How Much Is Really Known About the Meaning of the Term “Conflict of Interest”?

Often codes of ethics require dealing with conflict of interest (CoI) without defining the boundaries of the phenomenon. In this case, CoI recognition is left to the discretion of the individual. The aim of this work is to answer to the following research questions: How much is really known about the meaning of the term CoI? Do individuals share the same CoI definition? In order to address these questions, we use the results of a questionnaire administered to 86 Italian public sector employees during some training courses on conflict of interest and corruption. The choice of this sample is particularly significant in that the Italian regulation provides for all public employees a code of conduct that requests avoiding, or at least disclosing, the CoI without prior definition of the meaning of the term. The results of our analysis show that public employees are uncertain about or come to different considerations of what CoI is and is not; consequently they deal with it in different ways. Thus, codes of conduct and ethics trainers should direct more attention on CoI definition, providing examples to facilitate its identification and resolution.