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How expatriates work in dangerous environments of pervasive corruption

Carl Greppin (Department of Management, Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)
Bo Carlsson (Department of Management, Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)
Adrian Wolfberg (Department of National Security and Strategy, United States Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA)
Nnaoke Ufere (Department of Management, Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)

Journal of Global Mobility

ISSN: 2049-8799

Article publication date: 11 December 2017

410

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to help understand how US expatriates living and working in dangerous environments characterized by pervasive corruption deal with the phenomena and make decisions about the degree to which they get involved.

Design/methodology/approach

To answer this question, 30 US executives who worked in such countries were interviewed.

Findings

Some executives refused to participate in corrupt practices; others chose to reluctantly succumb to extortion, while others willingly participated in corruption. The study found that social norms played a significant role in their decisions. There are four social norms: personal norms, subjective norms, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms. US executives rely on personal norms and injunctive norms for deciding to refuse to participate in corrupt practices, on descriptive norms and subjective norms for deciding to reluctantly succumb to extortion, and on descriptive norms and personal norms for deciding to willingly participate in corruption.

Originality/value

These findings illustrate what motivates US executives to make decisions about participating in corruption when living and working in countries with pervasive corruption. This has implications for policy, research, and practice.

Keywords

Citation

Greppin, C., Carlsson, B., Wolfberg, A. and Ufere, N. (2017), "How expatriates work in dangerous environments of pervasive corruption", Journal of Global Mobility, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 443-460. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-07-2017-0030

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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