Putting Integrity into Finance: A Purely Positive Approach

65 Pages Posted: 24 Mar 2014 Last revised: 10 Feb 2023

See all articles by Werner Erhard

Werner Erhard

Independent

Michael C. Jensen

Harvard Business School; SSRN; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Harvard University - Accounting & Control Unit

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Date Written: March 2014

Abstract

The seemingly never ending scandals in the world of finance with their damaging effects on value and human welfare (that continue unabated in spite of all the various efforts to curtail the behavior that results in those scandals) argues strongly for an addition to the current paradigm of financial economics. We summarize here our new theory of integrity that reveals integrity as a purely positive phenomenon with no normative aspects whatsoever. Adding integrity as a positive phenomenon to the paradigm of financial economics provides actionable access (rather than mere explanation with no access) to the source of the behavior that has resulted in those damaging effects on value and human welfare, thereby significantly reducing that behavior. More generally we argue that this addition to the paradigm of financial economics can create significant increases in economic efficiency and productivity.

Suggested Citation

Erhard, Werner and Jensen, Michael C., Putting Integrity into Finance: A Purely Positive Approach (March 2014). NBER Working Paper No. w19986, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2413334

Michael C. Jensen

Harvard Business School ( email )

Soldiers Field
Negotiations, Organizations & Markets
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United States

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Harvard University - Accounting & Control Unit ( email )

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