Formal institutions, informal institutions, and red tape: A comparative study

Abstract

Firms across the globe are affected by red tape, but there is little academic research on how country‐level institutions shape red tape perceptions. Drawing on institutional theory, we argue that a variety of formal and informal country‐level institutions affect perceptions of red tape in the private sector. We test our hypotheses using six data sources, including the World Economic Forum and the World Bank. Our results indicate that red tape is weakly associated with a country's level of formalization and rule enforcement effectiveness and more prevalent in federal as opposed to unitary states. As for informal institutions, we find that red tape perceptions are more pronounced in countries with an increased conservative political ideology, higher levels of corruption, and cultures that emphasize individualism and uncertainty avoidance. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for theory and practice.

The gender wage gap and the moderating effect of education in public and private sector employment

“…Finally, our study of gender‐based wage inequalities in the Danish public and private sector labour markets responds to the rising need for research examining how public management theories and findings from different national (or cultural) contexts hold in others (e.g., Bullock et al ; Meier et al ; Kaufman et al ). It is critical to examine theories in many empirical contexts as the public administration and management research community becomes increasingly internationalized.…”

Does good governance mean better corporate social performance? A comparative study of OECD countries

“…Corruption has been found to have a negative impact on economic growth (Mauro 1995;Meon and Sekkat 2005), and the level of foreign direct investment (Egger and Winner 2006). Furthermore, more corrupt countries are associated with higher levels of red tape (Kaufmann, Hooghiemstra and Feeney 2018) and lower GE (Brewer, Choi, and Walker 2007).…”

The Role of Institutional Pillars on Mobile Learning Adoption in a Developing Country'S Higher Education Institution

“…Though stability appears to be its main theme, advocates of the theory are inevitably exposed not only to agreement and conventionality but to dissentions and transformation in social structures in some situations. The theory recognizes formal institutions that have compulsory rules and standards and in addition, informal institutions that are persistent collections of communally shaped values that shape thought, reasoning, actions and decisions [37].…”