There was a (government) public investigation / shame campaign a few years ago ago the construction industry in Montreal, Canada.

One of the person who testified in exchange for not being jailed was "Mr. 3%", a member of the office who approve (public) construction projects. He took 3% of the project total cost (in bribes) from the top 30 contractors in exchange for making sure their permits requests never got in these artificial rejection loops.

The bureaucracy, just like the old taxi industry, is about keeping smaller players out, not enforcing the codes.