Behavioral Ethics as Compliance

Forthcoming, Cambridge Handbook of Compliance ( Van Rooij & Sokol Eds.)

Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 19-18

16 Pages Posted: 3 Oct 2019

See all articles by Yuval Feldman

Yuval Feldman

Bar-Ilan University - Faculty of Law

Yotam Kaplan

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Date Written: September 23, 2019

Abstract

This chapter studies the implications of behavioral ethics research to questions of legal compliance. Behavioral ethics emphasizes the concept of bounded ethicality, referring to a long list of biases and cognitive limitations that prevent people from making a full and candid evaluation of the ethicality of their own actions. In other words, people often act unethically not because they made a conscious choice to behave badly, but because they were able to ignore, downplay, or justify their own misconduct. This chapter explores the meaning of behavioral ethics findings for questions of compliance with the law. That is, if people often ignore or downplay their own unethical choices, how can law-makers and regulators act to improve compliance with the law? The chapter describes the central relevant findings of behavioral ethics research, the challenges these findings pose for legal compliance, and outlines possible solutions. In particular, we advocate a novel regulatory approach utilizing ethical nudges: regulatory interventions that are designed to improve ethical deliberations by potential wrongdoers.

Suggested Citation

Feldman, Yuval and Kaplan, Yotam, Behavioral Ethics as Compliance (September 23, 2019). Forthcoming, Cambridge Handbook of Compliance ( Van Rooij & Sokol Eds.) , Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 19-18, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3458582 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3458582

Yuval Feldman (Contact Author)

Bar-Ilan University - Faculty of Law ( email )

Faculty of Law
Ramat Gan, 52900
Israel

Yotam Kaplan

Hebrew University of Jerusalem ( email )

Mount Scopus
Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905
Israel

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