1 AIT Asian Institute of Technology

Politically connected firms and the allocation of government expenditure : an empirical study

AuthorNguyen The Hoang
Call NumberAIT RSPR no.SM-07-02
Subject(s)Expenditures, Public
NoteA research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration in International Public Management
PublisherAsian Institute of Technology
AbstractThis paper investigates the relationship between the politically-connected firms and the allocation of government expenditure by applying econometric methodology. We have conducted descriptive analyses and robust OLS regressions on empirical data sets of politically connected firms (as percentage of total number of firms) and central government expenses (as share of total outlays). In the first place, we found that on average around 30% of a nation's GDP is allocated to government spending in order to nurture socio-economic development. We also drew the patterns of public spending allocation amongst regions. Secondly, our regression work brings empirical evidence that politically-connected firms positively correlate to the part of public spending allocated to Defense, Public order and safety, Housing, Education and Economics affairs (including economic sectors such as Agriculture, Fuel and Transport); and negatively correlate to the social spending (on Social protection, Health and Environment). Thirdly, we were able to show that political connection brings great advantages to firms. Thanks to it, politically-connected firms have better chance of winning contracts in corruption-intensive sectors like Defence, Public order and Fuel. Moreover its longterm advantage allows politically-connected firms ' influence reach more sectors than corruption, including highly competitive, long-payback or rent-fragmented ones such as Housing, Transport and Agriculture sectors). Last but not least, our empirical findings contribute to the Literature to produce a complete picture of the impacts of Corruption on government expenditure.
Year2007
TypeResearch Study Project Report (RSPR)
SchoolSchool of Management (SOM)
DepartmentOther Field of Studies (No Department)
Academic Program/FoSMaster of Business Administration (MBA) (Publication code=SM)
Chairperson(s)Donyaprueth Krairit
Examination Committee(s)Zimmermann, Willi ;Tang, John C. S.
Scholarship Donor(s)France-AIT Fellowship ;French Government's Eiffel scholarship
DegreeResearch Studies Project Report (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007


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