IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v34y2010i5p803-832.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corruption and Entrepreneurship: How Formal and Informal Institutions Shape Small Firm Behavior in Transition and Mature Market Economies

Author

Listed:
  • Vartuhí Tonoyan
  • Robert Strohmeyer
  • Mohsin Habib
  • Manfred Perlitz

Abstract

This article explores the determinants of corruption in transition economies of the post–Soviet Union, Central–Eastern Europe, and Western industrialized states. We look in–depth at the East–West gap in corruption, and why entrepreneurs and small business owners become engaged in corrupt deals. Part of the answers lie in the country–specific formal and informal institutional make–up. The likelihood of engaging in corruption is influenced by the lower efficiency of financial and legal institutions and the lack of their enforcements. Also, viewing illegal business activities as a widespread business practice provides the rationale for entrepreneurs to justify their own corrupt activities. Moreover, closed social networks with family, friends, and national bureaucrats reduce the opportunism of the contracting party of the corrupt deal, thus providing breeding grounds for corruption.

Suggested Citation

  • Vartuhí Tonoyan & Robert Strohmeyer & Mohsin Habib & Manfred Perlitz, 2010. "Corruption and Entrepreneurship: How Formal and Informal Institutions Shape Small Firm Behavior in Transition and Mature Market Economies," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(5), pages 803-832, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:34:y:2010:i:5:p:803-832
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00394.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00394.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00394.x?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. Andrei Shleifer, 1998. "State versus Private Ownership," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 133-150, Fall.
    2. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    3. Rafael Di Tella & Alberto Ades, 1999. "Rents, Competition, and Corruption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 982-993, September.
    4. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Regulation of Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 1-37.
    5. Shang-Jin Wei, 1997. "Why is Corruption So Much More Taxing Than Tax? Arbitrariness Kills," NBER Working Papers 6255, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Hunt, Jennifer, 2004. "Trust and Bribery: The Role of the Quid Pro Quo and the Link With Crime," CEPR Discussion Papers 4567, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Aidis, Ruta & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2008. "Institutions and entrepreneurship development in Russia: A comparative perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 656-672, November.
    8. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Simeon Djankov & Peter Murrell, 2002. "Enterprise Restructuring in Transition: A Quantitative Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(3), pages 739-792, September.
    10. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    11. Susan Rose‐Ackerman, 2001. "Trust and Honesty in Post‐Socialist Societies," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2‐3), pages 415-443, May.
    12. Andvig, Jens Chr. & Moene, Karl Ove, 1990. "How corruption may corrupt," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 63-76, January.
    13. Ahlstrom, David & Bruton, Garry D. & Lui, Steven S. Y., 2000. "Navigating China's changing economy: Strategies for private firms," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 5-15.
    14. Bardhan, Pranab, 2006. "The economist's approach to the problem of corruption," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 341-348, February.
    15. Bryan W Husted, 1999. "Wealth, Culture, and Corruption," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 339-359, June.
    16. David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton, 2002. "An Institutional Perspective on the Role of Culture in Shaping Strategic Actions by Technology-Focused Entrepreneurial Firms in China," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 26(4), pages 53-68, July.
    17. Klaus Uhlenbruck & Peter Rodriguez & Jonathan Doh & Lorraine Eden, 2006. "The Impact of Corruption on Entry Strategy: Evidence from Telecommunication Projects in Emerging Economies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 402-414, June.
    18. Arvind K. Jain, 2001. "Corruption: A Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 71-121, February.
    19. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    20. Axelrod, Robert, 1986. "An Evolutionary Approach to Norms," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(4), pages 1095-1111, December.
    21. International Finance Corporation & World Bank, 2008. "Doing Business 2009 : Comparing Regulation in 181 Economies," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6313, December.
    22. Aidis, Ruta & Adachi, Yuko, 2007. "Russia: Firm entry and survival barriers," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 391-411, December.
    23. Patrick Royston, 2004. "Multiple imputation of missing values," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 227-241, September.
    24. David Ahlstrom & Garry D. Bruton, 2006. "Venture Capital in Emerging Economies: Networks and Institutional Change," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(2), pages 299-320, March.
    25. Gerring, John & Thacker, Strom C., 2005. "Do Neoliberal Policies Deter Political Corruption?," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 233-254, January.
    26. Garry D. Bruton & Vance H. Fried & Sophie Manigart, 2005. "Institutional Influences on the Worldwide Expansion of Venture Capital," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(6), pages 737-760, November.
    27. Arthur T. Denzau & Douglass C. North, 1994. "Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 3-31, February.
    28. Henrekson, Magnus, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and Institutions," Working Paper Series 707, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    29. Vito Tanzi, 1998. "Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope, and Cures," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 45(4), pages 559-594, December.
    30. Rabe-Hesketh, Sophia & Skrondal, Anders & Pickles, Andrew, 2005. "Maximum likelihood estimation of limited and discrete dependent variable models with nested random effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 128(2), pages 301-323, October.
    31. Ades, Alberto & Di Tella, Rafael, 1997. "National Champions and Corruption: Some Unpleasant Interventionist Arithmetic," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(443), pages 1023-1042, July.
    32. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-337, May.
    33. Lambsdorff, Johann Graf, 2002. "Making corrupt deals: contracting in the shadow of the law," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 221-241, July.
    34. Harry Broadman & Francesca Recanatini, 2002. "Corruption and Policy: Back to the Roots," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 37-49.
    35. Ruta Aidis & Julia Korosteleva & Tomasz Marek Mickiewicz, 2008. "Entrepreneurship in Russia," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 88, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    36. Smallbone, David & Welter, Friederike, 2001. "The Distinctiveness of Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 249-262, June.
    37. Mohsin Habib & Leon Zurawicki, 2002. "Corruption and Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(2), pages 291-307, June.
    38. North, Douglass C., 1971. "Institutional Change and Economic Growth," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(1), pages 118-125, March.
    39. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1994. "Politicians and Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 995-1025.
    40. Douglass C. North, 2005. "Introduction to Understanding the Process of Economic Change," Introductory Chapters, in: Understanding the Process of Economic Change, Princeton University Press.
    41. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2002. "The Central Role of Entrepreneurs in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 153-170, Summer.
    42. Mr. Vito Tanzi, 1998. "Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope, and Cures," IMF Working Papers 1998/063, International Monetary Fund.
    43. King, Gary & Honaker, James & Joseph, Anne & Scheve, Kenneth, 2001. "Analyzing Incomplete Political Science Data: An Alternative Algorithm for Multiple Imputation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(1), pages 49-69, March.
    44. Berkowitz, Daniel & Holland, Jonathan, 2001. "Does privatization enhance or deter small enterprise formation?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 53-60, December.
    45. Husted, Bryan W., 1994. "Honor Among Thieves: A Transaction-Cost Interpretation of Corruption in Third World Countries," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 17-27, January.
    46. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    47. Gatti, Roberta, 1999. "Corruption and trade tariffs, or a case for uniform tariffs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2216, The World Bank.
    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. Malay Biswas, 2017. "Are They Efficient in the Middle? Using Propensity Score Estimation for Modeling Middlemen in Indian Corporate Corruption," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 563-586, March.
    2. Eugen Dimant & Guglielmo Tosato, 2018. "Causes And Effects Of Corruption: What Has Past Decade'S Empirical Research Taught Us? A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 335-356, April.
    3. Williams Nick & Radevic Dragana & Gherhes Cristian & Vorley Tim, 2017. "The nature of corruption affecting entrepreneurship in transition economies: Some lessons from Montenegro," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 12(2), pages 20-34, December.
    4. Ram Mudambi & Pietro Navarra & Andrew Delios, 2013. "Government regulation, corruption, and FDI," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 487-511, June.
    5. Graf Lambsdorff, Johann, 2005. "Consequences and causes of corruption: What do we know from a cross-section of countries?," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-34-05, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    6. Fadil Sahiti, 2021. "Institutions and entrepreneurial activity: a comparative analysis of Kosovo and other economies," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(1), pages 98-119, February.
    7. Zhou, Wubiao, 2013. "Political connections and entrepreneurial investment: Evidence from China's transition economy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 299-315.
    8. Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro, 2016. "Corruption in international business," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 35-49.
    9. Henri Atangana ondoa, 2014. "The determinants of corporate corruption in Cameroon," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(2), pages 938-950.
    10. Aidis, Ruta & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2008. "Institutions and entrepreneurship development in Russia: A comparative perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 656-672, November.
    11. Dreher, Axel & Kotsogiannis, Christos & McCorriston, Steve, 2007. "Corruption around the world: Evidence from a structural model," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 443-466, September.
    12. Seung-Hyun Lee & Kyeungrae Oh, 2007. "Corruption in Asia: Pervasiveness and arbitrariness," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 97-114, March.
    13. Dominic S.K. Lim & Eric A. Morse & Ronald K. Mitchell & Kristie K. Seawright, 2010. "Institutional Environment and Entrepreneurial Cognitions: A Comparative Business Systems Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(3), pages 491-516, May.
    14. Djankov, Simeon & Glaeser, Edward & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2003. "The new comparative economics," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 595-619, December.
    15. Estrin, Saul & Korosteleva, Julia & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2013. "Which institutions encourage entrepreneurial growth aspirations?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 564-580.
    16. Xiao-Bo Zhou & Wei Wei & Chyi-Lu Jang & Chun-Ping Chang, 2019. "The Impacts Of Government R&D Expenditure On Innovation In Chinese Provinces: What’S The Role Of Corruption," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 21(3), pages 1-22, January.
    17. Utz Weitzel & Sjors Berns, 2006. "Cross-border takeovers, corruption, and related aspects of governance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 786-806, November.

    More about this item

    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:sae:entthe:v:34:y:2010:i:5:p:803-832. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.