IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecinqu/v55y2017i3p1192-1212.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Corruption Attenuate The Effect Of Red Tape On Exports?

Author

Listed:
  • Reshad N. Ahsan

Abstract

In this paper I show that corruption can attenuate the adverse effects of customs-related red tape on firm exports. I first develop a model where exporters use bribes to encourage customs officials to process their documents in an expedited manner. This lowers the delay that they face at customs. The model shows that if the value of the reduced delays is greater than the bribe payment itself, then corruption can attenuate the adverse effects of customs-related red tape. I then use firm-level data to confirm that this attenuating effect exists. I find that the negative effect of greater red tape on firm exports is lower for firms in industries and countries where corruption at customs is more prevalent. This result suggest that, conditional on there being customs-related red tape, an exporter is better off if it can use bribes to lower the delay that it faces.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Reshad N. Ahsan, 2017. "Does Corruption Attenuate The Effect Of Red Tape On Exports?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1192-1212, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:55:y:2017:i:3:p:1192-1212
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecin.12445
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo & Graziano, Alejandro, 2015. "Customs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 119-137.
    2. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1993. "Corruption," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 599-617.
    3. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/10147 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jagdish Bhagwati & Bent Hansen, 1973. "A Theoretical Analysis of Smuggling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(2), pages 172-187.
    5. Clark, Ximena & Dollar, David & Micco, Alejandro, 2004. "Port efficiency, maritime transport costs, and bilateral trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 417-450, December.
    6. William W. Olney, 2016. "Impact Of Corruption On Firm-Level Export Decisions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 1105-1127, April.
    7. John S. Wilson & Catherine L. Mann & Tsunehiro Otsuki, 2005. "Assessing The Potential Benefit Of Trade Facilitation: A Global Perspective," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Philippa Dee & Michael Ferrantino (ed.), Quantitative Methods For Assessing The Effects Of Non-Tariff Measures And Trade Facilitation, chapter 8, pages 121-160, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Pushan Dutt & Daniel Traca, 2010. "Corruption and Bilateral Trade Flows: Extortion or Evasion?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 843-860, November.
    9. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    10. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10147 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. David L. Hummels & Georg Schaur, 2013. "Time as a Trade Barrier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2935-2959, December.
    13. Benjamin A. Olken & Rohini Pande, 2012. "Corruption in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 479-509, July.
    14. Dal Bo, Ernesto & Rossi, Martin A., 2007. "Corruption and inefficiency: Theory and evidence from electric utilities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 939-962, June.
    15. Smith, Richard J & Blundell, Richard W, 1986. "An Exogeneity Test for a Simultaneous Equation Tobit Model with an Application to Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(3), pages 679-685, May.
    16. Sequeira, Sandra & Djankov, Simeon, 2014. "Corruption and firm behavior: Evidence from African ports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 277-294.
    17. Fisman, Raymond & Svensson, Jakob, 2007. "Are corruption and taxation really harmful to growth? Firm level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 63-75, May.
    18. Raymond Fisman & Shang-Jin Wei, 2004. "Tax Rates and Tax Evasion: Evidence from "Missing Imports" in China," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 471-500, April.
    19. Lui, Francis T, 1985. "An Equilibrium Queuing Model of Bribery," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(4), pages 760-781, August.
    20. Hildegunn Kyvik Nordås & Enrico Pinali & Massimo Geloso Grosso, 2006. "Logistics and Time as a Trade Barrier," OECD Trade Policy Papers 35, OECD Publishing.
    21. Simeon Djankov & Caroline Freund & Cong S. Pham, 2010. "Trading on Time," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 166-173, February.
    22. Krueger, Anne O, 1974. "The Political Economy of the Rent-Seeking Society," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(3), pages 291-303, June.
    23. Bruce A. Blonigen & Wesley W. Wilson, 2008. "Port Efficiency and Trade Flows," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 21-36, February.
    24. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    25. World Bank & International Finance Corporation, 2006. "Doing Business in 2006 : Creating Jobs," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7421, April.
    26. James E. Anderson & Douglas Marcouiller, 2002. "Insecurity And The Pattern Of Trade: An Empirical Investigation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 342-352, May.
    27. Axel Dreher & Martin Gassebner, 2013. "Greasing the wheels? The impact of regulations and corruption on firm entry," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 413-432, June.
    28. Hummels, David, 2001. "Time As A Trade Barrier," Working papers 28701, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kamal, Fariha & Sundaram, Asha, 2019. "Do institutions determine economic Geography? Evidence from the concentration of foreign suppliers," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 89-101.
    2. Joël Cariolle & Petros G Sekeris, 2021. "How export shocks corrupt: theory and evidence," Working Papers hal-03164648, HAL.
    3. Spyridon Boikos & Mehmet Pinar & Thanasis Stengos, 2023. "Bribery, on-the-job training, and firm performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 37-58, January.
    4. Audretsch, David B. & Belitski, Maksim & Chowdhury, Farzana & Desai, Sameeksha, 2022. "CEO gender, institutional context and firm exports," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).

    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. Bianka Dettmer & Andreas Freytag & Peter Draper, 2013. "Check-in, departure and arrival times: Air cargo in Southern Africa?," Jena Economics Research Papers 2013-018, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    2. Patricia Sourdin & Richard Pomfret, 2012. "Trade Facilitation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14596.
    3. Shepherd, Ben, 2009. "Speed Money: Time, Corruption, and Trade," MPRA Paper 17337, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Murat Genç & David Law, 2014. "A Gravity Model of Barriers to Trade in New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 14/05, New Zealand Treasury.
    5. Bianka Dettmer & Andreas Freytag & Peter Draper, 2014. "Air Cargo beyond Trade Barriers in Africa," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 29, pages 95-138.
    6. Sequeira, Sandra & Djankov, Simeon, 2014. "Corruption and firm behavior: Evidence from African ports," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 277-294.
    7. Othmani, Abdelhafidh & Slimani, Slah & Bakari, Sayef, 2015. "Les Effets de la Corruption sur le Commerce Extérieur de la Tunisie : Une Approche du Modèle de Gravité Statique durant la Période 1999-2012," MPRA Paper 80894, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Matthias Helble & Ben Shepherd & John S. Wilson, 2009. "Transparency and Regional Integration in the Asia Pacific," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 479-508, March.
    9. Othmani, Abdelhafidh & Slimani, Slah & Bakari, Sayef, 2015. "Les Effets de la Concurrence sur le Commerce Extérieur de la Tunisie : Une Approche du Modèle de Gravité Statique durant la Période 1999-2012 [The Effects of Competition on Foreign Trade in Tunisia," MPRA Paper 80885, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Chalendard,Cyril Romain & Duhaut,Alice & Fernandes,Ana Margarida & Mattoo,Aaditya & Raballand,Gael J. R. F. & Rijkers,Bob, 2020. "Does Better Information Curb Customs Fraud?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9254, The World Bank.
    11. Calatayud, Agustina & Mangan, John & Palacin, Roberto, 2017. "Connectivity to international markets: A multi-layered network approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 61-71.
    12. Harouna Sedgo & Luc Désiré Omgba, 2023. "Corruption and distortion of public expenditures: evidence from Africa," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(2), pages 419-452, April.
    13. Yann Duval & Chorthip Utoktham, 2009. "Behind the Border Trade Facilitation in Asia-Pacific: Cost of Trade, Credit Information, Contract Enforcement and Regulatory Coherence," Working Papers 6709, Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and IDRC, Canada..
    14. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo & Graziano, Alejandro, 2015. "Customs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 119-137.
    15. William W. Olney, 2022. "Intra-African trade," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 158(1), pages 25-51, February.
    16. de Jong, Eelke & Bogmans, Christian, 2011. "Does corruption discourage international trade?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 385-398, June.
    17. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Carballo, Jerónimo & Graziano, Alejandro, 2015. "Customs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 119-137.
    18. Avetisyan, Misak & Hertel, Thomas, 2021. "Impacts of trade facilitation on modal choice and international trade flows," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    19. Nguyen, Hieu Quang, 2023. "Corruption, political connection, and firm investments," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Athanasouli, Daphne & Goujard, Antoine, 2015. "Corruption and management practices: Firm level evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 1014-1034.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

    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:bla:ecinqu:v:55:y:2017:i:3:p:1192-1212. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/weaaaea.html .

    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.