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Heated debates and cool analysis: thinking well about financial ethics

Not for the first time, the banks and other financial institutions have got themselves – and the rest of us – into a mess, this time on an unprecedented financial and geographical scale. It is no surprise that opinions about causes, consequences and cures abound with ethical issues, as well as technical and economic concerns, a focus of attention. It is to be hoped that useful lessons for the future will be learned. In this chapter, however, we step back from a direct engagement with the stated ills of the financial system itself, whether actual or perceived, chronic or acute. Our starting point is that crisis in the financial system not only makes us stop and think; but it might also, particularly under conditions of moral panic, prevent us from thinking well. Our contention is that a further impediment to thinking well about financial crises is the lack of a substantial body of academic knowledge that might be termed ‘financial ethics’ – a corpus of well developed conceptual insights and appropriate empirical evidence. We identify some of the reasons for this situation and proffer some suggestions regarding what might be done to remedy it – including the development of knowledge that is as relevant to everyday practices during periods of normality as it is to providing perspectives on crisis. The chapter is structured as follows: the next section provides a perspective on debate during times of crisis; the middle section seeks to explain why academic financial ethics is not a significant constituent element of debate on the financial crisis post-2007; and the final two main sections explore ways in which an academic agenda for financial ethics might be constructed. In a curious way this chapter echoes some of the themes and especially the conclusion of David Bevan’s chapter in this work (chapter18) although the reasoning to the conclusion that finance ethics is an empty set follows a rather different Badiou-inspired path in chapter 18

Corporate Social Reporting in Libya: A Research Note

Purpose Not enough is known about social accounting disclosure practices in developing countries. This research note adds strength and depth to the few other studies that take Libya as a point of departure to understanding the dynamic between disclosure practices and the context in which they are performed. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 270 annual reports from 54 companies, both public and private across a range of sectors and covering a five year period (2001-2005) were analysed using content analysis to ascertain patterns and trends in corporate social reporting by Libyan companies. Findings Libyan companies generally disclose some information related to social responsibility but at a low level compared with developed countries and only in certain areas. This situation changed little over the five year period under scrutiny. Research limitations/implications During the five year period examined, CSR remained largely unresponsive to significant changes in the political scene that occurred over a much longer period of time. This suggests further research is needed to illuminate the role and influence of societal culture and to understand the impact of organisational subculture on disclosure and responsibility practices. Originality/value Libya provides a point of departure for further research into other transitioning or developing economies, particularly those in the Arab world. It also offers unique insights and the possibility for comparative studies between them due to its particular character. This note augments and adds depth to other studies in the area

Responding to the Revised Code on corporate governance: UK audit committees

Purpose: The audit committee is one of the most prominent sub-committees of the board of directors, having a potentially important role to play in ensuring sound corporate governance. The purpose of this paper is to examine and discuss the behaviour of companies following the most recent revisions to the UK’s Revised Code. Research design/methodology/approach: A variety of annual report data from a sample of 50 UK companies, stratified according to size, is collected and analyzed. Findings: General compliance with many provisions of the Code was found. All but one company had an audit committee, comprising solely non-executive directors. However, in about a quarter of cases the chairman was a member, and in some case directors were not ‘independent’ according to the definition of the Code. Many companies exceeded the minimum stipulated requirements, for example the number of non-executive directors on the audit committee or the number of meetings held. Nevertheless, some companies did not follow recommended practice, particularly regarding the disclosure of information, and some explanations for non-compliance seemed weak. Implications: Compliance with disclosure demands regarding audit committees could be improved, as could the quality of explanations when the recommendations of the Code are not followed. Given the resistance of many companies to corporate governance regulation and accusations of ‘box ticking’, future research should probe why many companies do more than is required or recommended. The research should be repeated when further revisions to the Code are made in respect of audit committees, and practice in countries other than the UK should be researched to provide comparative insights

Giving credit where it’s due – but no more: an ethical analysis of trade credit

In spite of its commercial importance and signs of some concern by some commentators, trade credit has not been subjected to serious ethical analysis. This is especially important in the current financial crisis, given that credit from banks is in short supply, leading to increasing pressure on trade credit. In addition to identifying trade credit as a topic of ethical significance, this paper develops an analysis of the ethics of trade credit grounded in an understanding of its purpose. Making a distinction between “operating” trade credit and “financial” trade credit, it provides an account of the maximum period for which it is appropriate for one company to delay payment to another from which it has purchased goods or services. This has implications not only for companies that take credit but also for external commentators who seek to rate companies according to their speed of payment. The responsibility of suppliers not to extend excessive credit, and thus act as a quasi-bank, also follows from the analysis developed

Method issues in business ethics research: finding credible answers to questions that matter

This article is an essay based on many years of reviewing journal submissions and discussions with business ethics scholars on a range of themes regarding methods. To some extent, it contains condensed thoughts from two experienced scholars in the field, which we hope will be useful, especially to emerging scholars who, to some extent, may be still wrestling with some of the issues raised in the article. The validity and reliability of research methods in business ethics research is discussed in terms of legitimate methods to employ in the discipline, the epistemic challenges in the discipline, the debate between qualitative and quantitative methods, and some considered comments on ‘researching well’ in this discipline. Within each theme, we attempt to convey our distilled thoughts in the hope that methods employed in future studies will avoid some of the failures we have observed in the past

Reasons for adopting different capacity levels in the denominator of overhead rates: a research note

There has been criticism of the use of budgeted capacity as the denominator of overhead rates. Prior questionnaire-based research has analysed which type of capacity is used in the denominator of overhead rates, but it has not assessed why these capacity levels are used. This paper uses grounded theory techniques to analyse 50 interviews with British management accountants about why a particular capacity level is used to determine the denominator of overhead rates. The results reveal that budgeted capacity is used because the calculation of the denominator is regarded as part of the budgeting process. Practical capacity and normal capacity are used to ensure that products are not under or overcosted

Monitoring Sub-Surface Storage of Carbon Dioxide

I would like to thank the Sleipner License Partners (Statoil, Total E\&P Norge and ExxonMobil) for access to seismic reflection datasets and for permission to publish my results.Since 1996, super-critical CO$_2$ has been injected at a rate of $\sim$0.85~Mt~yr$^{-1}$ into a pristine, saline aquifer at the Sleipner carbon capture and storage project. A suite of time-lapse, three-dimensional seismic reflection surveys have been acquired over the injection site. This suite includes a pre-injection survey acquired in 1994 and seven post-injection surveys acquired between 1999 and 2010. Nine consistently bright reflections within the reservoir, mapped on all post-injection surveys, are interpreted to be thin layers of CO$_2$ trapped beneath mudstone horizons. The areal extents of these CO$_2$ layers are observed to either increase or remain constant with time. However, volume flux of CO$_2$ into these layers has proven difficult to measure accurately. In addition, the complex planform of the shallowest layer, Layer 9, has proven challenging to explain using reservoir simulations. In this dissertation, the spatial distribution of CO$_2$ in Layer~9 is measured in three dimensions using a combination of seismic reflection amplitudes and changes in two-way travel time between time-lapse seismic reflection surveys. The CO$_2$ volume in this layer is shown to be growing at an increasing rate through time. To investigate CO$_2$ flow within Layer~9, a numerical gravity current model that accounts for topographic gradients is developed. This vertically-integrated model is computationally efficient, allowing it to be inverted to find reservoir properties that minimise differences between measured and modelled CO$_2$ distributions. The best-fitting reservoir permeability agrees with measured values from nearby wells. Rapid northward migration of CO$_2$ in Layer~9 is explained by a high permeability channel, inferred from spectral decomposition of the seismic reflection surveys. This numerical model is found to be capable of forecasting CO$_2$ flow by comparing models calibrated on early seismic reflection surveys to observed CO$_2$ distributions from later surveys. Numerical and analytical models are then used to assess the effect of the proximity of an impermeable base on the flow of a buoyant fluid, motivated by the variable thickness of the uppermost reservoir. Spatial gradients in the confinement of the reservoir are found to direct the flow of CO$_2$ when the current is of comparable thickness to the reservoir. Finally, CO$_2$ volume in the second shallowest layer, Layer~8, is measured using structural analysis and numerical modelling. CO$_2$ in Layer~8 is estimated to have reached the spill point of its structural trap by 2010. CO$_2$ flux into the upper two layers is now $\sim$40\% of total CO$_2$ flux injected at the base of the reservoir, and is increasing with time. This estimate is supported by observations of decreasing areal growth rate of the lower layers. The uppermost layers are therefore expected to contribute significantly to the total reservoir storage capacity in the future. CO$_2$ flow within Layer~9 beyond 2010 is forecast to be predominantly directed towards a topographic dome located $\sim$3~km north of the injection point. This dissertation shows that advances in determining the spatial distribution and flow of CO$_2$ in the sub-surface can be made by a combination of careful seismic interpretation and numerical flow modelling.LRC is partly funded by the EU PANACEA consortium and by the and by the British Geological Survey University Funding Initiative (BUFI)

Do we research the right things?

The amount of academic research being conducted and published on business ethics has expanded greatly. I believe this is a good thing. However, such is the importance of business and the ethical challenges that it faces, our work as academics will never be done. There will always be a need for further research – of course! In fact, impressive though the advances have been, the business ethics scholarly community is still small compared to many cognate areas, whether they be academic disciplines (such as economics) or particular fields within management (such as marketing). Our capacity is still very limited when set against what needs to be done, so we need to be wise about how we allocate our scarce resources. A piece of research might be of some value, but does it come at a high opportunity cost

El crédito comercial y la crisis crediticia: un análisis descriptivo en Europa; Reino Unido y España

El uso de crédito comercial como forma de financiar el corto plazo ha aumentando en los últimos años, las grandes empresas utilizan más días del que necesitan para realizar los pagos a las pequeñas empresas, lo que provoca fatales consecuencias financieras para los proveedores. Estos problemas financieros no son nuevos, pero con la restricción pronunciada del crédito los problemas se agudizan debido a que el uso masivo del crédito comercial repercute negativamente en los proveedores cuya insolvencia y riesgo de quiebra aumentan. En este trabajo se revisan de forma descriptiva el uso del crédito comercial en la crisis crediticia. Las principales contribuciones de la ponencia son dos. En primer lugar, mostrar las consecuencias financieras por la utilización del crédito comercial y, concretamente, en la crisis crediticia, y cómo el gobierno de Reino Unido desarrolla políticas públicas de pago para reducir el efecto negativo de los impagados. En segundo lugar, estudiar y comparar la situación de los países europeos en términos de pago a los proveedores y, en particular, el caso de Reino Unido, pero también el caso Español.The use of trade credit as a short-term financing is increasing in the last years; large firms use more days to pay small firms than they need, which causes financial fatal consequences to suppliers. These financial problems are not new, but with the credit crunch they are coming up because the massive use of the trade credit impacts negatively on suppliers whose insolvency and bankruptcy risks increase. In this paper we review in a descriptive way the use of trade credit in the credit crunch. The main contributions of the paper are two. Firstly, we show the financial consequences of the use of trade credit, and specifically in credit crisis, and how UK government develop public payment policies to reduce the negative effect of delete payments. Secondly, we study and compare the situation of European countries in terms of payment to suppliers, and in particular the case of UK, but also Spanish case