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Corruption and entrepreneurship: does gender matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Claudia Trentini

    (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)

  • Malinka Koparanova

    (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe)

Abstract

Corruption is a significant factor which determines the quality of the “doing business” environment at large. The aim of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of entrepreneurs’ corrupt behavior by looking at two questions: (1) does gender matter in corrupt behavior and (2) can corruption be an explanatory factor for gender gaps in firm growth. While it is often argued that female entrepreneurs face gender-specific challenges and might have different behaviors based on different ethics and moral standards, it is crucial to seek for empirical evidence at microeconomic level. Our results indicate that women entrepreneurs do have a significant lower propensity to bribe as compared to men entrepreneurs. Looking at the impact of corruption on employment growth, we do find a general negative impact of administrative corruption especially for micro enterprise but a positive one for women entrepreneurs. This is consistent with the fact that the majority of women are micro entrepreneurs; for them it is easier to escape the attention of corrupt officials, but greasing the wheels of state bureaucracy might become necessary and facilitate their firm’s growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Trentini & Malinka Koparanova, 2013. "Corruption and entrepreneurship: does gender matter?," ECE Discussion Papers Series 2013_1, UNECE.
    • Handle: RePEc:ece:dispap:2013_1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ángeles Muñoz-Fernández & Rashmi Assudani & Imane Khayat, 2019. "Role of context on propensity of women to own business," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Samer Matta, 2017. "The Microeconomic Impact of Political Instability: Firm-Level Evidence from Tunisia," Working Papers 1135, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jul 2017.
    3. Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa & Fernandez, Viviana & Thrikawala, Sujani, 2020. "Corruption and innovation in private firms: Does gender matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender; corruption; entrepreneurship; transition economies; development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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