Abstract

For the proponents of the “greasing the wheel” position, in the context of market imperfections, corruption helps in alleviating distortions in the credit market, facilitates access to bank credit and promotes the financing of the economy. The aim of this paper was to interrogate the impact of corruption on bank lending behavior in CEMAC countries, not only ranked among the most corrupt economies in the world by international institutions, but also confronted with problem of difficult access to banking services for most economic operators. To achieve this goal, an explanatory model of bank lending behavior in which corruption appears as an argument beside a set of control variables, was built. The model estimation on CEMAC countries’ data shows that corruption has a significant negative effect on commercial bank credit behavior. Given the importance of bank credit in financing development, such a finding is an additional argument for integrating governance considerations into any policy targeting the emergence in community countries.

Key words: Corruption, bank, financial development, Africa.