Active and passive bribery’s impact on firm relational embeddedness: evidence from Thailand

Our research examines how bribery practices affect relational embeddedness in Thailand. Specifically, we categorize bribery practices into active and passive bribery and draw from social network theory to hypothesize that both types of bribery lead to increased relational embeddedness between firms. However, a firm’s political tie intensity and inter-firm legitimacy will moderate these relationships in different ways. Based on a survey of 151 firms from the manufacturing and construction industries in Thailand, we employ stepwise regression and find that active and passive bribery have direct effects on relational embeddedness. We find that political tie intensity moderates the relationship between bribery practices and relational embeddedness. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.