Literal question
Imagine there are 5 towns, and in each town please imagine some firm which is of similar size as yours. The firm needs to get some permit from the authorities. The situation with informal payments somewhat differs across the towns.
In town #1, it is not difficult to obtain the permit without giving a bribe, but an informal payment can facilitate or speed up obtaining the permit. Would you say that in this town, corruption is an obstacle to the current operations of the firm? If yes, to which degree?