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Ethics in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises pp 99–119Cite as

USA: An Overview of Empirical Research on Ethics in Entrepreneurial Firms Within the United States

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Abstract

Scholars recognise that entrepreneurs may encounter different ethical issues and pressures than managers in larger corporations. This has fostered empirical research aimed at assessing ethics in entrepreneurial settings in the United States. Our emphasis on empirical research with little attention paid to purely conceptual papers allows us to highlight the narrow definition of entrepreneurship used in the US and how US researchers distinguish between entrepreneurship and other types of small businesses. This differs greatly from many other countries, especially those in which researchers equate entrepreneurship with the study of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Researchers in the US often distinguish ethics from corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate social performance (CSP), stakeholder theory and stakeholder management with different theoretical models proposed in each of these areas. After discussing these various definitional issues, we review the empirical research on ethics in entrepreneurial firms, discussing what the results tell us, identifying gaps in prior research and concluding with recommendations for future research that draws more heavily on theoretical frameworks in the field of ethics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Louisville College of Business, 2301 South Third Street, Louisville, KY, 40208, USA

    Melissa S. Baucus

  2. Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, 801 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN, 40202, USA

    Philip L. Cochran

Authors
  1. Melissa S. Baucus
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  2. Philip L. Cochran
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Correspondence to Melissa S. Baucus .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of London, School of Management, Royal Holloway, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom

    Laura Spence

  2. Dept. Philosophy, DePaul University, N. Clifton Ave. 2352, Chicago, 60614, Illinois, USA

    Mollie Painter-Morland

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Baucus, M.S., Cochran, P.L. (2010). USA: An Overview of Empirical Research on Ethics in Entrepreneurial Firms Within the United States. In: Spence, L., Painter-Morland, M. (eds) Ethics in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. The International Society of Business, Economics, and Ethics Book Series, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9331-8_7

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