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Corruption and Firm Growth: Evidence from around the World

Author

Listed:
  • Raymond Fisman
  • Sergei Guriev
  • Carolin Ioramashvili
  • Alexander Plekhanov

Abstract

We empirically investigate the relationship between corruption and growth using a firm-level dataset that is unique in scale, covering almost 88,000 firms across 141 economies in 2006–20, with wide-ranging corruption experiences. The scale and detail of our data allow us to explore the corruption-growth relationship at a very local level, within industries in a relatively narrow geography. We report three empirical regularities. First, firms that make zero informal payments tend to grow slower than bribers. Second, this result is driven by non-bribers in high-corruption countries. Third, among bribers, growth is decreasing in the amount of informal payments—in both high- and low-corruption countries. We suggest that this set of results may be reconciled with a simple model in which endogenously determined higher bribe rates lead to lower growth, while non-bribers are often excluded entirely from growth opportunities in high-corruption settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Raymond Fisman & Sergei Guriev & Carolin Ioramashvili & Alexander Plekhanov, 2024. "Corruption and Firm Growth: Evidence from around the World," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(660), pages 1494-1516.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:134:y:2024:i:660:p:1494-1516.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/uead100
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    Cited by:

    1. Di Giorno, Saverio & Dileo, Ivano & Busato, Francesco, 2024. "Shades of grand corruption among allocative efficiency and institutional settings. The case of Italy," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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