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‘Margin Call’: Using Film to Explore Behavioural Aspects of the Financial Crisis

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  • Andrea Werner

Abstract

The aim of this article is to show how the critically acclaimed and award winning film Margin Call may be used in business ethics teaching. Set in a fictional investment bank at the dawn of the financial crisis, the film zooms in on the motivations and decision-making of people who had much to lose from the crash of the hitherto very profitable mortgage-backed securities market. The film offers rich material for analysis of behaviours that contributed to the crisis. The article will set out topics for classroom discussion, including the impact of incentives and power structures, contextual factors that distance people from the consequences of their actions, and considerations of how the banking industry may be transformed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

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  • Andrea Werner, 2014. "‘Margin Call’: Using Film to Explore Behavioural Aspects of the Financial Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 643-654, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:122:y:2014:i:4:p:643-654
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1781-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roberts, John & Jones, Megan, 2009. "Accounting for self interest in the credit crisis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 856-867, August.
    2. Donaldson, Thomas, 2000. "Are Business Managers “Professionals”?," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 83-94, January.
    3. Ahuvia, Aaron, 2008. "If money doesn't make us happy, why do we act as if it does?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 491-507, August.
    4. Thomas Donaldson, 2012. "Three Ethical Roots of the Economic Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 106(1), pages 5-8, March.
    5. Hasnas, John, 1998. "The Normative Theories of Business Ethics: A Guide for the Perplexed," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(1), pages 19-42, January.
    6. Joseph Heath, 2008. "Business Ethics and Moral Motivation: A Criminological Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 595-614, December.
    7. Jon D. Wisman & James F. Smith, 2011. "Legitimating Inequality: Fooling Most of the People All of the Time," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 974-1013, October.
    8. Roberts, John, 2001. "Corporate Governance and the Ethics of Narcissus," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 109-127, January.
    9. Aebi, Vincent & Sabato, Gabriele & Schmid, Markus, 2012. "Risk management, corporate governance, and bank performance in the financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3213-3226.
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    Cited by:

    1. van Hoorn, Andre, 2015. "Organizational Culture in the Financial Sector: Evidence from a Cross-Industry Analysis of Employee Personal Values and Career," MPRA Paper 67222, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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