Ethical Behavior of Firms and Foreign Direct Investments in African Settings: The Moderating Effect of Judicial Independence

IF 2.1 Q3 BUSINESS

Journal of African Business Pub Date : 2022-09-23 DOI:10.1080/15228916.2022.2126591

Imen Khelil, Achraf Guidara, Hichem Khlif

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between ethical behavior of firms and foreign direct investments in African countries and tests whether the judicial independence moderates this association. The sample includes 108 country-year observations over a period of 2014–2017. Findings show that the ethical behavior of firms is positively associated with foreign direct investment. Similarly, judicial independence has a positive and significant effect on the same variable. When testing for the moderating effects of judicial independence, the association between ethical behavior of firms and foreign direct investment remains positive and significant for high judicial independence sub-sample, while it becomes insignificant for countries characterized by low judicial independence. The findings highlight the importance of business ethics in attracting foreign direct investment inflows in African countries. It also emphasizes the need to consider the role played by high judicial independence in strengthening this association. These results signal to policy makers in African countries the importance of adopting enforcing rules obliging firms to act ethically and strengthening judicial independence.

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非洲企业的道德行为和外国直接投资：司法独立的调节作用

摘要本文考察了企业道德行为与在非洲国家的外国直接投资之间的关系，并检验了司法独立是否调节了这种关系。样本包括2014-2017年108个国家/年的观测结果。研究结果表明，企业的道德行为与外国直接投资呈正相关。同样，司法独立对同一变量也有显著的正向影响。在对司法独立的调节效应进行检验时，高司法独立子样本的企业道德行为与外商直接投资之间存在显著正相关关系，而低司法独立子样本的企业道德行为与外商直接投资之间存在不显著正相关关系。调查结果强调了商业道德在吸引外国直接投资流入非洲国家方面的重要性。它还强调必须考虑高度司法独立在加强这种联系方面所发挥的作用。这些结果向非洲国家的决策者发出了一个信号，即采取强制规则迫使企业遵守道德规范和加强司法独立的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of African Business BUSINESS-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

10.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of African Business is the official journal of the Academy of African Business and Development, the largest network of professionals committed to advancement of business development in African nations. JAB strives to comprehensively cover all business disciplines by publishing high quality analytical, conceptual, and empirical articles that demonstrate a substantial contribution to the broad domain of African business. Regardless of the research context, tradition, approach, or philosophy, manuscripts submitted to JAB must demonstrate that the topics investigated are important to the understanding of business practices and the advancement of business knowledge in or with Africa. Particularly, JAB welcomes qualitative and quantitative research papers. JAB is not, however, limited to African-based empirical studies. It searches for various contributions, including those based on countries outside Africa that address issues relevant to African business. Targeted toward academics, policymakers, consultants, and executives, JAB features the latest theoretical developments and cutting-edge research that challenge established beliefs and paradigms and offer alternative ways to cope with the endless change in the business world. Covered areas: Accounting; Agribusiness Management and Policy; Business Law; Economics and Development Policy; Entrepreneurship and Family Business; Finance; Global Business; Human Resource Management; Information and Communications Technology (ICT); Labor Relations; Marketing; Management Information Systems (MIS); Non-Profit Management; Operations and Supply Chain Management; Organizational Behavior and Theory; Organizational Development; Service Management; Small Business Management; Social Responsibility and Ethics; Strategic Management Policy; Technology and Innovation Management; Tourism and Hospitality Management; Transportation and Logistics