152093 20251017144623.0 doi 10.1108/IJOEM-05-2020-0514 sideral 126949 ART-2021-126949 eng Fleta-Asín J. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-3582-116X “Sand” or “grease” effect? The impact of corruption on the investment volume of public-private partnerships 2021 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Purpose: Some scholars argue that corruption hinders economies and investment because it generates extra costs, while others suggest that it can act as a stimulus. Their mixed empirical findings have prompted the analysis of whether investors'' attitude towards corruption changes depending on its degree of prevalence. Design/methodology/approach: The authors examined 4, 518 public–private partnerships (PPPs) located in 46 developing countries for the period 1997–2017. The data were collected from the World Bank PPP database. The authors investigated the relationship between the amount of investment in PPP projects and the level of corruption using regression with multilevel mixed effects. Findings: Corruption and the amount of investment in PPP projects are inversely related at the low and high end of the spectrum of corruption, but the relationship is positive towards the middle. Further analysis revealed that this was spurred by high investment PPP projects in less developed countries. Originality/value: The findings allow the authors to reconcile the opposing positions in the literature through a “sand–grease–sand the wheels” effect between the volume of investment and corruption, which can be configured as a reverse S-shape consisting of three stages. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FEDER/S38-20R-CIBER info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FEDER/S42-20R-CREVALOR info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MCIU-AEI-FEDER/RTI2018-093483-B-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/UZ-CUD/UZCUD2020-SOC-05 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.es 3.422 2021 ECONOMICS 110 / 381 = 0.289 2021 Q2 T1 MANAGEMENT 151 / 228 = 0.662 2021 Q3 T3 BUSINESS 109 / 154 = 0.708 2021 Q3 T3 0.508 2021 Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous) 2021 Q2 Business and International Management 2021 Q2 4.0 2021 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion Muñoz F. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-9481-1466 4012 650 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Direcc.Organiza.Empresas Área Organización de Empresas 4002 230 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Contabilidad y Finanzas Área Economía Finan. y Contab. 18, 5 (2021), 1168-1186 International journal of emerging markets 1746-8809 851282 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/152093/files/texto_completo.pdf Postprint 566508 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/152093/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Postprint oai:zaguan.unizar.es:152093 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:22:58 ARTICLE