NCJ Number
191985
Journal
Journal of Financial Crime Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 26-29
Date Published
September 2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the evidence supporting the benefits and importance of ethics. The paper reviews three lines of enquiry: the use of logical argument, the use of statistical evidence, and the evidence of case studies.
Abstract
Today ethics is being viewed and treated with importance in the financial sector, and one of the merits of ethics is the commercial benefit it awards. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the evidence supports the commercial benefit of ethics. Ethics experts are frequently asked how ethics show profitability. After reviewing legal compliance and ethics, three lines of approach were outlined: the use of logical argument, the use of statistical evidence, and the evidence of case studies. The removal of barriers to ethical behavior was seen as potentially facilitating the improvement of ethical behavior. Empirical evidence was seen as the most problematical in arguing ethics as financially profitable. Evidence from case studies, rational assertions, and some empirical studies, drew the conclusion that there was a persuasive argument stating that ethics were financially profitable. References