IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/atlecj/v46y2018i1d10.1007_s11293-017-9566-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Competition Lead Firms to Bribery? A Firm-Level Study in Southeast Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Ruohan Wu

    (Alabama State University)

Abstract

Economists have paid close attention to economic development in Southeast Asia, where corruption and bribery are believed to be ubiquitous. In this article, we study the reasons why firms bribe. Specifically, we study the effects of the competition encountered by Southeast Asian firms on their bribing behavior. This article focuses on two types of bribing behavior: (1) informal payments given to the government so that it will ignore rule violations and (2) informal payments to the government to secure a contract. Using firm-level and country-level data from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam between 2009 and 2014, we find that the market competition will increase bribing behavior, while political competition within the country will reduce the likelihood of bribing.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruohan Wu, 2018. "Does Competition Lead Firms to Bribery? A Firm-Level Study in Southeast Asia," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 46(1), pages 91-100, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:atlecj:v:46:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11293-017-9566-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11293-017-9566-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11293-017-9566-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11293-017-9566-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Andrew B. Bernard & Jonathan Eaton & J. Bradford Jensen & Samuel Kortum, 2003. "Plants and Productivity in International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1268-1290, September.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Jean-Francois Arvis & Ronald E. Berenbeim, 2003. "Fighting Corruption in East Asia : Solutions from the Private Sector," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14749.
    6. Xun Wu, 2009. "Determinants of Bribery in Asian Firms: Evidence from the World Business Environment Survey," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 75-88, June.
    7. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    8. 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.
    9. Witold J. Henisz, 2002. "The institutional environment for infrastructure investment," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(2), pages 355-389.
    10. W. J. Henisz, 2000. "The Institutional Environment for Economic Growth," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 1-31, March.
    11. Hidefumi Kasuga, 2013. "Why Do Firms Pay Bribes? Firm‐Level Evidence From The Cambodian Garment Industry," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(2), pages 276-292, March.
    12. World Bank, 2014. "World Development Indicators 2014," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18237.
    13. World Bank, 2017. "World Development Indicators 2017," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 26447.
    14. Seung-Hyun Lee & Kyeungrae Oh & Lorraine Eden, 2010. "Why Do Firms Bribe?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 775-796, December.
    15. Clarke, George R. G. & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2004. "Privatization, competition, and corruption: how characteristics of bribe takers and payers affect bribes to utilities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2067-2097, August.
    16. Chen, Chung-wen & Cullen, John B. & Parboteeah, K. Praveen, 2015. "Are Manager-controlled Firms More Likely to Bribe than Shareholder-controlled Firms: A Cross-cultural Analysis," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 343-365, June.
    17. Barth, James R. & Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Song, Frank M., 2009. "Corruption in bank lending to firms: Cross-country micro evidence on the beneficial role of competition and information sharing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(3), pages 361-388, March.
    18. Xiaoyu Zhou & Yi Han & Rui Wang, 2013. "An Empirical Investigation on Firms’ Proactive and Passive Motivation for Bribery in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 461-472, December.
    19. Sharma, Chandan & Mitra, Arup, 2015. "Corruption, governance and firm performance: Evidence from Indian enterprises," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 835-851.
    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. Malesky, Edmund J. & Nguyen, Thang V. & Bach, Thang N. & Ho, Bao D., 2020. "The effect of market competition on bribery in emerging economies: An empirical analysis of Vietnamese firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Changwatchai, Piyaphan & Dheera-aumpon, Siwapong, 2023. "Culture and bribe giving: Evidence from firm-level data," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Nam Hoang Vu & Tram-Anh Nguyen & Tram Bao Hoang & Nguyen Viet Cuong, 2024. "Formal Firms with Bribery in a Dynamic Business Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(3), pages 571-589, May.

    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. Noman Shaheer & Jingtao Yi & Sali Li & Liang Chen, 2019. "State-Owned Enterprises as Bribe Payers: The Role of Institutional Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 221-238, September.
    2. Ruohan Wu, 2019. "Firm Development and Bribery: An Empirical Study from Latin America," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 47(1), pages 53-64, March.
    3. Ruohan Wu, 2016. "Why do firms bribe? An empirical study in BRICS economies from 2002 to 2012," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 72-79.
    4. Juliane Markscheffel & Michael Plouffe, 2022. "Multilevel determinants of MNC corruption risk," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(4), pages 512-528, December.
    5. Yi, Jingtao & Teng, Da & Meng, Shuang, 2018. "Foreign ownership and bribery: Agency and institutional perspectives," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 34-45.
    6. Yujin Jeong & Jordan I. Siegel, 2018. "Threat of falling high status and corporate bribery: Evidence from the revealed accounting records of two South Korean presidents," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 1083-1111, April.
    7. 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).
    8. Xie, Jun & Zhang, Yifan, 2020. "Anti-corruption, government intervention, and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(1).
    9. Choi, Seong-jin & Jiménez, Alfredo & Lee, Jeoung Yul, 2020. "The impact of political capabilities and political markets on firms' decision to lobby," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(4).
    10. Aaron Soans & Masato Abe, 2015. "Bribery, Corruption and Bureaucratic Hassle: Evidence from Myanmar," ARTNeT Working Papers 152, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    11. Cao, Chunfang & Li, Xiaoyang & Xia, Changyuan, 2021. "The complicit role of local government authorities in corporate bribery: Evidence from a tax collection reform in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Changwatchai, Piyaphan & Dheera-aumpon, Siwapong, 2023. "Culture and bribe giving: Evidence from firm-level data," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    13. Yu Yan & Shusen Qi, 2021. "I Know What I Need: Optimization of Bribery," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(2), pages 311-332, November.
    14. Jeheung Ryu & Randall W. Stone, 2018. "Plaintiffs by proxy: A firm-level approach to WTO dispute resolution," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 273-308, June.
    15. John Rand & Finn Tarp, 2012. "Firm-Level Corruption in Vietnam," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(3), pages 571-595.
    16. Ha, Le Thanh & Dung, Hoang Phuong & Thanh, To Trung, 2023. "Bribery, global value chain decisions, and institutional constraints: Evidence from a cross-country firm-level data," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 119-142.
    17. Liu, Tingting & Liu, Yu & Ullah, Barkat & Wei, Zuobao & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2021. "The dark side of transparency in developing countries: The link between financial reporting practices and corruption," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    18. Soans, Aaron & Abe, Masato, 2016. "Bribery, corruption and bureaucratic hassle: Evidence from Myanmar," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 41-56.
    19. 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.
    20. Liu,Tingting & Ullah,Barkat & Wei,Zuobao & Xu,L. Colin, 2015. "The dark side of disclosure : evidence of government expropriation from worldwide firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7254, The World Bank.

    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:kap:atlecj:v:46:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11293-017-9566-2. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.