is unavoidable in government projects (even in developed nations), but as long the work gets done and there is a net benefit to society I personally wont mind if some corrupt officials gets a bonus for their work. If managed it can act as an variable incentive(unlike a fixed salary) for creating value for society, the more value they create for society(metrics should be determined) the more larger the bonus. Its just like how its unreasonable to assume a CEO in the private sector would be paid the same as a mid-level manager and without bonuses, you wont be able to get really competitive talent in your organization. I think either government officials should start getting bonuses(only if they meet targets) or manage corruption (but don't stop it fully). Government officials are not all purely moral beings, they have human desires. Just like how we don't expect a wall street executive to work out of the goodness of their heart, the organization flourishes out of their selfishness since there is clearly defined or implied causal relationships.
One can argue the moral implications of corruption all day but the reality is that these officials can make the functions of corruption legal through legal loop holes. Its hard holding them accountable. Maybe we should be asking if it is reasonable to be so focused on corruption and not on the actual cost benefit. We should rethink corruption and look at its core characteristics. Ultimately I do think the government should act as a moral compass for society but be cautious when approaching the question.
