IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unm/unumer/2016056.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corruption, innovation and firm growth: Firm-level evidence from Egypt and Tunisia

Author

Listed:
  • Goedhuys, Micheline

    (UNU‐MERIT)

  • Mohnen, Pierre

    (UNU-MERIT, and Maastricht University)

  • Taha, Tamer

    (UNU-MERIT)

Abstract

Using recently collected firm-level data from Egypt and Tunisia, this paper explores the effect of institutional obstacles and corruption on the innovative behaviour of firms and their effect on firms' employment growth. We estimate the micro-level interactions between corruption and institutional obstacles and test the hypothesis that corruption 'greases the wheels' of firm performance when bureaucratic procedures are more severe and hampering innovation. Accounting for endogeneity and simultaneity, the paper uses a conditional recursive mixed-process model (CMP). The results show that corruption has a direct negative effect on the likelihood that a firm is an innovator, but a positive effect when interacted with institutional obstacles. This provides support for the hypothesis that corruption serves as a mechanism to bypass the bureaucratic obstacles related to obtaining the necessary business permits and licences for product innovation. These effects also resonate into firm growth, through their effect on product innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Goedhuys, Micheline & Mohnen, Pierre & Taha, Tamer, 2016. "Corruption, innovation and firm growth: Firm-level evidence from Egypt and Tunisia," MERIT Working Papers 2016-056, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2016056
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2016/wp2016-056.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2009. "Innovation Systems, Technology and Development: Unpacking the Relationships," Chapters, in: Bengt-Åke Lundvall & K. J. Joseph & Cristina Chaminade & Jan Vang (ed.), Handbook of Innovation Systems and Developing Countries, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Brown, Martin & Jappelli, Tullio & Pagano, Marco, 2009. "Information sharing and credit: Firm-level evidence from transition countries," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 151-172, April.
    3. Anokhin, Sergey & Schulze, William S., 2009. "Entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 465-476, September.
    4. Peter Rodriguez & Donald S Siegel & Amy Hillman & Lorraine Eden, 2006. "Three lenses on the multinational enterprise: politics, corruption, and corporate social responsibility," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(6), pages 733-746, November.
    5. Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Weill, Laurent, 2010. "Is Corruption an Efficient Grease?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 244-259, March.
    6. Dridi, Mohamed, 2013. "Corruption and Economic Growth: The Transmission Channels," MPRA Paper 47873, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Imène Guetat, 2006. "The effects of corruption on growth performance of the mena countries," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 30(2), pages 208-221, June.
    8. Frédérique Savignac, 2006. "The impact of financial constraints on innovation: evidence from french manufacturing firms," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques v06042, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    9. De Rosa, Donato & Gooroochurn, Nishaal & Görg, Holger, 2010. "Corruption and productivity firm-level evidence from the BEEPS survey," Kiel Working Papers 1632, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Mo, Pak Hung, 2001. "Corruption and Economic Growth," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 66-79, March.
    11. Coad, Alex & Rao, Rekha, 2008. "Innovation and firm growth in high-tech sectors: A quantile regression approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 633-648, May.
    12. Ewa Balcerowicz & Marek Pêczkowski & Anna Wziatek-Kubiak, 2010. "Complementarities between barriers to innovation: data evidence from Poland," CASE Network Studies and Analyses 418, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    13. Izak Atiyas, 2011. "Firm-Level Data in the Mena Region: Research Questions, Data Requirements and Possibilities," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(2), pages 159-190, January.
    14. Micheline Goedhuys & Leo Sleuwaegen, 2000. "Entrepreneurship and growth of entrepreneurial firms in cote d'Ivoire," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 123-145.
    15. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    16. Richard Williams, 2012. "Using the margins command to estimate and interpret adjusted predictions and marginal effects," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 12(2), pages 308-331, June.
    17. Micheline Goedhuys & Leo Sleuwaegen, 2010. "High-growth entrepreneurial firms in Africa: a quantile regression approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 31-51, January.
    18. Jessie Zhou & Mike Peng, 2012. "Does bribery help or hurt firm growth around the world?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 907-921, December.
    19. Acemoglu, Daron & Verdier, Thierry, 1998. "Property Rights, Corruption and the Allocation of Talent: A General Equilibrium Approach," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(450), pages 1381-1403, September.
    20. Jean Tirole, 1996. "A Theory of Collective Reputations (with applications to the persistence of corruption and to firm quality)," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 63(1), pages 1-22.
    21. Felipe Starosta Waldemar, 2012. "New Products and Corruption: Evidence from I ndian Firms," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 50(3), pages 268-284, September.
    22. Izak Atiyas, 2011. "Firm Level Data in The ERF Region: Research Questions, Data Requirements and Possibilities," Working Papers 589, Economic Research Forum, revised 06 Jan 2011.
    23. Galia, Fabrice & Legros, Diego, 2004. "Complementarities between obstacles to innovation: evidence from France," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1185-1199, October.
    24. Bengt-Åke Lundvall & K. J. Joseph & Cristina Chaminade & Jan Vang (ed.), 2009. "Handbook of Innovation Systems and Developing Countries," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12943.
    25. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    26. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1993. "Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262570971, December.
    27. 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.
    28. Yingyi Qian & Chenggang Xu, 1998. "Innovation and Bureaucracy Under Soft and Hard Budget Constraints," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(1), pages 151-164.
    29. Murphy, Kevin M & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1993. "Why Is Rent-Seeking So Costly to Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(2), pages 409-414, May.
    30. Bengt-åke Lundvall & Jan Vang & K.J. Joseph, 2009. "Innovation System Research and Developing Countries," Chapters, in: Bengt-Åke Lundvall & K. J. Joseph & Cristina Chaminade & Jan Vang (ed.), Handbook of Innovation Systems and Developing Countries, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    31. World Bank, 2013. "Transforming Arab Economies : Traveling Knowledge and Innovation Road, Overview," World Bank Publications - Reports 16749, The World Bank Group.
    32. David Roodman, 2011. "Fitting fully observed recursive mixed-process models with cmp," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 11(2), pages 159-206, June.
    33. Izak Atiyas, 2011. "Firm-Level Data In The Mena Region: Research Questions, Data Requirements And Possibilities," Middle East Development Journal (MEDJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(02), pages 159-190.
    34. World Bank, 2013. "Transforming Arab Economies : Traveling Knowledge and Innovation Road, Full Report [Transformer les économies arabes : La voie de la connaissance et de l'innovation]," World Bank Publications - Reports 16750, The World Bank Group.
    35. Lambsdorff,Johann Graf, 2007. "The Institutional Economics of Corruption and Reform," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521872751.
    36. Ugur, Mehmet & Dasgupta, Nandini, 2011. "Corruption and economic growth: A meta-analysis of the evidence on low-income countries and beyond," MPRA Paper 31226, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 31 May 2011.
    37. Felipe Starosta de Waldemar, 2012. "New Products and Corruption: Evidence from Indian Firms," Post-Print hal-00966301, HAL.
    38. 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.
    39. Paolo Mauro, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712.
    40. Habiyaremye, Alexis & Raymond, Wladimir, 2013. "Transnational corruption and innovation in transition economies," MERIT Working Papers 2013-050, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    41. Prashanth Mahagaonkar, 2008. "Corruption and Innovation: A Grease or Sand relationship?," Jena Economics Research Papers 2008-017, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    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. Xu, Gang & Yano, Go, 2017. "How does anti-corruption affect corporate innovation? Evidence from recent anti-corruption efforts in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 498-519.
    2. 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.
    3. Tamer Taha, 2016. "Is Corruption "Greasing" or "Sanding" the Wheels of Innovation of Firms in MENA?," Working Papers 982, Economic Research Forum, revised Mar 2016.
    4. Jun Wen & Mingbo Zheng & Gen-Fu Feng & Sunwu Winfred Chen & Chun-Ping Chang, 2018. "Corruption And Innovation: Linear And Nonlinear Investigations Of Oecd Countries," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(01), pages 103-129, July.
    5. Roberto Iorio & Maria Luigia Segnana, 2022. "Is paying bribes worthwhile? Corruption and innovation in middle-income countries," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 475-504, September.
    6. De Rosa Donato & Gooroochurn Nishaal & Görg Holger, 2015. "Corruption and Productivity: Firm-level Evidence," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(2), pages 115-138, April.
    7. Hung Quang Doan & Nam Hoang Vu & Binh Tran-Nam & Ngoc-Anh Nguyen, 2022. "Effects of tax administration corruption on innovation inputs and outputs: evidence from small and medium sized enterprises in Vietnam," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1773-1800, April.
    8. Lurdes Martins & Jorge Cerdeira & Aurora A.C. Teixeira, 2020. "Does corruption boost or harm firms’ performance in developing and emerging economies? A firm‐level study," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 2119-2152, August.
    9. Bin Dong & Benno Torgler, 2010. "The Consequences of Corruption: Evidence from China," Working Papers 2010.73, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    10. Nguyen, Ngoc Anh & Doan, Quang Hung & Nguyen, Ngoc Minh & Tran-Nam, Binh, 2016. "The impact of petty corruption on firm innovation in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 71902, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Ferris, Stephen P. & Hanousek, Jan & Tresl, Jiri, 2021. "Corporate profitability and the global persistence of corruption," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    12. Priya, Pragati & Sharma, Chandan, 2023. "Reinforcing the effects of corruption and financial constraints on firm performance: Normal versus crisis period in developing economies," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    13. Bin Dong & Benno Torgler, 2010. "The Consequences of Corruption: Evidence from China," Working Papers 2010.73, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    14. Arega Shumetie & Mulugeta Damie Watabaji, 2019. "Effect of corruption and political instability on enterprises’ innovativeness in Ethiopia: pooled data based," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Kuzman Tanja & Bellos Sotirios K. & Đulić Katarina, 2018. "Determinants of Innovation-based Sustainability in Transition and Developing Economies," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 56(3), pages 413-438, September.
    16. Habiyaremye, Alexis & Raymond, Wladimir, 2013. "Transnational corruption and innovation in transition economies," MERIT Working Papers 2013-050, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    17. Toke S. Aidt, 2009. "Corruption, institutions, and economic development," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 271-291, Summer.
    18. He, Wenjian & Chen, Xiaoyang & Liu, Zhiyong John, 2022. "Can anti-corruption help realize the “strong” Porter Hypothesis in China? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    19. Rahmouni, Mohieddine, 2023. "Corruption and corporate innovation in Tunisia during an economic downturn," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 314-326.
    20. Cai, Weixing & Hu, Feng & Xu, Fangming & Zheng, Liyi, 2022. "Anti-corruption campaign and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; corruption; employment growth; Egypt; Tunisia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption

    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:unm:unumer:2016056. 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: Ad Notten (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/meritnl.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.