IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v187y2023i4d10.1007_s10551-022-05226-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Preventing Disclosure-Induced Moral Licensing: Evidence from the Boardroom

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas G. Canace

    (Wake Forest University)

  • Leigh Salzsieder

    (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

  • Tammie J. Schaefer

    (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

Abstract

Market participants continue to demand greater transparency from boards of directors, yet little is known about the effect of increased transparency on director decisions. Using a sample of practicing board members, our first experiment provides evidence that increased transparency via disclosure may license directors to make more biased decisions. Guided by rich insights provided by these directors, we examine whether considering a company’s ethical values can deter disclosure-induced licensing by activating a morality mindset. In two additional experiments, we find that exposure to a code of conduct that includes an ethics component does not mitigate the licensing effects we observed; however, considering a separate, concise ethics statement does mitigate these effects. Our findings highlight important differences between the code of conduct and ethics statement for decision-making which can help organizations to mitigate adverse effects of disclosure. Implications for users of financial information and regulators are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas G. Canace & Leigh Salzsieder & Tammie J. Schaefer, 2023. "Preventing Disclosure-Induced Moral Licensing: Evidence from the Boardroom," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(4), pages 841-857, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:187:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05226-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05226-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-022-05226-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-022-05226-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erica Steckler & Cynthia Clark, 2019. "Authenticity and Corporate Governance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 951-963, April.
    2. Wassili Lasarov & Stefan Hoffmann, 2020. "Social Moral Licensing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 45-66, August.
    3. Virginia W. Gerde & Christopher Michaelson, 2019. "Special Issue: Global Perspectives on Business Ethics from the 40th Anniversary Conference of the Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University, 2016," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 913-916, April.
    4. Russell Lundholm & Linda A. Myers, 2002. "Bringing the Future Forward: The Effect of Disclosure on the Returns‐Earnings Relation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 809-839, June.
    5. Daylian M. Cain & George Loewenstein & Don A. Moore, 2005. "The Dirt on Coming Clean: Perverse Effects of Disclosing Conflicts of Interest," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 1-25, January.
    6. D. Eric Hirst & Kevin E. Jackson & Lisa Koonce, 2003. "Improving Financial Reports by Revealing the Accuracy of Prior Estimates," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 165-193, March.
    7. Koch, Christopher & Schmidt, Carsten, 2010. "Disclosing conflicts of interest - Do experience and reputation matter?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 95-107, January.
    8. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    9. Daylian M. Cain & George Loewenstein & Don A. Moore, 2011. "When Sunlight Fails to Disinfect: Understanding the Perverse Effects of Disclosing Conflicts of Interest," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(5), pages 836-857.
    10. Jeremy B. Griffin, 2014. "The Effects of Uncertainty and Disclosure on Auditors' Fair Value Materiality Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 1165-1193, December.
    11. James Gaa, 2009. "Corporate Governance and the Responsibility of the Board of Directors for Strategic Financial Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 179-197, November.
    12. Philipp Simbrunner & Bodo B. Schlegelmilch, 2017. "Moral licensing: a culture-moderated meta-analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 67(4), pages 201-225, August.
    13. George Loewenstein & Daylian M. Cain & Sunita Sah, 2011. "The Limits of Transparency: Pitfalls and Potential of Disclosing Conflicts of Interest," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 423-428, May.
    14. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Vincent Y.S. & Keung, Edmund C. & Lin, I-Min, 2019. "Disclosure of fair value measurement in goodwill impairment test and audit fees," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    2. Kartal, Melis & Tremewan, James, 2018. "An offer you can refuse: The effect of transparency with endogenous conflict of interest," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 44-55.
    3. Effron, Daniel A. & Raj, Medha, 2021. "Disclosing interpersonal conflicts of interest: Revealing whom we like, but not whom we dislike," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 68-85.
    4. Wang, Fengrong & Mbanyele, William & Muchenje, Linda, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and stock liquidity: The mitigating effect of information disclosure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    5. Bazerman, Max H. & Sezer, Ovul, 2016. "Bounded awareness: Implications for ethical decision making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 95-105.
    6. Mouselli, Sulaiman & Jaafar, Aziz & Hussainey, Khaled, 2012. "Accruals quality vis-à-vis disclosure quality: Substitutes or complements?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 36-46.
    7. Moumen, Néjia & Ben Othman, Hakim & Hussainey, Khaled, 2015. "The value relevance of risk disclosure in annual reports: Evidence from MENA emerging markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 177-204.
    8. Blankespoor, Elizabeth & deHaan, Ed & Marinovic, Iván, 2020. "Disclosure processing costs, investors’ information choice, and equity market outcomes: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2).
    9. Kartal, Melis & Tremewan, James, 2018. "An offer you can refuse: The effect of transparency with endogenous conflict of interest," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 44-55.
    10. Taran, Alina & Simga-Mugan, Can & Mironiuc, Marilena, 2021. "Country-segment disclosure of foreign operations from Central and Eastern Europe: Country-level determinants and value relevance," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Tobias Gesche, 2016. "De-biasing strategic communication," ECON - Working Papers 216, Department of Economics - University of Zurich, revised Sep 2021.
    12. Behnk, Sascha & Barreda-Tarrazona, Iván & García-Gallego, Aurora, 2014. "The role of ex post transparency in information transmission—An experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 45-64.
    13. Sascha Behnk & Iván Barreda-Tarrazona & Aurora García-Gallego, 2012. "Reducing deception through subsequent transparency - An experimental investigation," Working Papers 2012/14, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    14. Gesche, Tobias, 2021. "De-biasing strategic communication," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 452-464.
    15. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    16. Rose, Susannah L. & Sah, Sunita & Dweik, Raed & Schmidt, Cory & Mercer, MaryBeth & Mitchum, Ariane & Kattan, Michael & Karafa, Matthew & Robertson, Christopher, 2021. "Patient responses to physician disclosures of industry conflicts of interest: A randomized field experiment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 27-38.
    17. Boris Maciejovsky & David V. Budescu, 2020. "Too Much Trust in Group Decisions: Uncovering Hidden Profiles by Groups and Markets," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(6), pages 1497-1514, November.
    18. Tong Guo & Srinivasaraghavan Sriram & Puneet Manchanda, 2020. "“Let the Sunshine In”: The Impact of Industry Payment Disclosure on Physician Prescription Behavior," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(3), pages 516-539, May.
    19. Jeremy B. Griffin, 2014. "The Effects of Uncertainty and Disclosure on Auditors' Fair Value Materiality Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 1165-1193, December.
    20. Cannizzaro, Anthony P. & Weiner, Robert J., 2015. "Multinational investment and voluntary disclosure: Project-level evidence from the petroleum industry," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 32-47.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:187:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s10551-022-05226-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.