Geographic Clustering of Corruption in the U.S.

51 Pages Posted: 7 Jun 2017 Last revised: 12 May 2020

See all articles by Nishant Dass

Nishant Dass

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business

Vikram K. Nanda

University of Texas at Dallas - School of Management - Department of Finance & Managerial Economics

Steven Chong Xiao

University of Texas at Dallas - Naveen Jindal School of Management

Date Written: April 20, 2018

Abstract

We test the hypothesis that U.S. corporations headquartered in states with greater public corruption are also prone to more unethical behavior when operating abroad. We exploit passage of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) that curtailed bribery of foreign officials and find firms in corrupt states, especially those exporting to more corrupt countries, suffer greater performance decline following FCPA, suggesting larger loss from anticipated bribery restrictions. Controlling for industry, firms in corrupt states are more likely to be targets of FCPA enforcement actions. They are also more likely to have paid foreign bribes, as disclosed during pre-FCPA investigations.

Keywords: Corruption, Corporate Governance, Social Norms, Culture of Corruption

JEL Classification: D73, G34, Z10

Suggested Citation

Dass, Nishant and Nanda, Vikram K. and Xiao, Steven Chong, Geographic Clustering of Corruption in the U.S. (April 20, 2018). Paris December 2017 Finance Meeting EUROFIDAI - AFFI, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2981317 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2981317

Nishant Dass

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business ( email )

800 West Peachtree St.
Atlanta, GA 30308
United States
404-894-5109 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://scheller.gatech.edu/dass

Vikram K. Nanda (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Dallas - School of Management - Department of Finance & Managerial Economics ( email )

2601 North Floyd Road
P.O. Box 830688
Richardson, TX 75083
United States

Steven Chong Xiao

University of Texas at Dallas - Naveen Jindal School of Management ( email )

P.O. Box 830688
Richardson, TX 75083-0688
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
295
Abstract Views
2,291
Rank
188,244
PlumX Metrics