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Revealing Corruption: Firm and Worker Level Evidence from Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Emanuele Colonnelli
  • Spyridon Lagaras
  • Jacopo Ponticelli
  • Mounu Prem
  • Margarita Tsoutsoura

Abstract

We study how the disclosure of corrupt practices affects the growth of firms involved in illegal interactions with the government using randomized audits of public procurement in Brazil. On average, firms exposed by the anti-corruption program grow larger after the audits, despite experiencing a decrease in procurement contracts. We manually collect new data on the details of thousands of corruption cases, through which we uncover a large heterogeneity in our firm-level effects depending on the degree of involvement in corruption cases. Using investment-, loan-, and worker- level data, we show that the average exposed firms adapt to the loss of government contracts by changing their investment strategy. They increase capital investment and borrow more to finance such investment, while there is no change in their internal organization. We provide qualitative support to our results by conducting new face-to-face surveys with business owners of government-dependent firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuele Colonnelli & Spyridon Lagaras & Jacopo Ponticelli & Mounu Prem & Margarita Tsoutsoura, 2022. "Revealing Corruption: Firm and Worker Level Evidence from Brazil," NBER Working Papers 29627, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29627
    Note: CF DEV POL
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    Cited by:

    1. Quan, Xiaofeng & Zhang, Ke & Zhong, Rui & Zhu, Yuxiang, 2023. "Political corruption and green innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Julia Fonseca & Adrien Matray, 2022. "Financial Inclusion, Economic Development, and Inequality: Evidence from Brazil," Working Papers 308, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    3. Gallego, Jorge & Prem, Mounu & Vargas, Juan F., 2022. "Predicting Politicians' Misconduct: Evidence from Colombia," SocArXiv 5dp8t, Center for Open Science.
    4. Nicolae Stef, 2021. "Institutions and corporate financial distress in Central and Eastern Europe," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 57-87, August.
    5. Arellano-Bover, Jaime & De Simoni, Marco & Guiso, Luigi & Macchiavello, Rocco & Marchetti, Domenico J. & Prem, Mounu, 2024. "Mafias and Firms," SocArXiv sr6ep, Center for Open Science.
    6. Allen N. Berger & Cristina Ortega & Matias Ossandon Busch & Raluca Roman, 2024. "Banking on Deforestation: The Cost of Nonenforcement," Working Papers 24-21, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    7. Nguyen, Hieu Quang, 2023. "Corruption, political connection, and firm investments," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Eleni Zafeiriou & Alexandros Garefalakis & Ioannis Passas & Konstantina Ragazou, 2023. "Illicit and Corruption Mitigation Strategy in the Financial Sector: A Study with a Hybrid Methodological Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    9. Miriam Venturini, 2023. "The Imperfect Union: Labor Racketeering, Corruption Exposure, and Its Consequences," Working Papers 202407, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics.
    10. repec:osf:socarx:5dp8t_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:osf:socarx:sr6ep_v1 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • H57 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Procurement
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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