IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aip/access/v4y2023i2p297-312.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Phehomenon of corruption in Albania: towards cigarrete smugling

Author

Listed:
  • Evaldas RAISTENSKIS

    (Daugavpils University, Daugavpils, Latvia)

  • Anatolijs KRIVINS

    (Daugavpils University, Daugavpils, Latvia)

  • Ludmila ALEKSEJEVA

    (Daugavpils University, Daugavpils, Latvia)

Abstract

The phenomenon of cigarette smuggling and corruption has become a very sensitive topic for responsible law enforcement authorities and reporting entities. The issue needs to be addressed effectively and systematically regardless of the overall economic, financial and fiscal situation in the country. Preventing and mitigating the constant threat posed by criminal activities is of particular importance. In this context, financial institutions and non-financial professions are required to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. The article deals with the extent of corruption prevalence and reasons for prosperity in Albania, as a Western Balkans country, which has been little studied in the scientific literature. Albania is characterized by very high levels of perceived corruption, which manifests itself at all levels of government. Both petty and grand forms of corruption are prevalent in the country, while political corruption affects the quality of the democratic processes. The health sector, customs and tax officials are often referred to as the most corrupt institutions, followed by the police and the judiciary. Other problem faced by Albania is the illegal trade of tobacco considered as one of the major issues for Albanian law enforcement; it poses a multitude of challenges and issues beyond the ones discussed for legal tobacco consumption. The method of a representative quantitative survey was chosen for the empirical research, interviewing 1000 respondents from the age of 18 and more. The main findings and results of the research have been found: the scales of cigarette smuggling as well as the links between cigarette smuggling and corruption, money laundering and organized crime have not been evaluated, but macroeconomical analysis has shown that these phenomena are closely linked and feed each other. In Albania the public are beginning to realize that namely they tolerate the illegal phenomenon and, as a result, suffer from poorer economic well-being of their families.

Suggested Citation

  • Evaldas RAISTENSKIS & Anatolijs KRIVINS & Ludmila ALEKSEJEVA, 2023. "Phehomenon of corruption in Albania: towards cigarrete smugling," Access Journal, Access Press Publishing House, vol. 4(2), pages 297-312, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:aip:access:v:4:y:2023:i:2:p:297-312
    DOI: 10.46656/access.2023.4.2(10)
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journal.access-bg.org/journalfiles/journal/issue-4-2-2023/phehomenon_of_corruption_in_albania-towards_cigarrete_smugling.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.46656/access.2023.4.2(10)?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rotondi, Valentina & Stanca, Luca, 2015. "The effect of particularism on corruption: Theory and empirical evidence," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 219-235.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel Hinšt, 2021. "Disinformation as Geopolitical Risk for Transatlantic Institutions," International Studies, Libertas International University, vol. 21(2), pages 89-111.
    2. Leonardo Becchetti & Luca Corazzini & Vittorio Pelligra, 2018. "We Can Be Heroes. Trust and Resilience in Corrupted Economic Environments," CEIS Research Paper 429, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 11 Apr 2018.
    3. Anastasia Stathopoulou & Tommy Kweku Quansah & George Balabanis, 2022. "The Blinding Effects of Team Identification on Sports Corruption: Cross-Cultural Evidence from Sub-Saharan African Countries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(2), pages 511-529, August.
    4. Georgia Michailidou & Hande Erkut, 2022. "Lie O'Clock: Experimental Evidence on Intertemporal Lying Preferences," Working Papers 20220076, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Apr 2022.
    5. Miloš Fišar & Tommaso Reggiani & Fabio Sabatini & Jiří Špalek, 2022. "Media negativity bias and tax compliance: experimental evidence," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(5), pages 1160-1212, October.
    6. Lv, Zhike, 2017. "Intelligence and corruption: An empirical investigation in a non-linear framework," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 83-91.
    7. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Popova, Olga, 2021. "Can bribery buy health? Evidence from post-communist countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 991-1007.
    8. Leonardo Becchetti & Luca Corazzini & Vittorio Pelligra, 2021. "Trust and Trustworthiness in Corrupted Economic Environments," Games, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, February.
    9. Julien Hanoteau & Gandhi Pawitan & Virginie Vial, 2021. "Does social capital reduce entrepreneurs' petty corruption? Evidence across Indonesian regions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(3), pages 651-670, June.
    10. d'Adda, Giovanna & Galliera, Arianna & Tavoni, Massimo, 2020. "Urgency and engagement: Empirical evidence from a large-scale intervention on energy use awareness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Ruby Saine & Alexander J. Kull & Ali Besharat & Sajeev Varki, 2021. "I See Me: The Role of Observer Imagery in Reducing Consumer Transgressions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 721-732, February.
    12. Chiara Amini & Elodie Douarin, 2020. "Corruption and Life Satisfaction in Transition: Is Corruption a Social Norm in Eastern Europe?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 723-766, September.
    13. Michailidou, Georgia & Rotondi, Valentina, 2019. "I'd lie for you," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 181-192.
    14. Banerjee, Ritwik, 2016. "Corruption, norm violation and decay in social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 14-27.
    15. Yu Hao & Chun-Ping Chang & Zao Sun, 2018. "Women and corruption: evidence from multinational panel data," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1447-1468, July.
    16. David M. Barry, 2020. "The Relationship Between Religious Nationalism, Institutional Pride, and Societal Development: A Survey of Postcommunist Europe," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 36(1), pages 77-94, March.
    17. Bakker Femke E. & Rotondi Valentina, 2016. "Vote for Your Family! Particularism, Support for Democracy and Support for Shari’a in the Arab World," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 115-137, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corruption; cigarette smuggling; tax evasion; Albania; shadow economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • F65 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Finance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aip:access:v:4:y:2023:i:2:p:297-312. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mariana Petrova (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://access-bg.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.