貪污事件本身受到政治、經濟、文化和社會之影響，但貪污的成因與變遷過程在各國之歷程均不相同，所以不能以籠統的概念去研究貪污。本文目的，進一步釐清貪污本身所具有的特質，如層級性與層級間互動性，對貪污的研究將是有助益的。研究方法是以信息空間（Information space, 或I-space）的分析做為研究貪污特質的方法。貪污是一種知識和信息，貪污在信息空間中不同的位置有不同的特點，這是它的層級性。信息空間所有的層級間的互動，或者說循環性，這個不斷交易的互動過程它受到制度、文化的影響，而具有互動的順序性。本研究有以下三個結論：一是官僚體系可區分為高層領導、高階官僚與低階官僚，並以之與社會體系對應。二是從官僚體系中從各階層間的互動可分成二類，由下向上的侍從關係和由上往下的恩庇關係。三是官僚體系中五個類別角色，它們的互動影響的順序，依序是高層領導、恩庇關係、侍從關係、尋租及投機。從信息空間模型釐清貪污具有層級性，及層級間互動的順序性，可以做為以後研究的基礎。

Although corruption events are influenced by politics, economics, culture, and society factors, their causes and processes are varied from country to country. It is,therefore, improper to study corruption using undefined conceptions. The purpose of this article is to further describe the characteristics of corruption, such as the interactions between strata, which, in general, will be helpful to the study of corruption. And, in this article, we adopt the analysis of information space (I-space) as a research method. Corruption, in a way, is a kind of knowledge and message. The interactions between the strata (or the circling) in the information space is a non-stop process influenced by institutions and culture. Three conclusions are drawn in this article. First, a bureaucratic system can be divided into 3 levels--leader, higher and
lower bureaucrats, and can be linked to the society. Secondly, 2 categories of interaction can be found between bureaucratic strata: one from down to up and the other from up to down. Thirdly, five different roles can be found in a bureaucratic stratum. They, by influence orders, are: the leader, the significant favor relationship, the client, the rent-seeking relationship and the gambler. We further found that the
order and strata among them can be used as a foundation for further researches.