Bribery and Corruption: the OECD Convention on Combating the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions

This article discusses the effects of the OECD Convention on Combating the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, which was signed in 1997 and is due to be implemented by the signatory nation-states this year. The Convention represents the expansion of legal measures to combat the bribery of foreign public officials by individuals or corporations, and it has been accompanied by the Organisation of American States' Convention Against Corruption. Previously the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which applied only to United States individuals or corporations, 'stood alone in the world as a legal barrier to transnational bribery' (Low, Bjorklund and Atkinson 1998:245). This article proceeds in stages to evaluate implications of the Convention. Firstly the Convention is placed in the context of the increased focus on transnational business bribery in recent years. Second, the main points of the Convention are outlined. Third, the issues and problems posed by the Convention for business are discussed. Finally some themes regarding enforcement by the relevant authorities are outlined.     

Determinants of Bribery in International Business: The Cultural and Economic Factors

Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scores for 47 countries reported by Transparency International were used to ascertain determinants of bribe taking in international business. Two sets of independent variables – economic and cultural – were used in a multiple regression analysis. Results indicate that bribe taking was more likely to be prevalent in countries with low per capita income and lower disparities in income distribution. Cultural factors such as high power distance and high masculinity in a country were also likely to be associated with high level of bribe taking. Both economic and cultural factors were important explanatory factors of bribery. Implications of the findings for combating bribery are discussed. Rajib Sanyal is an American Council of Education Fellow at George Mason University for 2004–2005, on leave from The College of New Jersey, where he is a professor of management. Dr. Sanyal has published widely, and is the author of a textbook on International Management.     

Determinants of Bribery in Asian Firms: Evidence from the World Business Environment Survey

While it is widely believed that bribery is ubiquitous among Asian firms, few studies have offered systematic evidence of such activities, and the dynamics of bribery in Asian firms have not been well understood. The research reported here used World Business Environment Survey data to examine some distinct characteristics of bribery in Asian firms and to empirically test 10 hypotheses on determinants of bribery. We find that firm characteristics such as firm size, growth rate, and corporate governance are important determinants of bribery activities at the firm level, and that Asian firms are more likely to bribe when faced with fierce market competition, corrupted court systems, convoluted licensing requirements, nontransparent interpretation of laws and regulations, inefficient government service delivery, and high taxes.     

The United Nations Convention Against Corruption and its Impact on International Companies

Corruption is a serious economic, social, political, and moral blight, especially in many emerging countries. It is a problem that affects companies in particular, especially in international commerce, finance, and technology transfer. And it is becoming an international phenomenon in scope, substance, and consequences. That is why, in recent years, there has been a proliferation of international efforts to tackle the problem of corruption. One such international cooperative initiative is the United Nations Convention against Corruption, signed in 2003, which came into force in December 2005. This is the first truly global instrument to prevent and combat corruption, built on a broad international consensus. The purpose of this article is to explain the origin and content of the Convention, what it adds to existing international instruments for combating corruption, and its strengths and weaknesses, mainly from the point of view of companies.     

International Bribery: Does a Written Code of Ethics Make a Difference in Perceptions of Business Professionals

This article analyzes the attitudes of United States business professionals toward the issue of international bribery, and in particular, whether or not having a written code of ethics has an effect on these attitudes. A vignette relating to international bribery from a widely used survey instrument was employed in a nationwide survey of business professionals to gather information on ethical attitudes of respondents. Data were also collected on gender of respondents, whether or not respondents were self-employed, whether or not the respondents’ firms had a written code of ethics, and to what extent the respondents’ firms generated revenues from international operations. Attitudes concerning whether or not international bribery is ever acceptable exhibited wide dispersion. Respondents from firms that have a written code of ethics were significantly less likely to find international bribery acceptable. Firms that generate revenues from international operations were significantly more likely to have a written code of ethics than were firms which did not generate revenues from international operations. Implications of the findings for business policy are discussed. Joseph A. McKinney is Ben H. Williams Professor of International Economics at Baylor University. He was previously on the faculty of the University of Virginia, and has served as visiting professor to universities in Japan, France, the United Kingdom and Canada. His research interests include business ethics, international trade policy, and regional economic integration. Carlos W. Moore is the Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Marketing at Baylor University, where he has been on the faculty for more than 30 years. His research interests include business ethics, marketing and advertising evaluation, and small business strategies. He has done consulting on bank marketing and new product development.     

Perception of Business Bribery in China: the Impact of Moral Philosophy

This paper examines the impact of Chinese business managers’ moral philosophies on the perception of corrupt payments such as bribery, kickbacks and gift giving. Business managers from Mainland China were selected as target respondents. As hypothesized the survey results generally indicate that moral relativism is a significant predictor of Chinese business managers’ favorable perception of bribery and kickbacks. In examining the attitude toward gift giving, the survey showed that an individual’s attitude toward gift giving was neither affected by their moral relativism nor by their moral idealism, which implies that gift giving is widely accepted as legal practice in business in Chinese cultural society. Part of the paper was presented at the conference of World Business Ethics Forum, Nov. 1–3, 2006 in Hongkong and Macau.     

The Increased Role of Foreign Capital in the Peruvian Financial System

Summary

Foreign investment has played a very important role in developing Peru's banking sector since 1990. Indeed, as of June 1998, half of all bank assets were foreign-controlled. Much of this increased participation by outside entities can be traced to the privatization drive and to discriminatory reserve requirements on domestic deposits. Despite financial deepening, the analysis conducted here finds that the financial sector has not become more efficient in lowering the cost of intermediation as measured by the interest spread between loans and deposits.     

The Transformation of Transparency – On the Act on Public Procurement and the Right to Appeal in the Context of the War on Corruption

This article discusses the alleged anti-corruption effects of procurement reforms by presenting the European Act on Public Procurement and the increasing number of appeals filed by suppliers due to perceived misevaluations of tenders and perceived impairments of transparency. The delays and costs that arise from this right to appeal are studied in the Swedish context with the aim of contributing to the debate on corruption in two ways. First, instead of using the modern definition of corruption, the ancient definition is introduced to explain anti-corruption efforts, focusing on corruption as deviations from a pristine standard as opposed to corruption as the abuse of public power for private gain. Second, it will be argued that the fight against corruption in the practical implementation of the European Act on Public Procurement jeopardizes efficiency and might devaluate competence. However, striving for the total elimination of corruption–an evil that has to be fought disregarding the consequences–is integral in the war against it. Thomas Taro Lennerfors is a doctoral researcher in Industrial Economics and Management at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden (KTH). He is specialised in managerial aspects of corruption.     

The Role of Foreign Investment in Poland's Economic Restructuring

No abstract available for this article.     

外资进入对我国旅游业发展的影响和相应对策

本文从我国旅游业的发展现状和未来发展前景出发,通过相关数据的引用,论述了外资对我国旅游业发展所起的重要作用。最后,本文针对旅游业内各行业的发展特点,论述了外资对我国旅游业发展所带来的积极影响和消极影响及相应的对策。     

The Role of Relationships in Determining Foreign Entry Modes

A number of theories explain the competitiveness of international firms. However, the role of the relationship between the supplier and potential customers is often neglected. Thus, a framework is developed that combines resource-oriented arguments with recent insights gained from transaction cost theory. The framework does not only serve to further our understanding of international competitiveness but also explains under which circumstances certain modes of foreign market entry promise success.     

欧盟对外贸易中知识产权保护的特点及对我国的启示

在我国与欧盟双边贸易摩擦中，知识产权保护冲突日趋凸现，纠纷日益增多，导致我国企业遭受巨额损失，如何应对欧盟的知识产权保护壁垒已经成为当前理论界争论的热点问题。本文将对欧盟对外贸易中知识产权保护的特点进行分析，在总结其特点的基础上，借鉴欧盟对外贸易中知识产权保护的经验，对我国知识产权保护制度的改进以及企业如何应对知识产权纠纷提出相应的建议。     

欧盟各国税收制度竞争与协调现状分析

伴随着欧洲经济一体化的不断扩大,欧盟各国普遍采用税收竞争的手段来吸引外来投资,改善本国企业竞争力,对于这种税收竞争所带来的后果,各国评价不一.文章试图通过对欧盟各国税收既有竞争又希望协调的现状进行分析,来探讨如何在欧盟内部消除有害税收竞争,实现税收协调的目标.     

长江三角洲地区外商直接投资的对外贸易效应

本文由长三角地区(16城市)FDI与对外贸易的简单数量关系,构筑了地区层面的对外贸易模型,运用面板数据(PanelData)方法对长三角地区FDI的对外贸易效应及FDI在上海双边贸易中的作用进行了分析。结果表明,FDI对长三角地区的对外贸易及上海的双边贸易均起到了显著的正向推动作用,长三角地区FDI与对外贸易之间存在互补关系。     

Foreign Investment in Brazilian Public Offerings: The Role of Board Composition

Recently, foreigners have been responsible for negotiating more than half of the shares issued by the companies listed in the Brazilian Stock Market. In order to understand the characteristics of companies that influence the increase of international financing, the aim of this article was to investigate the relation between foreign investment in public offerings and board composition. We examine data of 183 Brazilian IPOs and subsequent offerings from 2004–2016 using OLS regression. The empirical result suggested that companies that have a foreign director as a board member and are in a special listing segment of B3—bound by rules of corporate governance—tend to attract more foreign investment. This means that foreigners are sensitive to good corporate governance practices when financing Brazilian firms’ IPOs or that issue new shares. Our findings imply that improvements in the corporate governance practice of companies could increase their ability to raise foreign capital.

RESUMERecientemente, más de la mitad de las acciones emitidas por las empresas cotizadas en la Bolsa de Valores brasileña fueron negociadas por extranjeros. El objeto de este estudio consistió en investigar la relación existente entre las inversiones extranjeras en las ofertas públicas y la composición de sus juntas directivas, para entender las características de las empresas que contribuyen a aumentar el financiamiento internacional. Utilizando la regresión de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios dinámicos (MCOD, OLS en inglés), examinamos datos de la Oferta Pública Inicial Brasileña 183 (IPO) así como ofertas subsiguientes del período 2004-2016. El resultado empírico obtenido sugiere que las empresas cuya junta directiva tiene como miembro un director extranjero y constan en un segmento de cotización especial (B3), sujeto a normas de gobernanza corporativa, suelen atraer más inversiones extranjeras. Esto implica que, al financiarlas, los extranjeros son más susceptibles a que las empresas brasileñas que abren su capital o emiten nuevas acciones, usen buenas prácticas de gobernanza corporativa. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que la implementación de mejoras en las prácticas de gobernanza corporativa de las empresas puede aumentar su financiamiento internacional.

RESUMORecentemente os estrangeiros passaram a ser responsáveis pela negociação de mais da metade das ações emitidas pelas empresas listadas na Bolsa de Valores brasileira. Para entender as características das empresas que influenciam o aumento do financiamento internacional, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo da relação entre o investimento estrangeiro nas ofertas públicas e a composição das diretorias. Examinamos dados de 183 IPOs (Oferta Pública Inicial) e de ofertas subsequentes, de 2004 a 2016, usando a regressão MQO (OLS na sigla em inglês). O resultado empírico sugere que as empresas que têm um diretor estrangeiro na diretoria e que estão no segmento de listagem especial da B3—sujeitas às normas de governança corporativa—tendem a atrair mais investimentos. Isso significa que os estrangeiros estão alerta quanto às boas práticas de governança ao considerar empresas brasileiras que abrem o capital ou que emitem ações novas. Os nossos achados sugerem que melhorias nas práticas de governança corporativa das empresas podem elevar o financiamento internacional das empresas.     

国际货币兑换模型与中国外汇储备结构

一国外汇储备结构不仅要考虑储备货币的收益性和风险性,而且也要考虑其在国际市场上兑换的方便性和交易的低成本性。本文从国际货币兑换结构模型出发,对美-欧-中三国模型进行实证分析,提出对中国外汇储备结构变化的不同考虑。     

外贸代理制度的问题与重构

外贸代理制形成于我国外贸体制改革过程,自其产生后就形成了独具特色的内容,并受到行政法与民商法的调整。现行对外贸代理的行政管理模式影响了外贸代理的实际运用,而法律规范间的不融合也导致外贸代理制产生一些理论与实践的问题。外贸代理制度的重构模式,既需要满足法律体系的内在逻辑性要求,也需要满足各方利益均衡的要求。     

The Lag Structure of the Impact of Business Ownership on Economic Performance in OECD Countries

This paper investigates the impact of changes in the number of business owners on three measures of economic performance, viz. employment growth, GDP growth and labor productivity growth. Particular attention is devoted to the lag structure. The analysis is performed at the country level for 21 OECD countries. Our results confirm earlier evidence on three stages in the impact of entry on economic performance: an initial direct positive effect, followed by a negative effect due to exiting capacities and finally a stage of positive supply-side effects. The net effect is positive for employment and GDP growth. Changes in the number of business owners have no effect on labor productivity.      

我国农业保险的发展及国际经验借鉴

目前,我国农业保险的发展取得了一定的成绩,保费收入呈上升趋势,但同时农业保险的发展也存在保险利润低,商业保险公司不愿过多进入农业领域,交易成本高,政策性农业保险并未起到很好的作用,政府财政补贴不合理等问题,应借鉴美国、加拿大和日本在政策、模式和立法上的经验,推动形成我国农业保险先进的技术系统和发展模式。