IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/10499.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Bribery Environment and Firm Performance: Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Hanousek, Jan
  • Kochanova, Anna

Abstract

We examine the relation between bureaucratic corruption and firm performance in CEE countries. While previous research uses data from BEEPS, which suffers from excessive non-reporting of corporate performance, we combine reliable firm financials from the Amadeus database with information on bribery practices from BEEPS. We show that differing consequences of corruption found in previous studies could be explained by the corruption environment in which a firm operates. Basically, higher mean bribery is associated with lower performance, while higher dispersion of individual firm bribes appears to facilitate firm performance. A detailed analysis is conducted by firm sector and size, and countries? institutional environments.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10499
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP10499
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    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. 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.
    3. 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).
    4. 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.
    5. Bernard Gauthier & Jonathan Goyette, 2014. "Taxation and corruption: theory and firm-level evidence from Uganda," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(23), pages 2755-2765, August.
    6. Conor M. O'Toole & Finn Tarp, 2014. "Corruption And The Efficiency Of Capital Investment In Developing Countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 567-597, July.
    7. John McArthur & Francis Teal, 2002. "Corruption and firm performance in Africa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2002-10, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    8. 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.
    9. Infante, Davide & Smirnova, Janna, 2009. "Rent-seeking under a weak institutional environment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 118-121, September.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Weill, Laurent, 2010. "Is Corruption an Efficient Grease?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 244-259, March.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Arvind K. Jain, 2001. "Corruption: A Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(1), pages 71-121, February.
    17. Jakob Svensson, 2005. "Eight Questions about Corruption," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 19-42, Summer.
    18. 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.
    19. Dal Bo, Ernesto & Rossi, Martin A., 2007. "Corruption and inefficiency: Theory and evidence from electric utilities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 939-962, June.
    20. Simon Commander & Jan Svejnar, 2011. "Business Environment, Exports, Ownership, and Firm Performance," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 309-337, February.
    21. 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.
    22. 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.
    23. 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.
    24. Jianxin (Daniel) Chi, 2005. "Understanding the Endogeneity Between Firm Value and Shareholder Rights," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(4), Winter.
    25. Griliches, Zvi & Hausman, Jerry A., 1986. "Errors in variables in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 93-118, February.
    26. 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.
    27. 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.
    28. repec:bla:econom:v:71:y:2004:i::p:155-168 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. 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.
    30. 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.
    31. 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.
    32. 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.
    33. 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.
    34. Boubakri, Narjess & Cosset, Jean-Claude & Saffar, Walid, 2008. "Political connections of newly privatized firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 654-673, December.
    35. 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.
    36. 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.
    37. 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.
    38. 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.
    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. Kaufmann, Daniel, 2005. "Myths and Realities of Governance and Corruption," MPRA Paper 8089, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    41. 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.
    42. Anos-Casero, Paloma & Udomsaph, Charles, 2009. "What drives firm productivity growth ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4841, The World Bank.
    43. 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.
    44. Unknown, 1986. "Letters," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 1(4), pages 1-9.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Masuch, Klaus & Anderton, Robert & Setzer, Ralph & Benalal, Nicholai, 2018. "Structural policies in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 210, European Central Bank.
    4. Ewa Cichowicz & Ewa Rollnik-Sadowska, 2018. "Inclusive Growth in CEE Countries as a Determinant of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, October.
    5. Xiang Deng & Xiang Cheng & Jing Gu & Zeshui Xu, 2021. "An Innovative Indicator System and Group Decision Framework for Assessing Sustainable Development Enterprises," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 1201-1238, December.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Raymond Adegboyega, 2017. "Corruption and Economic Growth in Nigeria: A Cointegration (FM-OLS) Approach," Annals of the University of Petrosani, Economics, University of Petrosani, Romania, vol. 17(1), pages 5-18.
    9. Doytch, Nadia & Uctum, Merih, 2019. "Spillovers from foreign direct investment in services: Evidence at sub-sectoral level for the Asia-Pacific," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 33-44.

    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. 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.
    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. 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.
    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. 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.
    8. Hanousek, Jan & Shamshur, Anastasiya & Tresl, Jiri, 2019. "Firm efficiency, foreign ownership and CEO gender in corrupt environments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 344-360.
    9. 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.
    10. Jain, Ritika, 2020. "Bribery and firm performance in India: A political economy perspective," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Spyridon Boikos & Mehmet Pinar & Thanasis Stengos, 2023. "Bribery, on-the-job training, and firm performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 37-58, January.
    15. 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).
    16. 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.
    17. Colin C. Williams & Abbi M. Kedir, 2016. "The Impacts Of Corruption On Firm Performance: Some Lessons From 40 African Countries," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(04), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Colin C. Williams & Alvaro Martinez-Perez, 2016. "Evaluating the impacts of corruption on firm performance in developing economies: an institutional perspective," International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 16(4), pages 401-422.
    19. 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.
    20. Nhan Buu Phan & Shino Takayama, 2023. "A Model of Corruption and Heterogeneous Productivity: A Theoretical Approach," Discussion Papers Series 660, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bureaucratic corruption; Cee countries; Firm bribing behavior; Firm performance;
    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

    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:cpr:ceprdp:10499. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.