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E-procurement and firm corruption to secure public contracts: The moderating role of governance institutions and supranational support

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  • Jiménez, Alfredo
  • Hanoteau, Julien
  • Barkemeyer, Ralf

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of e-procurement on firm corruption to secure public contracts, highlighting the moderating roles of the quality of governance institutions and supranational support in that relationship. Taking transaction cost economics as our theoretical lens, and building on a sample of 8,373 firms in 72 countries from 2008 to 2019, we find that the adoption of an e-procurement system in fact reduces firm corruption. However, this effect is only unveiled once one accounts in the analysis for the quality of country-level governance institutions, which also makes the relationship stronger. We also find an e-procurement system only to effectively address firm corruption when it benefits from supranational support. The study contributes to the ongoing academic debate on the impact of digitalization on corruption.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiménez, Alfredo & Hanoteau, Julien & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2022. "E-procurement and firm corruption to secure public contracts: The moderating role of governance institutions and supranational support," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 640-650.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:149:y:2022:i:c:p:640-650
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.05.070
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Désiré Avom & Gilles Dufrénot & Sylvie Eyeffa, 2023. "Does ICT access and usage reduce growth inefficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa?," AMSE Working Papers 2306, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    2. Désiré Avom & Gilles Dufrénot & Sylvie Eyeffa, 2023. "Does ICT access and usage reduce growth inefficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa?," Working Papers hal-04017691, HAL.
    3. Areej Althabatah & Mohammed Yaqot & Brenno Menezes & Laoucine Kerbache, 2023. "Transformative Procurement Trends: Integrating Industry 4.0 Technologies for Enhanced Procurement Processes," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-40, September.
    4. Wei Jiang & Daokang Luo & Liwen W.L. Wang & Kevin Zheng Zhou, 2024. "Foreign ownership and bribery in Chinese listed firms: An institutional perspective," Post-Print hal-04432029, HAL.

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