Do firms proactively take measures to prevent corruption in their international operations?

Abstract

In recent years, the fight against foreign bribery has become a critical concern for many European governments. However, empirical research on the way that internationally active firms respond to the increased requirements of their organizational environment regarding corruption prevention is quite rare. Based on the neo-institutional theory, this paper addresses this issue using a sample of 510 internationally active Swiss firms. The findings indicate that firms do not anticipate the risk of potentially being confronted with corruption when operating in foreign countries where the level of corruption is perceived to be high. On the contrary, it seems that firms tend to follow a reactive approach toward the management of corruption risks in foreign countries and only implement measures against corruption if they have actually been confronted with the issue.