I didn't mean "investors". I meant local people. Average micro-business. I don't know Albania too well - I only spent a couple of weeks there, but I had a feeli

I didn't mean "investors". I meant local people. Average micro-business. I don't know Albania too well - I only spent a couple of weeks there, but I had a feeling it was bustling of small businesses. I have spent however years in other places which have a similar reputation (Indonesia, for example) - and yes, corruption is everywhere, but your average grandma can get out on the street with a cart and sell noodle soup or fried rice. This is something unheard of in the EU. She may have to pay a small bribe to a local gang, but hey - it is the local gang, that operates by the same rules for generations, and everybody knows how it works. So it is not unpredictable after all. You do have a good point, in that it throws off bigger investors, but people get by. They don't make a killing income, but neither do they starve. What is "predictable" for bigger investors though is unpredictable for these very people. No wonder the average grandma in the EU does not have the skills to start a small business, if needed. The laws and regulations are simply too complex for her. I guess the issue is with scaling a business in a corrupt environment (as opposed to starting it, which is 0 friction). Once you grow bigger than your local gang's area, you deal with higher and higher levels of corruption. God forbid you end up scaling a business to the point where you have to bribe the highest level gang - the national government. That would be very expensive and risky (the regime can always change - new people, new demands). BUT assuming you stay small, you can make a living running your own (family) business without much friction.