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Foreign corporations and the culture of transparency: Evidence from Russian administrative data

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  • Braguinsky, Serguey
  • Mityakov, Sergey

Abstract

Firms from developed countries carry a culture of transparency in business transactions that is opposite to the culture of hiding and insider dealing in developing and transition economies. We employ Russian administrative data on reported earnings and market values of cars to measure wage misreporting for individual employees of domestic firms in Moscow. We show that closer ties to multinationals lead to improved transparency of wage reporting in private Russian companies. Employees located closest to movers from multinationals in the job quality space experience the largest gains in transparency. We find a robust correlation between wage misreporting and accounting fraud.

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  • Braguinsky, Serguey & Mityakov, Sergey, 2015. "Foreign corporations and the culture of transparency: Evidence from Russian administrative data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 139-164.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:117:y:2015:i:1:p:139-164
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.02.016
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    Cited by:

    1. Gavoille, Nicolas & Zasova, Anna, 2023. "What we pay in the shadows: Labor tax evasion, minimum wage hike and employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    2. Kalyvas, Antonios Nikolaos & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel, 2017. "Do creditor rights and information sharing affect the performance of foreign banks?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 13-35.
    3. Per Engström & Johannes Hagen & Edvard Johansson, 2023. "Estimating tax noncompliance among the self-employed—evidence from pleasure boat registers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1747-1771, December.
    4. Choudhury, Prithwiraj & Ganguli, Ina & Gaulé, Patrick, 2023. "Top Talent, Elite Colleges, and Migration: Evidence from the Indian Institutes of Technology," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    5. Lucy Chernykh & Sergey Mityakov, 2022. "Behavior of Corporate Depositors During a Bank Panic," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 9129-9151, December.
    6. Benjamin Hammer & Heiko Hinrichs & Bernhard Schwetzler, 2018. "Does culture affect the performance of private equity buyouts?," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 393-469, May.
    7. Zhe An & Zhian Chen & Donghui Li & Lu Xing, 2018. "Individualism and stock price crash risk," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(9), pages 1208-1236, December.
    8. Robson Fernandes Soares & Edson Ronaldo Guarido Filho, 2021. "Anti-Corruption Enforcement and Organizations: A Narrative Review," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 25(6), pages 190149-1901.
    9. Nicolas Gavoille & Anna Zasova, 2021. "What we pay in the shadows: Labor tax evasion, minimum wage hike and employment," SSE Riga/BICEPS Research Papers 6, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS);Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga).
    10. Sun, Yukun, 2021. "Corporate tax avoidance and government corruption: Evidence from Chinese firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 13-25.
    11. Jin, Ming & Chen, Fanglin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2023. "Cultural barriers in China's corporate loans," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    12. Bąk Paulina, 2020. "Economic analysis of corruption at the company level," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 7(54), pages 186-204, January.
    13. Mironov, Maxim, 2015. "Should one hire a corrupt CEO in a corrupt country?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 29-42.
    14. Andrzej Cieślik & Łukasz Goczek, 2022. "Who suffers and how much from corruption? Evidence from firm-level data," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 451-473, September.
    15. Gavoille, Nicolas & Zasova, Anna, 2023. "Minimum wage spike and income underreporting: A back-of-the-envelope-wage analysis," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 372-402.
    16. Ying Hao & Danni Han & Chong Ning & Jianhui Liao, 2021. "Culture from overseas and corporate transparency: Evidence from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2491-2516, April.
    17. Yongbo Ge & Xiaoran Kong & Geilegeilao Dadilabang & Kung‐Cheng Ho, 2023. "The effect of Confucian culture on household risky asset holdings: Using categorical principal component analysis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 839-857, January.
    18. Serguey Braguinsky & Sergey Mityakov & Andrey Liscovich, 2014. "Direct Estimation of Hidden Earnings: Evidence from Russian Administrative Data," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(2), pages 281-319.
    19. Vincent Montenero, 2018. "Russia's Integration to the Globalized Automotive System: Solutions Adopted by Multinationals and Impact on the Local Industrial Environment," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 4(1), pages 31-47.
    20. Lei Chen & Zhi Jin & Yongqiang Ma & Hui Xu, 2019. "Confucianism, openness to the West, and corporate investment efficiency," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 25(3), pages 554-590, June.
    21. Andrzej Cieślik & Łukasz Goczek, 2015. "Percepcja korupcji na poziomie przedsiębiorstw w krajach postkomunistycznych," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 2, pages 55-77.
    22. Francesco Saverio Stentella Lopes & Franco Fiordelisi & Ornella Ricci, 2019. "Corporate Culture and Merger Success," Working Papers 19013, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    23. Chernykh, Lucy & Mityakov, Sergey, 2017. "Offshore schemes and tax evasion: The role of banks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 516-542.
    24. Per Engström & Johannes Hagen & Edvard Johansson, 2021. "Estimating Tax Noncompliance among the Self-Employed – Evidence from Pleasure Boat Registers," Discussion Papers 144, Aboa Centre for Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Culture; Transparency; Foreign corporations; Diffusion; Foreign direct investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • P37 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Legal

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