IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cer/papers/wp473.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Bribery on Firm Performance: Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Kochanova

Abstract

I examine the relation between bureaucratic corruption ('to get things done') and firm performance in Central and Eastern European countries. While previous re- search relies on data from the BEEPS survey, which suffers from excessive non- reporting of corporate performance, I combine the information on bribery practices from the BEEPS with reliable firm performance data from the Amadeus database. The estimates, identified from within-firm variation, suggest that bureaucratic cor- ruption negatively affects both the sales and labor productivity growth of firms. However, conditional on a given level of bribery in a narrowly defined local market, a higher dispersion of firms' bribing behavior within such a market appears to facili- tate firm performance. I provide an explanation for this finding and also investigate the effect of bribery with respect to the heterogeneity of firms in terms of their size, inclusion in the manufacturing or service sector, stability, and countries' overall in- stitutional environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Kochanova, 2012. "The Impact of Bribery on Firm Performance: Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp473, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    • Handle: RePEc:cer:papers:wp473
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp473.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jamie Collins & Klaus Uhlenbruck & Peter Rodriguez, 2009. "Why Firms Engage in Corruption: A Top Management Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 89-108, June.
    2. Reyes Aterido & Mary Hallward-Driemeier & Carmen Pagés, 2011. "Big Constraints to Small Firms' Growth? Business Environment and Employment Growth across Firms," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(3), pages 609-647.
    3. Campos, Nauro & Saleh, Ahmad & Dimova, Ralitza, 2010. "Whither Corruption? A Quantitative Survey of the Literature on Corruption and Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 8140, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Infante, Davide & Smirnova, Janna, 2009. "Rent-seeking under a weak institutional environment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 118-121, September.
    5. Jakob Svensson, 2003. "Who Must Pay Bribes and How Much? Evidence from a Cross Section of Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 207-230.
    6. Jan Hanousek & Filip Palda, 2009. "Is there a displacement deadweight loss from tax evasion? Estimates using firm surveys from the Czech Republic," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 139-158, August.
    7. 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.
    8. Mushtaq H. KHAN, 2006. "Governance And Anti-Corruption Reforms In Developing Countries: Policies, Evidence And Ways Forward," G-24 Discussion Papers 42, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    9. Jakob Svensson, 2005. "Eight Questions about Corruption," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 19-42, Summer.
    10. Evans, David S, 1987. "Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 657-674, August.
    11. Klapper, Leora & Laeven, Luc & Rajan, Raghuram, 2006. "Entry regulation as a barrier to entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 591-629, December.
    12. Jan Hanousek & Evžen Kočenda & Jan Svejnar, 2007. "Origin and concentration," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 15(1), pages 1-31, January.
    13. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1991. "The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 503-530.
    14. Griliches, Zvi & Hausman, Jerry A., 1986. "Errors in variables in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 93-118, February.
    15. Bliss, Christopher & Di Tella, Rafael, 1997. "Does Competition Kill Corruption?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 1001-1023, October.
    16. Gaviria, Alejandro, 2002. "Assessing the effects of corruption and crime on firm performance: evidence from Latin America," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 245-268, September.
    17. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    18. repec:bla:econom:v:71:y:2004:i::p:155-168 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Kinda, Tidiane & Plane, Patrick & Veganzones-Varoudakis, Marie-Ange, 2009. "Firms'productive performance and the investment climate in developing economies : an application to MENA manufacturing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4869, The World Bank.
    20. Del Carpio, Ximena & Nguyen, Ha & Wang, Liang Choon, 2012. "Does the minimum wage affect employment ? evidence from the manufacturing sector in Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6147, The World Bank.
    21. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2005. "Financial and Legal Constraints to Growth: Does Firm Size Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 137-177, February.
    22. Albert de Vaal & Wouter Ebben, 2011. "Institutions and the Relation between Corruption and Economic Growth," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 108-123, February.
    23. Drugov, Mikhail, 2010. "Competition in bureaucracy and corruption," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 107-114, July.
    24. Thierry Verdier & Daron Acemoglu, 2000. "The Choice between Market Failures and Corruption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 194-211, March.
    25. Kaufmann, Daniel, 2005. "Myths and Realities of Governance and Corruption," MPRA Paper 8089, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    26. Beck, Paul J. & Maher, Michael W., 1986. "A comparison of bribery and bidding in thin markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-5.
    27. Unknown, 1986. "Letters," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 1(4), pages 1-9.
    28. 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.
    29. 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).
    30. Nathan M Jensen & Quan Li & Aminur Rahman, 2010. "Understanding corruption and firm responses in cross-national firm-level surveys," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(9), pages 1481-1504, December.
    31. Dollar, David & Hallward-Driemeier, Mary & Mengistae, Taye, 2005. "Investment Climate and Firm Performance in Developing Economies," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 1-31, October.
    32. Arvind K. Jain, 2001. "Corruption: A Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 71-121, February.
    33. Jianxin (Daniel) Chi, 2005. "Understanding the Endogeneity Between Firm Value and Shareholder Rights," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(4), Winter.
    34. 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.
    35. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    36. Paolo Mauro, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712.
    37. Vial, Virginie & Hanoteau, Julien, 2010. "Corruption, Manufacturing Plant Growth, and the Asian Paradox: Indonesian Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 693-705, May.
    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. Martin Pospisil & Jiri Schwarz, 2014. "Bankruptcy, Investment, and Financial Constraints: Evidence from a Post-Transition Economy," Working Papers IES 2014/12, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Apr 2014.
    2. Fungáčová, Zuzana & Kochanova, Anna & Weill, Laurent, 2015. "Does Money Buy Credit? Firm-Level Evidence on Bribery and Bank Debt," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 308-322.
    3. repec:zbw:bofitp:2014_004 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Rajesh Raj S.N. & Kunal Sen, 2017. "Does Institutional Quality Matter for Firm Performance? Evidence from India," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 18(2), pages 184-213, September.
    5. Fungáčová, Zuzana & Kochanova, Anna & Weill, Laurent, 2015. "Does Money Buy Credit? Firm-Level Evidence on Bribery and Bank Debt," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 308-322.
    6. World Bank, 2013. "Taking Stock, December 2013," World Bank Publications - Reports 16731, The World Bank Group.
    7. Vida Patrik, 2016. "The Potential of Biotechnology Investments in Selected Eastern European Countries: Lost Chances," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 7(1), pages 16-34, March.

    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. Hanousek, Jan & Kochanova, Anna, 2015. "Bribery Environment and Firm Performance: Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries," CEPR Discussion Papers 10499, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Hanousek, Jan & Kochanova, Anna, 2016. "Bribery environments and firm performance: Evidence from CEE countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 14-28.
    3. Ferris, Stephen P. & Hanousek, Jan & Tresl, Jiri, 2021. "Corporate profitability and the global persistence of corruption," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    4. Caroline Freund & Mary Hallward-Driemeier & Bob Rijkers, 2016. "Deals and Delays: Firm-level Evidence on Corruption and Policy Implementation Times," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 354-382.
    5. Yan Leung Cheung & P. Raghavendra Rau & Aris Stouraitis, 2012. "How much do firms pay as bribes and what benefits do they get? Evidence from corruption cases worldwide," NBER Working Papers 17981, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Lee, Mina & Mutlu, Canan & Lee, Seung-Hyun, 2023. "Bribery and Firm Growth: Sensemaking in CEE and Post-Soviet Countries," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    7. Jain, Ritika, 2020. "Bribery and firm performance in India: A political economy perspective," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    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. Maurizio Lisciandra & Emanuele Millemaci, 2017. "The economic effect of corruption in Italy: a regional panel analysis," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(9), pages 1387-1398, September.
    10. Yan-Leung Cheung & P. Raghavendra Rau & Aris Stouraitis, 2021. "What Determines the Return to Bribery? Evidence from Corruption Cases Worldwide," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(10), pages 6235-6265, October.
    11. Claire Giordano, Paloma Lopez-Garcia, 2018. "Is corruption efficiency-enhancing? A case study of the Central and Eastern European region," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 15(1), pages 119-164, June.
    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. Gaygysyz Ashyrov & Jaan Masso, 2020. "Does corruption affect local and foreign-owned companies differently? Evidence from the BEEPS survey," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 306-329, April.
    14. Hanousek, Jan & Shamshur, Anastasiya & Tresl, Jiri, 2015. "Is bread gained by deceit sweet to a man? Corruption and firm efficiency," CEPR Discussion Papers 10951, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Cuervo-Cazurra, Alvaro, 2016. "Corruption in international business," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 35-49.
    16. Oznur Ozdamar & Eleftherios Giovanis & Sahizer Samuk, 2020. "State business relations and the dynamics of job flows in Egypt and Turkey," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(4), pages 519-558, December.
    17. 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).
    18. Adomako, Samuel & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Tarba, Shlomo Y. & Khan, Zaheer, 2021. "Perceived corruption, business process digitization, and SMEs’ degree of internationalization in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 196-207.
    19. Elisa Gamberoni & Christine Gartner & Claire Giordano & Paloma Lopez-Garcia, 2016. "Is corruption efficiency-enhancing? A case study of nine Central and Eastern European countries," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 331, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    20. Gauthier, Bernard & Goyette, Jonathan & Kouamé, Wilfried A.K., 2021. "Why do firms pay bribes? Evidence on the demand and supply sides of corruption in developing countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 463-479.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    bureaucratic corruption; firms' bribing behavior; firm performance; CEE countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • P37 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Legal

    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:cer:papers:wp473. 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: Lucie Vasiljevova (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eiacacz.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.