Leading bureaucracies to the tipping point: An alternative model of multiple stable equilibrium levels of corruption

► We model an alternative explanation for tipping points in societal-level corruption. ► The bureaucracy's culture of corruption is influenced by an executive's actions. ► The nonlinear dynamical formulation is solved with Pontryagin's Principle. ► The solution exhibits state-dependence and so-called Skiba points. ► Policy interpretations are somewhat more optimistic than in Schelling's (1978) classic model.