In countries with a high prevalence of corruption, understanding attitudes towards corruption could help in designing effective measures to eliminate it as a barrier to doing business. Utilising original survey data from over 1800 business owners and managers in seven Western Balkans countries, this study explores businesspeople’s experiences and views on the ways that the business sector is dealing with corruption. A factor analysis produced three distinct factors: (1) understanding corruption as ‘greasing the wheels’; (2) individual action can contribute to curbing corruption; (3) corruption is a government-related issue. The results show that the country of origin strongly determines businesspeople’s attitudes towards corruption. Respondents with corruption experience tend to justify it as ‘greasing the wheels’ more than ‘clean’ respondents. Findings on the perceived role of private and government agents in curbing corruption enabled the study to suggest some specific policy recommendations.
AbrattRNelDHiggsNS (1992) An examination of the ethical beliefs of managers using selected scenarios in a cross-cultural environment. Journal of Business Ethics11(1): 29–35.
2.
AčevskaB (2002) Entrepreneurship under difficult circumstances: Factors hindering SME growth in the Republic of Macedonia. South-East Europe Review for Labour and Social Affairs1(special issue): 109–121.
3.
AmundsenI (1999) Political corruption: An introduction to the issues, Christian Michelsen Institute Working Paper No. 7. Bergen: Christian Michelsen Institute.
4.
AteljevićJBudakJ (2010) Corruption and public procurement: Example from Croatia. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies12(4): 375–397.
5.
BachmannR (2010) Towards a context-sensitive approach to researching trust in interorganizational relationships. In: SaundersMNKSkinnerDDietzG. (eds) Organizational Trust: A Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.87–106.
6.
BitzenisANitoE (2005) Obstacles to entrepreneurship in a transition business environment: The case of Albania. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development12(4): 564–578.
BudakJ (2006) Corruption in Croatia: Perceptions rise, problem remains. Croatian Economic Survey9(1): 35–68.
9.
DietzGGillespieNChaoGT (2010) Unravelling the complexities of trust and culture. In: SaundersMNKSkinnerDDietzG. (eds) Organizational Trust: A Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.3–41.
DžafićZZahirovićSOkičićJ. (2011) Internal and external obstacles to the development of SMEs in Bosnia and HerzegovinaCroatian Economic Survey13(1): 143–171.
12.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (2012) The Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS). Available at: www.ebrd.com/pages/research/economics/data/beeps.shtml (accessed 11 December 2012).
FazioRHZannaCJ (1978) On the predictive validity of attitudes: The role of direct experience and confidence. Journal of Personality46(2): 228–243.
18.
FosterJEHorowitzAWMéndezF (2012) An axiomatic approach to the measurement of corruption: Theory and applications. World Bank Economic Review26(2): 217–235.
19.
FrederkingLC (2004) A cross-national study of culture, organization and entrepreneurship in three neighbourhoods. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development16(3): 197–215.
20.
GoelRKRamR (2013) Economic uncertainty and corruption: evidence from a large cross-country data set. Applied Economics45(24): 3462–3468.
21.
GriffitsMDKickulJCarsrudAL (2009) Government bureaucracy, transactional impediments, and entrepreneurial intentions. International Small Business Journal27(5): 626–642.
22.
GrødelandÅBAaslandA (2011) Fighting corruption in public procurement in post-communist states: Obstacles and solutions. Communist and Post-Communist Studies44(1): 17–32.
23.
HassanS (2004) Corruption and the development challenge. Journal of Development Policy and Practice1(1): 25–41.
24.
HellmanJSJonesGKaufmannD. (2000) Measuring governance, corruption, and state capture: How firms and bureaucrats shape the business environment in transition economies, Policy Research Working Paper Series No. 2312. Washington, DC: World Bank.
25.
HustedBW (1999) Wealth, culture, and corruption. Journal of International Business Studies30(2): 339–360.
26.
JacksonT (2001) Cultural values and management ethics: A 10-nation study. Human Relations54(10): 1267–1303.
27.
JainAK (2001) Corruption: A review. Journal of Economic Surveys15(1): 71–121.
28.
KaufmannDWeiSJ (2000) Does grease money speed up the wheels of commerce?International Monetary Fund (IMF) Working Paper No. WP/00/64. Washington, DC: IMF.
29.
KlitgaardR (1998) International cooperation against corruption. Finance and Development35(1): 3–6.
30.
KrosnickJABoningerDSChuangYC. (1993) Attitude strength: One construct or many related constructs?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology65(6): 1132–1151.
31.
LeffNH (1964) Economic development through bureaucratic corruption. American Behavioral Scientist8(3): 8–14.
32.
MauroP (1995) Corruption and growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics110(3): 681–712.
33.
MéonPGSekkatK (2005) Does corruption grease or sand the wheels of growth?Public Choice122(1): 69–97.
34.
NorthDC (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
35.
PodumnjakM (2010) Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Corruption in the Western Balkans: Regional Overview. Skopje: YES Foundation.
36.
PrislinR (1996) Attitude stability and attitude strength: One is enough to make it stable. European Journal of Social Psychology26(3): 447–477.
37.
RobsonPJAWijbengaFParkerSC (2009) Entrepreneurship and policy. International Small Business Journal27(5): 531–535.
38.
ReinikkaRSvenssonJ (2006) Using micro-surveys to measure and explain corruption. World Development34(2): 359–370.
39.
SandholtzWTaageperaR (2005) Corruption, culture, and communism. International Review of Sociology15(1): 109–131.
40.
SanyalR (2005) Determinants of bribery in international business: The cultural and economic factors. Journal of Business Ethics59(1–2): 139–145.
41.
ShleiferAVishnyRW (1993) Corruption. Quarterly Journal of Economics108(3): 599–617.
42.
SmallboneDWelterF (2001) The distinctiveness of entrepreneurship in transition economies. Small Business Economics16(4): 249–262.
43.
StošićINikolićDĐukićM (2011) Attractiveness of Serbia for foreign direct investments: Tendencies, obstacles and perspectives. In: Radović-MarkovićMRedžepagićSAndradeJS. (eds) Serbia and the European Union: Economic Lessons from the New Member States. Coimbra: Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, pp.47–60.
44.
SullivanJShkolnikovA (2004) Combating corruption: Private sector perspectives and solutions. Economic Reform, Center for International Private Enterprise Issue Paper No. 0409. Available at: www.cipe.org/publications/papers/pdf/IP0409.pdf (accessed 1 February 2012).
45.
TanziV (1998) Corruption around the world: Causes, consequences, scope, and cures. IMF Staff Papers45(4): 559–594.
46.
TanziVDavoodiH (1997) Corruption, public investment, and growth. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Working Paper No. WP/97/139. Washington, DC: IMF.
47.
TreismanD (2007) What have we learned about the causes of corruption from ten years of cross-national empirical research?Annual Review of Political Science10: 211–244.
48.
TrivunovićMDevineVMathisenH(2007) Corruption in Montenegro 2007: Overview over main problems and status of reforms. CMI Report, No. R2007:9. Bergen: Christian Michelsen Institute. Available at: www.cmi.no/publications/file/2733-corruption-in-montenegro-2007.pdf (accessed 31 January 2012).
WareGTNooneGP (2003) The culture of corruption in the postconflict and developing world. In: ChayesAMinowM (eds) Imagine Coexistence: Restoring Humanity after Violent Ethnic Conflict. San Francisco, CA: PON Books/Jossey-Bass, pp.191–209.
52.
WhippleTWSwordsDE (1992) Business ethics judgments: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Business Ethics11(9): 671–678.
53.
WeiSJ (1999) Does corruption relieve foreign investors of the burden of taxes and capital control? Policy Research Working Paper No. 2209. Washington, DC: World Bank.
54.
WelterF (2012) All you need is trust? A critical review of the trust and entrepreneurship literature. International Small Business Journal30(3): 193–212.
55.
WelterFSmallboneD (2003) Entrepreneurship and enterprise strategies in transition economies: An institutional perspective. In: KirbyDWatsonA (eds) Small Firms and Economic Development in Developed and Transition Economies: A Reader. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp.95–114.
56.
WelterFSmallboneD (2011) Institutional perspectives on entrepreneurial behaviour in challenging environments. Journal of Small Business Management49(1): 107–125.
