Title

Market Exit of Firms: Does Corruption Act as Grease or Sane?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-8-2020

Abstract

This paper examines whether corruption acts to “grease” or “sand” firms' exit. Corruption could facilitate exit when it is a tax that distorts markets, or it might retard exit when it empowers firms to obtain undue favors. Results, using panel data across US states and considering market exit and firms' death rates as dependent variables, show that greater corruption acts as grease rather than sand in that it facilitates firms' exit/death. In other findings, larger states, greater regulations, and more unemployment contributed to exit, as did some demographic aspects. Higher state minimum wages resulted in firms' death but not exit.

Comments

This article was originally published as Rajeev K. Goel & James W. Saunoris, 2020. "Market exit of firms: Does corruption act as grease or sand?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(8), pages 1539-1548, December.

Share

COinS