The Effect of Ease of Doing Business on Capital Flight: Evidence from East Asian Countries

Abstract

T

he business environment is characterized by environmental and exogenous factors that affect company performance to the extent that it prevents managers from interacting effectively with a company. This study built on the literature on the ease of doing business and capital flight by empirically demonstrating the importance of business environments across different countries. To this end, an econometric model was estimated by using a dynamic panel data model on selected East Asian countries during the period of 2004 to 2015. We found that the ease of doing business exerts negative and significant effects on capital flight. Our estimates suggested that an increase in ease of doing business leads to an average decrease of 0.09% in capital flight in all the examined countries.