RT Article
T1 Business ethics in a competitive market
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 13
IS 9
SP 663
OP 666
A1 Nelson, Julianne
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 1994
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1785605542
AB Consequentialist reasoning and neoclassical assumptions about perfectly competitive markets encourage business school faculty and students to overlook the role of ethics in a market system. In a perfectly competitive economy, self-interest suffices to bring about a desirable outcome. However, discrepancies between an economist's assumptions and the realities of a market economy establish a need for business ethics. This essay, written as a lecture for MBA students, first reviews Pareto optimality as an argument in favor of market allocations. It then uses the discrepancies between actual and hypothetical markets to derive a Rawlsian duty of civility. This neoclassical case for business ethics requires individuals to avoid exploiting the defects that are inevitable in any social structure.
K1 Business School
K1 Market Economy
K1 Business Ethic
K1 Social Structure
K1 Economic Growth
DO 10.1007/BF00881324