1st Edition
State Capture, Political Risks and International Business Cases from Black Sea Region Countries
In the OECD-area states provide security business to be conducted through a legal-institutional framework where state institutions, working in a legal-rational, predictable and effective manner, are often taken for granted. Worldwide, however the situation is very different. Private actors seize public institutions and processes accumulating ever more power and private wealth by systematically abusing, side-stepping, ignoring and tailoring formal institutions to fit their interests. Such forms of ‘state capture’ are associated with specific political risks international businesses are confronted with when operating in these countries, such as institutional ambiguity, systematic favouritism and systemic corruption.
This edited volume covers state capture, political risks and international business from the perspectives of Political Science and International Business Studies. Uniting theoretical approaches and empirical insights, it examines Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Each chapter deals with country specific forms of state capture and the associated political risks bridging the gap between political analysis and business related impacts.
Preface by Heiko Pleines
Introduction: State Capture, Political Risk and International Business
Johannes Leitner and Hannes Meissner
Part I: THEORY
1. Corruption, Favouritism and Institutional Ambiguity as Political Risks – Insights from the Concept of Neopatrimonialism
Hannes Meissner
2. Political Risk and International Business: Where they Interfere, Consequences, and Options
Johannes Leitner
Part II: COUNTRY CASE STUDIES
3. Doing Business in Armenia: The Art of Manoeuvring a System of Corruption
Yevgenya J. Paturyan and Christoph H. Stefes
4. Political Risk Factors for the Business Environment in Georgia
Johannes Wetzinger
5. State Capture in Azerbaijan between clan politics and ‘bureaucratic oligarchy’
Rail Safiyev
6. Doing Business in Russia: The Main Political Risks and Challenges for International Companies
Julia Kusznir
7. Corruption among Ukrainian Businesses: Do Firm Size, Industry and Region Matter?
Elena Denisova-Schmidt, Martin Huber and Yaroslav Prytula
8. Political Risks in Moldova - A Barrier to International Investment?
Cornel Ciurea
9. Transformation of corporate governance in Turkey: Eliminating or Accommodating Political Risk for Doing Business?
Digdem Soyaltin
10. Corruption and Favouritism in Romania
Tina Olteanu
11. Political Risks to International Business in Bulgaria
Stoycho P. Stoychev
Part III: COMPANY CASE STUDIES
12. Take-off in Baku. Waagner-Biro and the new airport in Baku.
Hans Frey
13. Developing a Logistics Hub in Georgia: The Case of Gebrüder Weiss.
Thomas Moser
14. Advanced Siemens Medical Equipment in Modernization of Moldavian Healthcare
Serghei Putilin and Otto Oberparleiter
Conclusions
Johannes Leitner and Hannes Meissner
Biography
Johannes Leitner is head of the Competence Center for Black Sea Region Studies at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, Austria.
Hannes Meissner is a senior researcher and lecturer in the Competence Centre for Black Sea Region Studies at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, Austria.