Share:


Does corruption affects business innovation? Insights from emerging countries

    Marilen Gabriel Pirtea   Affiliation
    ; Gabriela Lucia Sipos   Affiliation
    ; Alin Ionescu   Affiliation

Abstract

There are very different outcomes in the literature regarding the influences of corruption on business innovation and also arguments for both “sanding the wheels” and “greasing the wheels” approaches. The main goal pursued in this paper is to broaden the understanding of the corruption influence on business innovation, considering seven representative dimensions of corruption at governmental structures and institutions’ level and also four relevant dimensions of business innovation, less approached so far. The originality and relevance of this paper are based on that these seven different dimensions of corruption are targeting three characteristic features of it, as bribery's prevalence, the bribery's spread and the companies’ propensity to offer gifts for overcoming the bureaucratic pressures. Moreover, the four different new dimensions of business innovation are targeting the company’s propensity for innovating and strengthening its image and the way of connecting with business partners in a changing business environment. Considering an extensive data set for 110 emergent countries from four continents for the period between 2002 and 2014 and using the generalized linear model framework, this research study is emphasizing that corruption at governmental structures and institutional level has a significant negative impact on business innovation, adversely affecting innovation perspectives.

Keyword : corruption dimensions, innovation dimensions, corruption index, business innovation index, “sanding the wheels”, emerging countries

How to Cite
Pirtea, M. G., Sipos, G. L., & Ionescu, A. (2019). Does corruption affects business innovation? Insights from emerging countries. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 20(4), 715-733. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2019.10160
Published in Issue
Jun 4, 2019
Abstract Views
3426
PDF Downloads
2371
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Abdi, K., Mardani, A., Senin, A. A., Tupenaite, L., Naimaviciene, J., Kanapeckiene, L., & Kutut, V. (2018). The effect of knowledge management, organizational culture and organizational learning on innovation in automotive industry. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 19(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2018.1477

Alam, A., Uddin, M., & Yazdifar, H. (2019). Institutional determinants of R&D investment: Evidence from emerging markets. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 138, 34-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.08.007

Anokhin, S., & Schulze, W. (2009). Entrepreneurship, innovation, and corruption. Journal of Business Venturing, 24, 465-476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.06.001

Ayyagari, M., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Maksimovic, V. (2014). Bribe payments and innovation in developing countries: are innovating firms disproportionately affected? Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 49(1), 51-75. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002210901400026X

Barasa, L. (2018). Corruption, transaction costs and innovation in Africa. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation & Development, 10(7), 811-821. https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2018.1519061

Begovic, B. (2005). Corruption: concepts, types, causes and consequences. Centre for International Private Enterprises, Washington DC. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265364211_Corruption_Concepts_types_causes_and_consequences

Blackburn, K., & Forgues-Puccio, G. F. (2009). Why is corruption less harmful in some countries than in others? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 72(3), 797-810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2009.08.009

Botrić, V., & Božić, L. (2015). Innovators’ vs. Non-innovators’ perceptions of corruption in European post-transition economies. DIEM, 2(1), 245-258. Retrieved from https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/238181

Chandan, S., & Arup, M. (2015). Corruption, governance and firm performance: evidence from Indian enterprise. Journal of Policy Modelling, 37, 835-851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2015.05.001

Dang, L. (2016). Does China’s anti-corruption campaign promote corporate innovation? China Economist, 11(2), 95-108.

de Waldemar, F. S. (2012). New products and corruption: evidence from Indian firms. The Developing Economies, 50(3), 268-284. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1049.2012.00171.x

Dickel, P., & Graeff, P. (2018). Entrepreneurs’ propensity for corruption: A vignette-based factorial survey. Journal of Business Research, 89, 77-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.03.036

Dima, B., Ionescu, A., & Tudoreanu, P. (2013). Corporate governance and financial structures of companies in developing countries. Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, 15(1), 162-172. Retrieved from http://www.oeconomica.uab.ro/upload/lucrari/1520131/14.pdf

Dincer, O. (2019). Does corruption slow down innovation? Evidence from a cointegrated panel of U.S. states. European Journal of Political Economy, 56, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2018.06.001

DiRienzo, C., & Das, J. (2015). Innovation and role of corruption and diversity: A cross-country study. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 15(1), 51-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470595814554790

Ellis, J. A., Smith, J. D., & White, R. M. (2016). Corruption and corporate innovation (pp. 1-51). Retrieved from https://ssrn.com/abstract=2862128

Ernst & Young. (2018). 15th Global Fraud Survey. Emerging Markets Perspective. Fraud, bribery and corruption in emerging markets. Retrieved from https://fraudsurveys.ey.com/global-fraud-survey-2018-emerging-markets-perspective/fraud-bribery-and-corruption-in-emerging-markets/

Gan, W., & Xu, X. (2018). Does anti-corruption campaign promote corporate R&D investment? Evidence from China. Finance Research Letters (In Press). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2018.10.012

Gang, X., & Go, Y. (2017). How does anti-corruption affect corporate innovation? Evidence from recent anti-corruption efforts in China. Journal of Comparative Economics, 45(3), 498-519. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2016.10.001

Goedhuys, M., Mohnen, P., & Taha, T. (2016). Corruption, innovation and firm growth: firm-level evidence from Egypt and Tunisia. Eurasian Business Review, 6(3), 299-322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40821-016-0062-4

Goel, R. K., & Nelson, M. A. (2018). Determinants of process innovation introductions: Evidence from 115 developing countries. Managerial and decision economics, 39(5), 515-525. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.2922

Habiyaremye, A., & Raymond, W. (2018). How do foreign firms’ corruption practices affect innovation performance in host countries? Industry-level evidence from transition economies. Innovation: Organization & Management, 20(1), 18-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/14479338.2017.1367626

Janoskova, K., & Kral, P. (2015). Optimal timing of innovation as a precondition of successful innovation on the global market. 15th International Scientific Conference on Globalization and its SocioEconomic Consequences, University of Zilina, The Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communication, Department of Economics, Zilina. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321255282_OPTIMAL_TIMING_OF_INNOVATION_AS_A_PRECONDITION_OF_SUCCESSFUL_INNOVATION_ON_THE_GLOBAL_MARKET

Jolliffe, I. T. (2002). Principal component analysis (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.

Karaman Kabadurmuş, F. N. (2017). Corruption and innovation: the case of EECA countries. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 6(2), 51-71. Retrieved from http://www.betadergi.com/jeim/volume-6-issue-2-year-2017.html

Kayalvizhi, P. N., & Thenmozhi, M. (2018). Does quality of innovation, culture and governance drive FDI?: Evidence from emerging markets. Emerging Markets Review, 34, 175-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2017.11.007

Krammer, S. M. S. (2013). Greasing the wheels of change: the impact of corruption on firms’ innovation in transition economies. 35th DRUID Celebration Conference 2013, Barcelona, Spain. Retrieved from https://conference.druid.dk/acc_papers/lgyvnfdybhoqndiba285rnk1frxl.pdf

Lau, C. K., Yang, F. S., Zhang Z., & Leung, V. (2015). Determinants of innovative activities: Evidence from Europe and central Asia region. The Singapore Economic Review, 60(1). https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590815500046

Lesakova, L., Gundova, P., Kral, P., & Ondrusova, A. (2017). Innovation leaders, modest innovators and non-innovative SMEs in Slovakia: key factors and barriers of innovation activity. Organizacija, 50(4), 325-338. https://doi.org/10.1515/orga-2017-0024

Mahagaonkar, P. (2010). Corruption and innovation. In: Money and Ideas. International Studies in Entrepreneurship, 25, 81-97. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1228-2_5

Marquette, H., & Peiffer, C. (2015). Collective action and systemic corruption, In ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops. University of Warsaw (Vol. 29). Retrieved from https://ecpr.eu/Filestore/PaperProposal/b5944a31-85b6-4547-82b3-0d4a74910b07.pdf

McCullagh, P., & Nelder, J. A. (1989). Generalized linear models (2nd ed.). London: Chapman and Hall.Meon, P. G., & Weill, L. (2010). Is corruption an efficient grease?. World Development, 38(3), 244-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.06.004

Mungiu-Pippidi, A. (2015). Good governance powers innovation. Nature, 518, 295-297. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/1.16927!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/518295a.pdf

Mrad, F., & Bouaziz, N. (2018). The effects of the quality of institutions on innovation: Macroeconomic country analysis. Innovations, 57(3), 137-164. https://doi.org/10.3917/inno.pr1.0038

Nelder, J., & Wedderburn, R. (1972). Generalized linear models. Journal of The Royal Statistical Society, 135(3), 370-384. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/105f/0072f191a4ceb7c381fc4fd93f460aabf6b1.pdf

Ngoc, A. N., Quang, H. D., Ngoc, M. N., & Binh, T. N. (2016). The impact of petty corruption on firm innovation in Vietnam. Crime Law and Social Change, 65(4), 377-394. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-016-9610-1

Paunov, C. (2016). Corruption’s asymmetric impacts on firm innovation. Journal of Development Economics, 118, 216-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2015.07.006

Radu, L. (2017). Corruption in the European Union and the responsibility of European institutions. Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 50 E, 164-176. https://doi.org/10.24193/tras.2017.0010

Sena, V., Duygun, M., Lubrano, G., Marra, M., & Shaban M. (2018). Board independence, corruption and innovation. Some evidence on UK subsidiaries. Journal of Corporate Finance, 50, 22-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2017.12.028

Stephenson, M. (2015). Corruption is both a “Principal-Agent Problem” and a “Collective Action Problem”. The Global Anticorruption blog, Law, Social Science and Policy. Retrieved from https://globalan-ticorruptionblog.com/2015/04/09/corruption-is-both-a-principal-agent-problem-and-a-collective-action-problem/

Teodorescu, D., Andrei, T., Roșca, I. G., Profiroiu, M., & Turtureanu, M. (2007). Local governance and corruption of a country in the process of joining the European Union. Romanian Journal of Economic Forecasting, 8(4), 49-60. Retrieved from http://www.ipe.ro/rjef/rjef4_07/rjef4_07_3.pdf

Tian, X., Ruan, W., & Xiang, E. (2017). Open for innovation or bribery to secure bank finance in an emerging economy: A model and some evidence. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, 142, 226-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.08.002

Tomaszewski, M. (2018). Corruption – a dark side of entrepreneurship. Corruption and innovations. Prague Economic Papers, 27(3), 251-269. https://doi.org/10.18267/j.pep.647

Uberti, L. J. (2018). Corruption in transition economies: Socialist, Ottoman or structural? Economic Systems, 42(4), 533-555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2018.05.001

Veracierto, M. (2008). Corruption and innovation. Economic Perspectives, 32(1), 29-39. Retrieved from https://ssrn.com/abstract=1096569

Wen, J., Zheng, M., Feng, G. F., Chen, S. W., & Chang, C. P. (2018). Corruption and innovation: linear and nonlinear investigations of OECD countries. The Singapore Economic Review, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590818500273

World Bank. (1997). Helping countries to combat corruption. The role of World Bank. Washington DC: World Bank. Retrieved from http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/anticorrupt/corruptn/cor-rptn.pdf

World Bank. (2018a). Enterprise surveys. Retrieved from www.enterprisesurveys.org

World Bank. (2018b). World Bank country and lending groups – country classification. Retrieved from https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519-world-bank-country-and-lending-groups

Xie, X., Qi, G., & Zhu, K. X. (2018). Corruption and new product innovation: examining firms’ ethical dilemmas in transition economies. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3804-7

Xu, G., Zhang, D. Y., & Yano, G. (2017). Can corruption really function as “protection money” and “grease money”? Evidence from Chinese firms. Economic Systems, 41(4), 622-638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2017.03.001

Yu, F., Guo, Y., Lettic, F., & Barnes, S. J. (2019). Regional anti-corruption effort, political connections and firm innovation effort: evidence from China. Bulletin of Economic Research, 71(1), 18-32. https://doi.org/10.1111/boer.12146