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The Ethical Dimension of Economic Choices

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Abstract

In general, capitalist countries display sustained growth, dynamism and innovation, and a high adaptability in response to external shocks. Yet in the last twenty years discontent over the notorious drawbacks of capitalism – corporate frauds, corruption, abuses of market power – has grown continually. In this paper, we argue that no remedy to these difficulties can be found if ethical dilemmas are not anticipated and addressed at the individual, firm and economy-wide level. While pro-ethical changes in business regulation would help, government action alone may not be effective enough. Given that the social sciences provide the general framework of reference for human action, better integration of the ethical dimension by these disciplines would bring about additional benefits. In particular, economic theory would gain from developing more in-depth reflection on human end-goals and values.

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  • Vranceanu, Radu, 2005. "The Ethical Dimension of Economic Choices," ESSEC Working Papers DR 05001, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebg:essewp:dr-05001
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    Cited by:

    1. Vranceanu , Radu, 2013. "Corporate Profit, Entrepreneurship Theory and Business Ethics," ESSEC Working Papers WP1308, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    2. vranceanu, radu, 2007. "The moral layer of contemporary economics: A virtue-ethics perspective," ESSEC Working Papers DR 07006, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    3. repec:hal:journl:hal-00823521 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Emmanuel Laffort & Nicolas Dufour, 2019. "Fraud phenomenon seen from Luhmann's systemic perspective," Working Papers hal-02010162, HAL.
    5. Susana Gago-Rodríguez & Gilberto Márquez-Illescas & Manuel Núñez-Nickel, 2020. "Denial of Corruption: Voluntary Disclosure of Bribery Information," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 609-626, March.
    6. Benedetta Giovanola, 2009. "Re-Thinking the Anthropological and Ethical Foundation of Economics and Business: Human Richness and Capabilities Enhancement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 431-444, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Calculativeness; Capitalism; Corporate social responsibility; Economics; Virtue Ethics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • P17 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Performance and Prospects

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