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Merchants of Corruption: How Entrepreneurs Manufacture and Supply Bribes

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  • Ufere, Nnaoke
  • Perelli, Sheri
  • Boland, Richard
  • Carlsson, Bo

Abstract

We wondered how corruption, endemic in Nigeria, is experienced by a specific and understudied set of actors—entrepreneurs. Semi-structured interviews with founders/CEOs of firms in three industries associated with high levels of corruption revealed entrepreneurs—rather than victims of bribe demanding government agents—are themselves active perpetrators of bribery, adopting a set of “bribery best practices” governed by a well-embedded set of social norms, rules, routines, and power relations to deliberately subvert formal state budgetary systems. While reforming institutions is a key focus of anti-corruption policies in many Sub-Saharan African countries, our results suggest a bottom-up approach to remediation based on understanding the practice from the perspective of those who actively engage in it.

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  • Ufere, Nnaoke & Perelli, Sheri & Boland, Richard & Carlsson, Bo, 2012. "Merchants of Corruption: How Entrepreneurs Manufacture and Supply Bribes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(12), pages 2440-2453.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:40:y:2012:i:12:p:2440-2453
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.025
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    4. Christopher Chan & Subramaniam Ananthram, 2020. "A neo-institutional perspective on ethical decision-making," Post-Print hal-03107344, HAL.
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    11. Sanchez-Ruiz, Paul & Wood, Matthew S. & Michaelis, Timothy L. & Suarez, Jaime, 2023. "Entrepreneurs as prime targets: Insights from Mexican ventures on the link between venture visibility and crime of varying severity," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(6).
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    14. Godinez, Jose R. & Liu, Ling, 2015. "Corruption distance and FDI flows into Latin America," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 33-42.
    15. Ha, Le Thanh & Nam, Pham Xuan & Thanh, To Trung, 2021. "Effects of Bribery on Firms' Environmental Innovation Adoption in Vietnam: Mediating Roles of Firms' Bargaining Power and Credit and Institutional Constraints," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    16. Ioana PETRESCU, 2016. "Size Matters: Entrepreneurship and Institutions," Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy, College of Management, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, vol. 4(1), pages 63-80, March.
    17. Marcus Dejardin & Hélène Laurent, 2024. "Entry-regulation and corruption: grease or sand in the wheels of entrepreneurship? Fresh evidence according to entrepreneurial motives," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1223-1272, March.
    18. Ufere, Nnaoke & Gaskin, James & Perelli, Sheri & Somers, Antoinette & Boland, Richard, 2020. "Why is bribery pervasive among firms in sub-Saharan African countries? Multi-industry empirical evidence of organizational isomorphism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 92-104.
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    20. Hoch, Felix & Lohwasser, Todor S., 2019. "The influence of institutions on venture capital: How transaction costs, uncertainty, and change affect new ventures," Discussion Papers of the Institute for Organisational Economics 9/2019, University of Münster, Institute for Organisational Economics.
    21. Imtiaz Arif & Lubna Khan & Sundus Waqar, 2023. "Does Corruption Sand or Grease the Wheels? A Case of BRICS Countries," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 24(6), pages 1468-1481, December.

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