Gaygysyz Ashyrov Receives Eesti Pank Research Award

Gaygysyz Ashyrov and Helery Tasane received this year's Eesti Pank Research Award in the doctoral studies category for their research article, which analyses the relationships between firm-level innovation, ownership structure, and the experience of bribery in the context of developing countries.

In their research article The Roles of Foreign and Domestic Ownership in the Corruption-Firm Innovation Nexus, Gaygysyz Ashyrov and Helery Tasane examined the relationship between bribery and different types of innovation among firms operating in developing countries. Their study explored whether the link between bribery and innovation differs between domestically and foreign-owned firms. The analysis was based on data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys and other publicly available World Bank datasets. The research covered more than 4,000 exporting firms operating in 34 developing countries. The study found that in countries with weak institutional environments, corruption can act as a tool for overcoming bureaucracy and speeding up innovation (the so-called “greasing the wheels” hypothesis). However, the award winners emphasise that this applies in developing countries where productivity and overall innovation levels are low, which may partly be a result of long-term corruption. Corruption provides a competitive advantage to certain market players, which can lead to market distortions and reduce firms' willingness to invest in productivity growth. The findings of the article are significant for policymakers in developing countries, as they highlight that innovation initiatives aimed at increasing productivity may raise the likelihood of bribery, which in turn hinders long-term economic development. The strength of the doctoral-level winning work, according to the award committee, lies in its well-argued and academically sound analysis.

The research awards will be presented on 5th December at the research seminar held at Eesti Pank. EBS is proud and extends its congratulations!

Background Information

The research awards dedicated to the memory of Urmas Sepp have been presented by Eesti Pank for the 22nd time in 2024. The purpose of the competition is to recognise outstanding research work, encourage academic activity in the field of economics, and highlight studies aimed at obtaining a research degree. Since 2011, the research awards have been presented in two categories: for research based on doctoral work or carried out as part of doctoral studies, and for research based on or carried out as part of a master’s thesis. Urmas Sepp (1956–2002) was the Head of the Macroeconomic Department, later the Economic Research Department, at Eesti Pank from 1993 to 2002.