Таҳририят: Бош муҳаррир – Т. Аҳмедов Масъул муҳаррир – А. Юлдашев

Conclusion. 
In this study, we investigated the 
impact of corruption on firm performance in terms of 
total annual sales. We found a negative relationship 
between corruption and firm performance in 
Uzbekistan. Our empirical estimates suggest that the 
perceived corruption in private firms deteriorates 
firms’ performance and decreases firms’ total annual 
sales by 28.8% in Uzbekistan. The findings enrich the 
existing empirical studies on the effects of corruption 
in the context of various countries with evidence from 
Uzbekistan. 
From a policy perspective, the empirical findings 
show that corruption ‘sands the wheel’ of private 
firms in Uzbekistan. Therefore, taking bold actions 
toward combating corruption is crucial for improving 
the profitability of enterprises in Uzbekistan which, 
ultimately, contributes to economic growth and 
development. There are several recommendations:
- since the well-being of the firm is in its interest 
and the fact that corruption reduces purchases should 
be the impetus for the timely invitation of a third party 
to verify both transactions and audit.
- to improve accountability and transparency, it 
is required to eliminate information asymmetry, as 
well as increase the efficiency of stakeholders and 
improve the quality of rational decision-making by top 
management.
- relying on digital, namely the introduction of more 
digital tools both for checking the work of workers 
and for monitoring and evaluating clients of the 
activities of the company, thereby not only establishing 
transparency but also keeping up with the times and 
gaining even more trust as a bonus.
- practice working with the government as well 
as non-government groups to track sales progress 
and avoid monotonous customer focus, which also 
increases credibility but most importantly reduces 
bureaucracy and unifies formal and informal processes.
Recommendations provided proceed from the fact 
that the state-corruption-firm relationship is considered, 
which is the main chain affecting the sale in this study, 
but a versatile approach and the disclosure of new 
approaches to eliminating corruption provides an 
opportunity for further research. For example, based on 
the results, we were surprised by the fact that woman 
bosses do more harm than even corruption, while many 
studies argue on female managers’ little susceptibility 
to corruption, which suggests an avenue for further 
research to clarify this inconsistency.