Credit, Speculation, Legislation, and Reputation: The Evolution of the Discourse on Commercial Morality in England and Beyond

Janet Hunter

Chapter Chapter 2 in 'Deficient in Commercial Morality'?, 2016, pp 9-31 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Chapter 2 discusses the emergence in the early nineteenth century of British debates on commercial morality, when the growth of business provoked increasing concerns about fraudulent business practice facilitated by enhanced opportunities for cheating. Apart from moral considerations per se, many argued that cheating might deliver a quick profit, but jeopardised long-term success by endangering repeated transactions and causing reputational risk. Similar debates emerged in the more industrialised economies of Western Europe and North America. Participants in this transnational discourse sought to clarify links between economic prosperity, the growth of credit on which it relied, and the presence or absence of trust and wider ethical practice.

Keywords: Britain; Business ethics; Commercial morality; Business fraud (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palscp:978-1-137-58682-7_2

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DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-58682-7_2

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