Behavioral Business Ethics as a Method for Normative Business Ethics

EconomEtica, Number 42, July 2012

28 Pages Posted: 25 Jul 2012

See all articles by Lorenzo Sacconi

Lorenzo Sacconi

Department of public and sovra-national law, University of Milan ; University of Trento - Department of Economics and Management

Marco Faillo

University of Trento - Faculty of Economics

Pedro Francés‐Gómez

University of Granada

Date Written: July 2, 2012

Abstract

This paper aims at discussing the role of behavioral business ethics as a methodological approach that is valuable for the construction of a robust normative foundation for business ethics. In particular, we will focus on experiments – and, to a lesser extent, surveys, field research, and even the study of cognitive and neural mechanisms – as a research method suitable to improve our appraisal and knowledge of the prescriptive side of business ethics. We contend that there are two basic gains from the use of experimental methods in normative business ethics. First, we can improve the psychological realism of normative theory -this goes hand in hand with supporting the new paradigm of the organization, based on a more realistic view of human agency. Second, we can experimentally check some theoretical assumptions about moral reasoning, thus providing quasi-empirical support (or falsification) for particular normative theories.

Keywords: experiments, social contract, realism, reflective equilibrium

JEL Classification: C92, D64, M14

Suggested Citation

Sacconi, Lorenzo and Faillo, Marco and Frances‐Gomez, Pedro, Behavioral Business Ethics as a Method for Normative Business Ethics (July 2, 2012). EconomEtica, Number 42, July 2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2116519 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2116519

Lorenzo Sacconi (Contact Author)

Department of public and sovra-national law, University of Milan ( email )

Via Festa del Perdono 7
Milan

University of Trento - Department of Economics and Management ( email )

via Inama 5
I-38100 Trento
Italy

Marco Faillo

University of Trento - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Via Inama 5
Trento, I-38100
Italy

Pedro Frances‐Gomez

University of Granada

C/Rector López Argueta S/N
Granada, 18071
Spain

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