Rethinking corruption in international business: An empirical review

Abstract

A reliable understanding of corruption in IB has prescriptive implications for MNEs’ strategies to manage it. We propose three means by which research on corruption can improve its reliability: (i) develop theorizing and empirical modelling on mechanisms at the firm level; (ii) develop conceptual and empirical clarity and alignment on the distinct nature of corruption being investigated (i.e., scale versus predictability); (iii) develop acute measures of the types of corruption that an MNE's experience can seek to manage. Given this broad research setting, we revisit four published empirical studies on corruption and take a diagnostic approach by looking at the concepts and empirical analysis involved in this research. The four studies are Habib & Zurawicki (2002), Cuervo-Cazurra & Genc (2008), Sartor & Beamish (2018), and Qi & Nguyen (2021). By systematically replicating their findings in three ways, we conclude that theorizing on corruption at the country level is the most effective for making core conjectures about corruption's effects on overall measures of economic activity; however, understanding of the different dimensions of corruption alongside how experience leads to effective management requires greater theoretical and empirical precision and substantiation.