Cronyism: a cross-cultural analysis

Received: 17 October 2003 Revised: 18 March 2004 Accepted: 29 June 2005 Online publication date: 19 October 2005 Abstract The devastating economic effects of the Asian financial crisis and US corporate scandals have underscored the need to strengthen corporate governance provisions. Although cronyism has been suggested as a leading cause of the two crises, it has received little attention from scholars. In this paper, we analyze the concept of cronyism and argue that it comes in various guises arising from different motivational bases and power dependence relations. We distinguish cronyism from related constructs and posit that it is a form of corruption with different dynamics from other forms. We advance propositions on its likelihood of occurrence across cultures and develop a typology of cronyist exchanges. Journal of International Business Studies (2006), 37, 61–75. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400171