Better the devil you don't know: Types of corruption and FDI in transition economies

Corruption has a negative impact on foreign direct investment (FDI). However, transition economies show high levels of corruption and also high levels of FDI. I argue that it is not the level but rather the type of corruption that affects FDI in transition economies. Pervasive corruption, or corruption that is widely present, acts as a deterrent to FDI because it increases the known costs of investing, while arbitrary corruption, or corruption that is uncertain, does not have such a deterring influence because it becomes part of the uncertainty of operating in transition economies. In transition economies, investors prefer to deal with an unknown evil – arbitrary corruption – rather than a known one – pervasive corruption.