IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/edn/esedps/102.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Opportunism, Corruption and the Multinational Firm's Mode of Entry

Author

Abstract

The paper models the boundaries of the multinational firm by looking at a simple trade-off between FDI (internal expansion with strong control rights) and debt (arm's length expansion with loose control rights) in the context of contractual incompleteness due to institutional constraints in host countries, i.e. problems of commitment and, especially, corruption. It develops a theoretical approach to the two main types of corruption: petty bureaucratic corruption and high-level political corruption. The model predicts that multinational firms prefer FDI the weaker the ability to commit of the host country, while both types of corruption shift the trade-off marginally toward debt. Cross-country panel empirical evidence supports these conclusions.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephane Straub, 2005. "Opportunism, Corruption and the Multinational Firm's Mode of Entry," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 102, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    • Handle: RePEc:edn:esedps:102
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.ed.ac.uk/papers/id102_esedps.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eaton, Jonathan & Fernandez, Raquel, 1995. "Sovereign debt," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 3, pages 2031-2077, Elsevier.
    2. Theodore H. Moran, 1998. "Foreign Direct Investment and Development: The New Policy Agenda for Developing Countries and Economies in Transition," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 53, October.
    3. Jean-Jacques Laffont & Jean Tirole, 1991. "The Politics of Government Decision-Making: A Theory of Regulatory Capture," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1089-1127.
    4. Mookherjee, Dilip & Png, I P L, 1995. "Corruptible Law Enforcers: How Should They Be Compensated?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(428), pages 145-159, January.
    5. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1990. "Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1119-1158, December.
    6. Jean-Jacques Laffont & Jean Tirole, 1993. "A Theory of Incentives in Procurement and Regulation," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262121743, December.
    7. James R. Markusen, 2004. "Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633078, December.
    8. Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "Negative Alchemy?: Corruption and Composition of Capital Flows," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 165, OECD Publishing.
    9. Frankel, Jeffrey A. & Rose, Andrew K., 1996. "Currency crashes in emerging markets: An empirical treatment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-4), pages 351-366, November.
    10. Jonathan Thomas & Tim Worrall, 1994. "Foreign Direct Investment and the Risk of Expropriation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(1), pages 81-108.
    11. Howard, J. V., 1992. "A social choice rule and its implementation in perfect equilibrium," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 142-159, February.
    12. Abhijit V. Banerjee, 1997. "A Theory of Misgovernance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1289-1332.
    13. Aart Kraay & Norman Loayza & Luis Servén & Jaume Ventura, 2005. "Country Portfolios," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(4), pages 914-945, June.
    14. Smarzynska, Beata K. & Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "Corruption and the composition of foreign direct investment - firm-level evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2360, The World Bank.
    15. Magnus Blomström & Ari Kokko & Mario Zejan, 2000. "Multinational Corporations and Spillovers," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 8, pages 101-133, Palgrave Macmillan.
    16. Chris Doyle & Sweder Wijnbergen, 1994. "Taxation of foreign multinationals: A sequential bargaining approach to tax holidays," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 1(3), pages 211-225, October.
    17. Goldstein, Itay & Razin, Assaf, 2006. "An information-based trade off between foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 271-295, September.
    18. Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "How Taxing is Corruption on International Investors?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(1), pages 1-11, February.
    19. Ricardo Hausmann & Eduardo Fernández-Arias, 2000. "Foreign Direct Investment: Good Cholesterol?," Research Department Publications 4203, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    20. Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "Corruption, composition of capital flows, and currency crises," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2429, The World Bank.
    21. Sarno, Lucio & Taylor, Mark P., 1999. "Hot money, accounting labels and the permanence of capital flows to developing countries: an empirical investigation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 337-364, August.
    22. Schnitzer, Monika, 1997. "Debt vs. Foreign Direct Investment: The Impact of Sovereign Risk on the Structure of International Capital Flows," CEPR Discussion Papers 1608, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    23. Martin J. Osborne & Ariel Rubinstein, 1994. "A Course in Game Theory," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262650401, December.
    24. Fosfuri, Andrea, 2000. "Patent protection, imitation and the mode of technology transfer," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(7), pages 1129-1149, October.
    25. James R. Markusen, 1995. "The Boundaries of Multinational Enterprises and the Theory of International Trade," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 169-189, Spring.
    26. Krugman, Paul, 1995. "Increasing returns, imperfect competition and the positive theory of international trade," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 24, pages 1243-1277, Elsevier.
    27. Morisset, Jacques & Lumenga Neso, Olivier, 2002. "Administrative barriers to foreign investment in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2848, The World Bank.
    28. Bond, Eric W. & Samuelson, Larry, 1989. "Bargaining with commitment, choice of techniques, and direct foreign investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1-2), pages 77-97, February.
    29. Eckhard Janeba, 2002. "Attracting Fdi in a Politically Risky World," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1127-1155, November.
    30. Kaufmann, Daniel, 2004. "Corruption, Governance and Security: Challenges for the Rich Countries and the World," MPRA Paper 8207, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    31. Hart, Oliver, 1995. "Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288817, Decembrie.
    32. Albuquerque, Rui, 2003. "The composition of international capital flows: risk sharing through foreign direct investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 353-383, December.
    33. Ricardo Hausmann & Eduardo Fernández-Arias, 2000. "Foreign Direct Investment: Good Cholesterol?," Research Department Publications 4203, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    34. Itay Goldstein & Assaf Razin, 2003. "An Information-Based Trade Off Between Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Portfolio Investment: Volatility, Transparency, and Welfare," NBER Working Papers 9426, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Eaton, Jonathan & Gersovitz, Mark, 1984. "A Theory of Expropriation and Deviations from Perfect Capital Mobility," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(373), pages 16-40, March.
    36. Itay Goldstein & Assaf Razin, 2005. "Foreign Direct Investment vs. Foreiegn Portfolio Investment," NBER Working Papers 11047, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    37. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Zoido-Lobaton, Pablo, 1999. "Aggregating governance indicators," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2195, The World Bank.
    38. James R. Hines, Jr., 1995. "Forbidden Payment: Foreign Bribery and American Business After 1977," NBER Working Papers 5266, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    39. G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), 1995. "Handbook of International Economics," Handbook of International Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
    40. Jean Tirole, 2003. "Inefficient Foreign Borrowing: A Dual- and Common-Agency Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1678-1702, December.
    41. Razin, Assaf & Goldstein, Itay, 2003. "An Information-Based Trade-off Between Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Portfolio Investment: Volatility, Transparency and," CEPR Discussion Papers 3747, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    42. Henisz, Witold J, 2000. "The Institutional Environment for Multinational Investment," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 334-364, October.
    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. Ramin Dadasov & Oliver Lorz, 2013. "Mode of International Investment and Endogenous Risk of Expropriation," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 974-983, November.
    2. Vijay S. Sampath & Noushi Rahman, 2019. "Bribery in MNEs: The Dynamics of Corruption Culture Distance and Organizational Distance to Core Values," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 817-835, October.
    3. Frank L. BARTELS & Markus EICHER & Christopher BACHTROG & Gorazd REZONJA, 2009. "Foreign Direct Investment In Sub‐Saharan Africa: Changing Location‐Specific Advantages As Signals Of Competitiveness," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 47(3), pages 244-278, September.
    4. Kayalvizhi, P.N. & Thenmozhi, M., 2018. "Does quality of innovation, culture and governance drive FDI?: Evidence from emerging markets," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 175-191.
    5. Emmanuelle Auriol & Stéphane Straub, 2011. "Privatization of Rent-Generating Industries and Corruption," Chapters, in: Susan Rose-Ackerman & Tina Søreide (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Corruption, Volume Two, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. 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.
    7. Sanjo, Yasuo, 2012. "Country risk, country size, and tax competition for foreign direct investment," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 292-301.
    8. Guasch, J. Luis & Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Straub, Stephane, 2005. "Infrastructure concessions in Latin America : government-led renegotiations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3749, The World Bank.
    9. Krifa-Schneider, Hadjila & Matei, Iuliana & Sattar, Abdul, 2022. "FDI, corruption and financial development around the world: A panel non-linear approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    10. Yerrabati, Sridevi & Hawkes, Denise Donna, 2016. "Institutions and Investment in the South and East Asia and Pacific Region: Evidence from Meta-Analysis," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 10, pages 1-48.

    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. Daude, Christian & Fratzscher, Marcel, 2008. "The pecking order of cross-border investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 94-119, January.
    2. M. Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Kenneth Rogoff & Shang-Jin Wei, 2009. "Financial Globalization: A Reappraisal," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 56(2), pages 143-197.
    3. Mr. Philip R. Lane & Mr. Gian M Milesi-Ferretti, 2000. "External Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence," IMF Working Papers 2000/152, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Faria, Andr & Mauro, Paolo, 2009. "Institutions and the external capital structure of countries," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 367-391, April.
    5. Martin Bohl & Frank McDonald & Heinz-Josef Tuselmann & Svitlana Voronkova & Paul Windrum, 2011. "The German model of capitalism and the persistence of outward foreign direct investment: evidence from German manufacturing industries," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(2), pages 119-125.
    6. Fratzscher, Marcel & Imbs, Jean, 2009. "Risk sharing, finance, and institutions in international portfolios," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 428-447, December.
    7. Shang-Jin Wei & Yi Wu, 2002. "Negative Alchemy? Corruption, Composition of Capital Flows, and Currency Crises," NBER Chapters, in: Preventing Currency Crises in Emerging Markets, pages 461-506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Fung , K.C. & Korhonen, Iikka & Li, Ke & Ng, Francis, 2008. "China and central and eastern European countries : regional networks, global supply chain, or international competitors?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4689, The World Bank.
    9. Akisik, Orhan, 2020. "The impact of financial development, IFRS, and rule of LAW on foreign investments: A cross-country analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 815-838.
    10. Albuquerque, Rui, 2003. "The composition of international capital flows: risk sharing through foreign direct investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 353-383, December.
    11. Dieter M. Urban, 2006. "Multilateral Investment Agreement in a Political Equilibrium," CESifo Working Paper Series 1830, CESifo.
    12. Razin, Assaf & Goldstein, Itay, 2003. "An Information-Based Trade-off Between Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Portfolio Investment: Volatility, Transparency and," CEPR Discussion Papers 3747, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Mathias Hoffmann, 2003. "Cross-country evidence on the link between the level of infrastructure and capital inflows," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 515-526.
    14. Beata K. Smarzynska & Shang-Jin Wei, 2000. "Corruption and Composition of Foreign Direct Investment: Firm-Level Evidence," NBER Working Papers 7969, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Nadia Doytch, 2022. "FDI: Hot or Cold Money? The Behaviour of Sectoral FDI Inflows and Outflows Over Periods of Growth Accelerations and Decelerations," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 57(3), pages 324-350, August.
    16. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Khalid Sekkat, 2007. "Revisiting the relationship between governance and foreign direct investment," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(1), pages 41-61.
    17. Hossain, Monzur, 2015. "Capital Flows to Least Developed Countries: What Matters?," Bangladesh Development Studies, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), vol. 38(2), pages 95-113, June.
    18. Aida Caldera Sánchez & Filippo Gori, 2016. "Can Reforms Promoting Growth Increase Financial Fragility?: An Empirical Assessment," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1340, OECD Publishing.
    19. Muller, Thomas & Schnitzer, Monika, 2006. "Technology transfer and spillovers in international joint ventures," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 456-468, March.
    20. Mr. Norbert Funke & Mr. Faisal Ahmed & Mr. Rabah Arezki, 2005. "The Composition of Capital Flows: Is South Africa Different?," IMF Working Papers 2005/040, International Monetary Fund.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    FDI; debt; multinational firms; capital flows; expropriation; corruption;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:edn:esedps:102. 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: Research Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deediuk.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.