Reviewing the Effect of Administrative Corruption on Financial Health in Iranian Banking System

The banking industry is an important part of the economies. The health of the banking system as main policy-making channel and the foundation of the economic system is of great importance. This paper examines the impact of administrative corruption on the performance of interest-free Banking in Iran. The statistical sample consists of 21 banks listed in the Iranian stock exchange over the period 2007-2017. In this research, the unbalanced data panel model and the GMM method have been used. The results show that, contrary to the “Greasing the Wheels” view, which considers corruption as an incentive for government employees to perform their duties, administrative corruption does not lead to an increase in net income per unit of bank capital, but it reduces bank profitability (ratio of net profit to total assets). Therefore, corruption in the banking system plays the role of "sand of the wheels". The most important operational solution to combat with administrative corruption in the banking system is to increase the quality and supervision phases of the central bank on the correct implementation of the law, along with increasing fines and public disclosure about offender banks.