Corruption and firm behavior

This paper investigates how corruption affects firrm behavior. Firms can engage in two types of corruption when seeking a public service: cost-reducing "collusive" corruption and cost increasing "coercive" corruption. Using an original and unusually rich dataset on bribe payments at ports matched to firrm-level data, we observe how firms respond to each type of corruption by adjusting their shipping and sourcing strategies. "Collusive" corruption is associated with higher usage of the corrupt port, while "coercive" corruption is associated with reduced demand for port services. Our results suggest that firms respond to the opportunities and challenges created by different types of corruption, organizing production in a way that increases or decreases demand for the public service. Understanding how firms respond to corruption has important implications for how we conceptualize, identify and measure the overall impact of corruption on economic activity

An Empirical Study of Corruption in Ports

We generate an original dataset on bribe payments at two competing ports in Southern Africa that allows us to take an unusually close look at the relationship between bureaucratic organization, bribe-setting behavior and the costs corruption imposes on users of public services. We find that the way bureaucracies are organized can generate different opportunities for bureaucrats to engage in "collusive" or "coercive" types of corruption. We then observe how firms adjust their shipping and sourcing strategies in response to different types of corruption. "Collusive" corruption is cost-reducing for firms, increasing usage of the corrupt port, while "coercive" corruption is cost-increasing, reducing demand for port services. Our findings therefore suggest that firms respond to the opportunities and challenges created by different types of corruption, organizing production in a way that increases or decreases demand for the public service.Corruption; Transport; Trade Costs; Firm Behavior

Doing business with corruption

When we think about trade barriers hindering developing countries, we often think of tariffs and regulations. However, IGC research suggests another hidden cost, corruption at border posts, plays a significant but underappreciated role in hindering trade and developmen

Corruption, trade costs, and gains from tariff liberalization: evidence from Southern Africa

This paper exploits quasi-experimental variation in tariffs in southern Africa to estimate trade elasticities. Traded quantities respond only weakly to a 30 percent reduction in the average nominal tariff rate. Trade flow data combined with primary data on firm behavior and bribe payments suggest that corruption is a potential explanation for the observed low elasticities. In contexts of pervasive corruption, even small bribes can significantly reduce tariffs, making tariff liberalization schemes less likely to affect the extensive and the intensive margins of firms' import behavior. The tariff liberalization scheme is, however, still associated with improved incentives to accurately report quantities of imported goods, and with a significant reduction in bribe transfers from importers to public officials

Sexual steroid regulation of spermatogenesis: new actors enter the stage

Spermatogenesis, the process of male gamete (i.e. spermatozoa) production, requires tight hormonal regulation in order to proceed successfully. The importance of androgens (like testosterone and 5α-dihydrotestosterone) to the regulation of spermatogenesis is well recognized. However, more recently, the importance of estrogens (like 17β-estradiol), has also been demonstrated. These sexual steroids act through ligand-activated transcription factors, estrogen receptors α and β (ERα and ERβ) and androgen receptor (AR), respectively. Most actions of these hormones are achieved through the regulation of target genes. The two ERs have different and sometimes opposing effects on the regulation of target genes, and estrogenic action will ultimately depend on interplay between them, when co-expressed in the same cell. The expression of ERα and ERβ in human testis has been strongly debated and a definite answer to whether only ERβ or both ERs are expressed is pivotal to understanding the estrogenic actions in human spermatogenesis. Several splice variants for ERα and ERβ have been described in testis, playing important roles in the regulation of their prototype receptors. In contrast, only one AR variant has been described so far in human testis, although the existence of more variants responsible for regulatory and non-classical actions is highly expected. The definition of the estrogen and androgen regulated transcriptome is of pivotal importance to understand the precise roles of sexual steroid hormones in testis. The main objectives of this thesis were to clarify the expression of ERα and ERβ in human testis, search for alternatively spliced AR variants, and to identify and characterize novel estrogen and androgen regulated genes with a potential importance in the control of spermatogenesis. The results presented herein demonstrate unequivocally that both ERα and ERβ are expressed in human testis, and clarify their cellular distribution. The existence of alternatively spliced testicular AR variants was confirmed with detection of four new AR forms in human testis, two of them conserved along the vertebrate evolutive line indicating a relevant functional importance. Conserning the sex steroid regulated transcriptome, two novel genes were identified, one regulated by estrogens and the other by androgens. Apoptosis inhibitor and modulator of DNA-damage response Aven was identified as a novel estrogen target gene in testis. Its expression was for the first time characterized in human and rat testis, as well as its cellular distribution to Sertoli and germ cells. Perhaps more importantly, it was shown that the expression levels of Aven in human testis are positively correlated with quality of spermatogenesis. Concerning androgen regulated gene, the expression of Regucalcin (RGN) in response to 5α-dihydrotestosterone was characterized, and RGN shown to be expressed by all cells in rat and human testis. Regucalcin is involved in the control of intracellular calcium concentration and regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis, processes whose regulation is of pivotal importance in the control of spermatogenesis. Estrogens and androgens are well recognized as germ cell survival factors and are known to regulate control mechanisms for testicular apoptosis. Therefore, we believe that both Aven and RGN are involved in mechanisms of germ cell survival, which are controlled by androgens and estrogens. In conclusion, this thesis has contributed to increase the knowledge about estrogenic and androgenic action in testis. The “new actors cast” to the drama that is the hormonal control of spermatogenesis open new storylines in the research of mammalian spermatogenesis and perheaps male fertility

Reviving trade routes: evidence from the Maputo Corridor

This new SSATP discussion paper reviews the experience of an apparently successful corridor to help understand optimal mix and trade-offs in reviving historical trade route. The Maputo Corridor, which had fallen in disuse during the troubled period in Mozambique, is widely regarded as one the successful corridors. It has experienced tremendous growth, attracted large industrial and transport investments, and strengthened ties between neighboring countries over its almost two decade long history since the end of the apartheid era in South Africa and the Peace Agreement in Mozambique. What makes the Maputo Corridor ideal as a source of learning lessons is that it has many contrasting facets—it is an established trade route with a development focus, as well as an hinterland corridor, a mining and resource-based corridor—whereas other corridors may have a far less diverse nature. The lessons that can be learnt from the Maputo Corridor thus have relevance for a wider variety of corridors, and can help regional economic communities, countries, corridor users and development partners to better focus their corridor strategies to maximize economic growt

Analysing America’s age of mass migration highlights the long-term benefits of immigration

Though a highly emotive issue, the debates surrounding immigration and its impact have focused on the short-term. In assessing the longer-term effects of immigration by considering America’s Age of Mass Migration, however, Sandra Sequeira, Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian find that the long-run benefits of immigration can be sizeable, and suggest that despite the short-term social costs and tensions of increased immigration, we should consider the long-run benefits of immigration in policy debates

Immigrants and the making of America

We study the effects of European immigration to the U.S. during the Age of Mass Migration (1850–1920) on economic prosperity. Exploiting cross-county variation in immigration that arises from the interaction of fluctuations in aggregate immigrant flows and of the gradual expansion of the railway network, we find that counties with more historical immigration have higher income, less poverty, less unemployment, higher rates of urbanization, and greater educational attainment today. The long-run effects seem to capture the persistence of short-run benefits, including greater industrialization, increased agricultural productivity, and more innovation

Closing the gender profit gap?

We examine the impact of providing access to mobile savings accounts and improving financial management skills on the performance of microenterprises in Mozambique. The effects are highly heterogeneous: Combining both types of support is associated with a large increase in both short- and long-term firm profits and in financial security for female microentrepreneurs. This allowed female-headed microenterprises, particularly those with a higher level of profits at baseline, to close the gender profit gap in performance and skills relative to their male counterparts. The main drivers of improved business performance are improved financial management practices (bookkeeping), an increase in accessible savings, and reduced transfers to friends and relatives. Providing access to mobile money as a tool to save and manage finances also increases long-term profits of female microentrepreneurs, particularly for those with higher profits at baseline. However, neither treatment has any impact on male-led enterprises. Uncovering this heterogeneity in impact across different types of microenterprises can help improve the targeting of these interventions in the future

Corruption and firm behavior: evidence from African ports

This paper investigates how corruption affects firm behavior. Using an original and unusually rich dataset on bribe payments at ports matched to firm-level data, we observe how firms adapt to different types of corruption by adjusting their transport strategies. Our results suggest that firms respond to the price effects of corruption, organizing production in a way that increases or decreases demand for the public service