How Does Corruption in Developing Countries Affect Corporate Investment and Tax Compliance?

Using a rich panel data base for firms in Asian countries, we assess the effect of public sector corruption on corporate assets investment and tax payments. Our findings suggest that public sector corruption does not deter investment activities of national firms while asset investment of multinational corporations is significantly reduced in corrupt environments. Moreover, the findings indicate that corruption exerts a quantitatively large negative effect on corporate tax payments, especially for the group of small and medium-sized national firms. The results appear across a large range of specifications and robustness tests and suggest that even modest reductions in public sector corruption may induce significant increases in a country's tax capacity.