Transnational corruption and innovation in transition economies
Alexis Habiyaremye & Wladimir Raymond
#2013-050
In this paper, we examine how transnational corruption affects host
country firms' innovation behaviour and performance in transition
economies of Eastern Europe and Central and Western Asia. Using
firm-level data from the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance
Survey, we show that the involvement of foreign firms in corruption
practices reduces the propensity of firms in host countries to invest in
research and development and harms their ability to improve their
existing products and services. Using a simultaneousequations recursive
model and controlling for various innovation determinants, we also show
that the reduction in innovation effort ultimately also hurts the host
country's long-term ability to successfully bring new products on the
market through indirect effects.
Keywords: Transnational corruption, Innovation, Transition Economies
JEL classification: H42, H57, L26, O31, P37