Culture and corruption in bank lending revisited

Abstract

This paper aims to reassess the effects of culture on corruption in bank lending. These effects were first studied by prior studies which use Hofstede's cultural dimension data. The Hofstede's cultural data are constructed from survey data collected between 1967 and 1973. The data on corruption in bank lending taken from the world business environment survey (WBES), however, were collected between 1999 and 2000. This paper uses cultural data from the global leadership and organisational behaviour effectiveness (GLOBE) project which are constructed from survey data collected in the 1990s instead. The data from the GLOBE project are not only more recent but also provide more cultural dimensions than those of Hofstede. The results indicate that in-group collectivism still increases corruption in bank lending. The results suggest that assertiveness and uncertainty avoidance no longer have a significant effect on corruption in bank lending.