CORRUPTION PRESSURE ON BUSINESS REVISITED: BRIBERY INCIDENCE IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Purpose: This paper investigates whether within the European countries with a prevalent number of com-panies in particular sectors the corrupt rent-seeking practice is more likely to contaminate the entire busi-ness sector. Methodology: Multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the determinants of corruption pressure on the business sector. Results: We found that the share of retail and wholesale trade and public companies in the economy is related to bribery incidence experienced in the domestic business sector as a whole and that the ease of doing business together with EU membership reduces the spread of corruption risk. The transmissible ef-fect of bribery incidence in one sector on the rest of the companies is observed, notwithstanding the post-transition status of a European country. Conclusion: There is a relationship between the share of retail and wholesale trade and public companies in an economy and bribery incidence experienced by the entire business sector indicating that there might be a spillover effect of bribing in one sector on the rest of the companies.