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Incentives and culture in risk compliance

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  • Sheedy, Elizabeth
  • Zhang, Le
  • Tam, Kenny Chi Ho

Abstract

In the finance industry, risk compliance has become an important issue after numerous policy violations resulting in significant costs for financial institutions and society as a whole. We run a lab-in-the-field experiment with 269 finance professionals, to investigate the effects of financial incentives and workplace culture on risk compliance. Relative to variable remuneration (linked to expected profits), fixed remuneration increases the proportion of people complying by as much as 25.1 percentage points. This is achieved with no diminution in productivity. Relative to a profit-focused workplace culture, a risk-focused workplace culture increases the proportion of people complying by 16.3 percentage points.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheedy, Elizabeth & Zhang, Le & Tam, Kenny Chi Ho, 2019. "Incentives and culture in risk compliance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:107:y:2019:i:c:11
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2019.105611
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jennifer Kunz & Mathias Heitz, 2021. "Banks’ risk culture and management control systems: A systematic literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 439-493, December.
    3. Sheedy, Elizabeth & Zhang, Le & Liao, Yin, 2023. "Deferred pay: Compliance and productivity with self-selection," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Beatriz Fernández-Muñiz & José Manuel Montes-Peón & Camilo José Vázquez-Ordás, 2022. "The influence of organizational climate, incentives and knowledge sharing on misconduct and risk-taking in banking," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(1), pages 55-80, March.
    5. Ferenc Bognár & Petra Benedek, 2021. "Case Study on a Potential Application of Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in Assessing Compliance Risks," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Müller, Stephan & Rau, Holger A., 2020. "Economic preferences and compliance in the social stress test of the Corona crisis," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 391, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    7. Müller, Stephan & Rau, Holger A., 2021. "Economic preferences and compliance in the social stress test of the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    8. Robert M. Gillenkirch & Louis Velthuis, 2023. "Delegated risk-taking, accountability, and outcome bias," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 67(2), pages 137-161, October.
    9. Elizabeth Sheedy & Le Zhang & Dominik Steffan, 2022. "Scorecards, gateways and rankings: remuneration and conduct in financial services," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 3239-3283, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk management; Banking; Compliance; Culture; Incentives;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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