In China, at the same time (Kahn makes some interesting observation regarding these two case studies), corruption also seems to not have hampered too much the development and growth of the country. There are macroeconomic explanations for this. The influx of foreign investments was strongly encouraged by the creation of economic zones such as that around Shanghai with preferential conditions for business. Corruption was not an obstacle here, perhaps also because the authorities went to great length to make these areas attracters of foreign capital.

At the same time, one should also point out that the costs that a foreign investor would incur in corruption would sometimes not deter the foreign company because the returns were so extraordinarily high, so that the company could pay off the bribe to the governmental officials and still be left with a significant profit.

All in all, it is difficult to draw a distinct...
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