Abstract
The present book chapter firstly tackles general characteristics and key concepts of business ethics, defined as the theory of right conduct in the business environment. Business ethics is also scrutinized within the dynamics of the tax game between contributors and tax authorities, where only tax compliance may be qualified as genuine ethical behavior. As it unravels, the book chapter focuses on the ethical precepts guiding institutions and businesses that activate within the public and private economic sectors in Romania. Namely, it discusses the ethics codes of professional accountants, fiscal civil servants and banking sector employees, all categories being expected to act following common precepts like confidentiality, integrity, transparency, nondiscrimination and professionalism. Besides theoretical considerations on the Romanian business ethics guidelines, the chapter includes a brief literature review of the studies performed by academic researchers and international organizations on Romanian consumers, employees, students, Western managers and economic entities activating in Romania. Among these, the study conducted by Transparency International Romania (TI-RO) in 2011 on 631 companies is the most noticeable. According to their results, businesses in Romania still have to make considerable efforts in the process of institutionalizing ethics.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Al-Khatib JA, Robertson CJ, Lascu D-N (2004) Post-communist consumer ethics: the case of Romania. J Bus Ethics 54:81–95
Alm J, Torgler B (2011) Do ethics matter? tax compliance and morality? J Bus Ethics 101:635–665
Ambrose D, Cross T (eds) (2009) Morality, ethics, and gifted minds. Springer, New York, NY
Aragon GA (2011) Financial ethics: a positivist analysis. Oxford University Press, New York, NY
https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/about-us/contact-us/report-fraud,-tax-evasion-or-a-tax-planning-scheme/. Accessed 5 Apr 2016
Audi R (2010) The place of ethical theory in business ethics. In: Brenkert GG, Beauchamp TL (eds) The oxford handbook of business ethics. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp 46–69
Bageac D, Furrer O, Reynaud E (2011) Management students’ attitudes toward business ethics: a comparison between France and Romania. J Bus Ethics 98:391–406
Bartkus BR, Glassman M (2008) Do firms practice what they preach? The relationship between mission statements and stakeholder management. J Bus Ethics 83:207–216
Batrancea L, Chirila I, Nichita RA (2014) Fathoming tax havens climate through a consequentialist versus a deontological moral lens. Annals of the “Constantin Brancusi” University of Targu Jiu, Economy Series 2:61–70
Blumenthal M, Christian C (2004) Tax preparers. In: Aaron HJ, Slemrod J (eds) The crisis in tax administration. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp 201–229
Boatright JR (2014) Ethics in finance. Wiley, Chichester
Boldizar A, Korhonen O (1999) Ethics, morals and international law. Eur J Int Law 10(2):279–311
Bowen EF (1992) The role of business in three levels of literacy. In: Freeman RE (ed) Business ethics: the state of the art. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp 177–187
Buckley M (2013) A constructivist approach to business ethics. J Bus Ethics 117:695–706
Callaghan M, Wood G (2014) The engagement with business ethics. Eur Bus Rev 26(4):286–304
Carroll AB, Buchholtz AK (2015) Business & society: ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management, 9th edn. Cengage Learning, Stamford, CT
Carson TL (2003) Self-interest and business ethics: some lessons of the recent corporate scandals. J Bus Ethics 43(4):389–394
CECCAR (2011) Codul etic naţional al profesioniştilor contabili [The national code of ethics for professional accountants]. Available at: http://ceccar.ro/ro/?portfolio=codul-etic-national-al-profesionistilor-contabili. Accessed 2 Apr 2016
Chan KC, Fung H-G, Yau J (2010) Business ethics research: a global perspective. J Bus Ethics 95:39–53
Chatterjee K, Samuelson WF (2001) Game theory and business applications. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Clegg SR, Rhodes C (2006) Introduction: questioning the ethics of management practice. In: Clegg CR, Rhodes C (eds) Management ethics: contemporary contexts. Routledge, New York, NY, pp 1–10
Crossman J, Doshi V (2015) When not knowing is a virtue: a business ethics perspective. J Bus Ethics 131:1–8
de Bruin B (2015) Ethics and the global financial crisis: why incompetence is worse than greed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
De Cremer D, de Bettignies H-C (2013) Pragmatic business ethics. Bus Strategy Rev 24(2):64–67
DesJardins J (2011) An introduction to business ethics, 4th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY
Devos K, Zackrisson M (2015) Tax compliance and the public disclosure of tax information: an Australia/Norway comparison. eJournal Tax Res 13(1):108–129
Dobson J (1997) Finance ethics: the rationality of virtue. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Donaldson T (1989) The ethics of international business. Oxford University Press, New York, NY
Elffers H, Weigel RH, Hessing DJ (1987) The consequences of different strategies for measuring tax evasion behaviour. J Econ Psychol 8(3):311–337
Enderle G (2015) Exploring and conceptualizing international business ethics. J Bus Ethics 127:723–735
Fellmeth AX, Horwitz M (2009) Guide to Latin in international law. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
Ferrell OC, Fraedrich J, Ferrell L (2013) Business ethics: ethical decision making and cases, 9th edn. South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, OH
Floyd LA, Xu F, Atkins R, Caldwell C (2013) Ethical outcomes and business ethics: toward improving business ethics education. J Bus Ethics 117:753–776
Franzoni L (2000) Tax evasion and tax compliance. In: Bouckaert B, De Geest G (eds) Encyclopedia of law and economics, vol 14. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, pp 51–94
Garcia SM, Chen P, Gordon MT (2014) The letter versus the spirit of the law: a lay perspective on culpability. Judgement Decis Mak 9(5):479–490
Ghere RK (2015) Introduction. In: Frederickson HG, Ghere RK (eds) Ethics in public management, 2nd edn. Routledge, New York, NY, pp 3–22
Gilbert J (2012) Ethics for managers: philosophical foundations and business realities. Routledge, New York, NY
Gill M (2009) Accountant’s truth: knowledge and ethics in the financial world. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Government Ordinance no. 65/1994, on organizing the activity of accounting expertize and of certified accountants, published in the Official Gazette, Part. I, no. 243/30.08.1994
Hadjikhani A, Thilenius P (2005) The impact of horizontal and vertical connections on relationships’ commitment and trust. J Bus Ind Mark 20(3):136–147
Hazard GC Jr (1995) Law, morals, and ethics. Faculty scholarship series, Paper 2372
Hendry J (2013) Ethics and finance: an introduction. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY
HM Revenue & Customs (2015) Measuring tax gaps 2015 edition: tax gap estimates for 2013–2014
Horner J (2003) Morality, ethics, and the law: introductory concepts. Semin Speech Lang 24(4):263–274
http://www.arb.ro/cod-de-etica-bancara/. Accessed 3 Apr 2016
http://www.ibe.org.uk. Accessed 6 April 2016
http://www.mfinante.ro. Accessed 3 Apr 2016
https://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/Prezentare_R/codul_etic_inspector.htm. Accessed 2 Apr 2016
https://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/Relatii_R/Raport_final_05112015.pdf. Accessed 5 Apr 2016
https://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/Prezentare_R/Cod_etic_functionar.htm. Accessed 3 Apr 2016
Institute of Business Ethics (2013) Tax avoidance as an ethical issue for business. Bus Ethics Briefing 31:1–4
Jackson T, Artola MC (1997) Ethical beliefs and management behaviour: a cross-cultural comparison. J Bus Ethics 16(11):1163–1173
James S, Alley C (2002) Tax compliance, self-assessment and tax administration. J Finance Manage Public Serv 2(2):27–42
Kastlunger B, Lozza E, Kirchler E, Schabmann A (2013) Powerful authorities and trusting citizens: the slippery slope framework and tax compliance in Italy. J Econ Psychol 34:36–45
Kirchler E (2007) The economic psychology of tax behaviour. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Kirchler E, Hoelzl E, Wahl I (2008) Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: the “slippery slope framework”. J Econ Psychol 29(2):210–225
Kirchler E, Kogler C, Muehlbacher S (2014) Cooperative tax compliance: from deterrence to deference. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 23(2):87–92
Kogler C, Batrancea L, Nichita A, Pantya J, Belianin A, Kirchler E (2013) Trust and power as determinants of tax compliance: testing the assumptions of the slippery slope framework in Austria, Hungary, Romania and Russia. J Econ Psychol 34(1):169–180
Kolb RW (2008) Encyclopedia of business ethics and society. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA
Lamb RB (1999) Ethics in financial services. Bus Soc Rev 104(1):13–17
Law no. 200/2004, on the recognition of diplomas and professional qualifications for regulated professions from Romania, published in the Official Gazette. Part 1, no. 500/03.06.2004
Law no. 82/1991, on accountancy, republished in the Official Gazette, Part 1, no. 454/18.06.2008
Lewis A (1982) The psychology of taxation. Martin Robertson, Oxford
Luetge C (2012) Handbook of the philosophical foundations of business ethics. Springer, The Netherlands
Mailath GJ, Samuelson L (2006) Repeated games and reputations: long-run relationships. Oxford University Press, New York, NY
McGuire JB, Sundgren A, Schneeweis T (1988) Corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance. Acad Manag J 31(4):854–872
Menzel DC (2015) Ethics management for public administrators: leading and building organizations of integrity, 2nd edn. Routledge, New York, NY
Miller JD (2003) Game theory at work: how to use game theory to outthink and outmaneuver your competition. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY
Mitchell SL, Stern Switzer C (2013) GRC assessment tools (OCEG Burgundy Book) 3.0. Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG)
Mitchell SL, Stern Switzer C, Mefford J (2009) GRC capability model: “Red Book” 3.0. Open Compliance & Ethics Group (OCEG)
Moran RT, Abramson NR (2014) Managing cultural differences, 9th edn. Routledge, Oxon
Morgan E (2011) Navigating cross-cultural ethics: what global managers do right to keep from going wrong. Routledge, New York, NY
Muehlbacher S, Kirchler E, Schwarzenberger H (2011) Voluntary versus enforced compliance: empirical evidence for the “slippery slope” framework. Eur J Law Econ 32:89–97
Nayar V (2009) Profits, ethics, and trust. Available at Harvard Business Review website: https://hbr.org/2009/01/no-profits-without-ethics/. Accessed 4 Apr 2016
Neal M, Finlay J, Karkoulian S, Catana D, Pellegrino R (2015) How business students view corruption, and why this should concern us: insights from Lebanon, Romania and the United States. Tert Educ Manag 21(2):140–159
NEF (2012) The happy planet index: 2012 report. A global index of sustainable well-being. The New Economics Foundation, London, UK
OECD (2014) How’s life? 2015: measuring well-being. OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2015) Building tax culture, compliance and citizenship: a global source book on taxpayer education. OECD Publishing, Paris
Ostas DT (2004) Cooperate, comply, or evade? a corporate executive’s social responsibilities with regard to the law. Am Bus Law J 41:559–594
Pitta DA, Fung H-G, Isberg S (1999) Ethical issues across cultures: managing the differing perspectives of China and the USA. J Consum Mark 16(3):240–256
Poitras G (2009) The early history of option contracts. In: Hafner W, Zimmermann H (eds) Vinzenz Bronzin’s option pricing models: exposition and appraisal. Springer, Berlin, pp 487–518
Reckers PMJ, Sanders DL, Roark SJ (1994) The influence of ethical attitudes on taxpayer compliance. Nat Tax J 47:825–836
Rendtorff JD (2009) Responsibility, ethics and legitimacy of corporation. Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen
Rossouw D, Stückelberger C (eds) (2011) Global survey of business ethics in teaching, training, and research. Globethics.net, Geneva
Rountree MM, O’Keefe RD, Chadraba PG (2014) A cross-cultural study of ethics: The United States, Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic. J East-West Bus 20(1):68–92
Sakurai Y, Braithwaite V (2003) Taxpayer’s perceptions of practitioners: finding one who is effective and does the right thing? J Bus Ethics 46(4):375–387
Sikka P (2012) Smoke and mirrors: corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance. In: Haynes K, Dillard JF, Murray A (eds) Corporate social responsibility: a research handbook. Routledge, Oxon, pp 53–84
Sims RR (2003) Ethics and corporate social responsibility: why giants fall. Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT
Sirgy MJ, Lee D-J (2007) Ethical foundations of well-being marketing. In: Volcox MV, Mohan TO (eds) Contemporary issues in business ethics. Nova Science, New York, NY, pp 49–66
Solomon RC (1997) It’s good business: ethics and free enterprise for the new millennium. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham
Song Y-D, Yarbrough TE (1978) Tax ethics and taxpayer attitudes: a survey. Public Adm Rev 38(5):442–452
Spranca M, Minsk E, Baron J (1991) Omission and commission in judgement and choice. J Exp Soc Psychol 27:76–105
Stark A (1993) What’s the matter with business ethics? Harvard Bus Rev
Steinberg SS, Austen DT (1990) Government, ethics, and managers: a guide to solving ethical dilemmas in the public sector. Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT
Steinmann H, Scherer AG (1998) Corporate ethics and global business: philosophical considerations on intercultural management. In: Kumar BN, Steinmann H (eds) Ethics in international management. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, pp 1–10
Sternberg E (1996) In defense of finance: understanding fiduciary responsibility and conflicts of interest. In: Hoffman WM, Brown Kamm J, Frederick RE, Petry ES (eds) The ethics of accounting and finance: trust, responsibility. Quorum Books, Westport, CT, pp 10–17
Sternberg E (2001) The importance of business ethics. In: Malachowski AR (ed) Business ethics: critical perspectives on business and management, vol 1. Routledge, London, pp 9–20
Stoian C, Zaharia RM (2012) CSR development in post-communist economies: employees’ expectations regarding corporate socially responsible behaviour—The case of Romania. Bus Ethics Eur Rev 21(4):380–401
Strauss E (1998) Concise dictionary of european proverbs. Routledge, New York, NY
Su Z, Richelieu A (1999) Western managers working in Romania: perception and attitude regarding business ethics. J Bus Ethics 20(2):133–146
Svensson G, Wood G (2008) A model of business ethics. J Bus Ethics 77:303–322
Transparency International Romania (2011) Integritatea în mediul de afaceri din România: cercetare asupra mecanismelor de instituţionalizare a eticii în companii [Integrity in the business environment in Romania: research on the mechanisms of institutionalizing ethics in companies]
Treviňo LK, Nelson KA (2011) Managing business ethics: straight talk about how to do it right, 5th edn. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ
Treviňo LK, Weaver GR (2012) Managing ethics in business organizations: social scientific perspectives. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA
Trompenaars F, Hampden-Turner C (1998) Riding the waves of culture: understanding cultural diversity in business, 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY
Tsalikis J, Fritzsche DJ (1989) Business ethics: a literature review with a focus on marketing ethics. J Bus Ethics 8(9):695–743
Tsalikis J, Fu W (2010) Business ethics index: China revisited. J Glob Bus Leaders 4(1):79–84
Tsalikis J, Seaton B (2006) Business ethics index: measuring consumer sentiments toward business ethical practices. J Bus Ethics 64(4):317–326
Tsalikis J, Seaton B (2007a) Business ethics index: USA 2006. J Bus Ethics 72:163–175
Tsalikis J, Seaton B (2007b) International business ethics index: the European Union. J Bus Ethics 75:229–238
Tsalikis J, Seaton B (2008a) Consumer perceptions of business ethical behavior in former eastern block countries. J Bus Ethics 82(4):919–928
Tsalikis J, Seaton B (2008b) The international business ethics index: Japan. J Bus Ethics 80(2):379–385
Tsalikis J, Seaton B (2014) Business ethics index: Latin America. J Bus Ethics 119:209–218
Tsalikis J, Seaton B, Li T (2008) The international business ethics index: Asian emerging economies. J Bus Ethics 80(4):643–651
Tsalikis J, Seaton B, Shepherd P (2011) The business ethics index as a leading economic indicator. J Bus Ethics 99(4):519–525
van Drimmelen R (2013) New business models for sustainable development. In: Kauffman J, Leeds K-M (eds) Handbook of sustainable development. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 859–879
Van Horne JC (2001) Financial management and policy, 12th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
Van Liedekerke L, Van Gerwen J, Cassimon D (2000) Explorations in financial ethics. Peeters, Leuven
Vaux R (2013) What is the difference between unethical & ethical advertising? Houston Chronicle: Small Business
Wahl I, Kastlunger B, Kirchler E (2010) Trust in authorities and power to enforce tax compliance: an empirical analysis of the “slippery slope framework”. Law Policy 32:383–406
Webley P (2004) Tax compliance by businesses. In: Sjögren H, Skogh G (eds) New perspectives on economic crime. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, pp 95–126
Weiss JW (2014) Business ethics: a stakeholder and issues management approach, 6th edn. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, CA
Wenzel M (2005) Motivation or rationalisation? Causal relations between ethics, norms and tax compliance. J Econ Psychol 26(4):491–508
Widdowson D (1998) Managing compliance: more carrot, less stick. In: Evans C, Greenbaum A (eds) Tax administration: facing the challenges of the future. Prospect, Sydney, pp 99–104
Wilkinson T (2015) Capitalism and human values. Imprint Academic, Exeter
World Bank Group & PricewaterhouseCoopers (2015) Paying taxes 2016 report
Yeoh P (2010) Teaching ethics in financial services law. The Law Teacher 44(1):59–74
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a grant of the Babes-Bolyai University through the Grants for Young Researchers Program, project no. GTC 31780/01.04.2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Batrancea, L., Nichita, A., Batrancea, I. (2018). Precepts of Business Ethics on the Romanian Market. In: Bian, J., Çalıyurt, K. (eds) Regulations and Applications of Ethics in Business Practice. Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud: Theory and Application. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8062-3_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8062-3_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-8060-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-8062-3
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)