Does Sarbanes-Oxley Foster the Existence of Ethical Executive Role Models in the Corporation?

Journal of Business & Technology Law, Vol. 3, p. 221, 2008

University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 33

23 Pages Posted: 8 May 2008 Last revised: 21 Jun 2008

Abstract

If compliance with, or the efficacy of, Sarbanes-Oxley and other corporate governance initiatives requires that executives (or other firm leaders) be good ethical role models, then it is important to ask whether Sarbanes-Oxley - or any other attribute of existing corporate governance regulation - in fact promotes or permits the production or preservation of ethical role models in the executive ranks of public companies. An absence of support for ethical role models in public companies may signal the failure of broad-based federal corporate governance initiatives like Sarbanes-Oxley.

This Article assumes that ethical roles models may be important to the maintenance of good corporate governance (in general) and the success of Sarbanes-Oxley as a corporate governance initiative (in specific). With that in mind, the Article preliminarily analyzes, using legal and social sciences literature, whether Sarbanes-Oxley may encourage or discourage the existence of ethical role models in the corporation.

Keywords: Sarbanes-Oxley, corporate governance, role model, ethics, corporate culture

JEL Classification: K22, K42, M14

Suggested Citation

Heminway, Joan MacLeod, Does Sarbanes-Oxley Foster the Existence of Ethical Executive Role Models in the Corporation?. Journal of Business & Technology Law, Vol. 3, p. 221, 2008, University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 33, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1130647

Joan MacLeod Heminway (Contact Author)

University of Tennessee College of Law ( email )

1505 West Cumberland Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37996
United States
865-974-3813 (Phone)
865-974-0681 (Fax)

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