Abstract
This paper reports on a survey sent to financial executives at 405 small corporations. A cover letter assured recipients all survey responses would be anonymous and that the enclosed $5 check was to be considered payment for completing and returning the survey. The letter requested the check be returned or destroyed if the survey was not going to be completed and returned.
In a quantitative test of financial ethics, the proportion of cancelled checks and checks returned with a completed survey is compared to the proportion of completed and returned surveys. Based on the Z test statistic, the null hypothesis of equal proportions was accepted, implying ethical behavior by the group of executives in this test. Suggestions are given for future research.
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Edgar Norton is Assistant Professor of Finance, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ. His research interests include small business, capital structure, investments, and economic justice. He is co-editing a book, Economic Justice in Perspective: A Book of Readings, to be published by Prentice-Hall in fall 1990.
The author wishes to thank the New York University Center for Entrepreneurial Studies for providing financial support for this project.
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Norton, E. A simple quantitative test of financial ethics. J Bus Ethics 8, 561–564 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382932
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382932