Unethical behaviour by professional accountants: a structured literature review

Liberty Maunzagona

International Journal of Law and Management, 2025, vol. 68, issue 3, 463-481

Abstract: PurposeThis study critically examines research done in the accounting field to uncover the determinants of unethical conduct by professional accountants. It seeks to determine the current state of knowledge of the factors driving the unethical decision-making process of professional accountants.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a qualitative narrative approach using non-probability sampling in the form of non-purposive sampling to select the relevant articles to use. These articles were analysed using a thematic approach to determine what conclusions were arrived at.FindingsMany studies have examined factors that influence unethical behaviour. However, many studies do not use a holistic approach in analysing the relative influence of each of the factors, and hence there are conflicting conclusions. Within the African context, political, social and legislative factors that appear to have a significant influence have not been thoroughly explored.Originality/valueThis study contributes a more precise understanding of the current state of knowledge determinants of unethical behaviour by professional accountants while identifying potential areas for future research and policy development.

Keywords: Accounting ethics; Ethical behaviour; Ethical decision-making; Ethics education; Unethical behaviour; Accounting regulation; Ethical values; Governance and ethics; Fraud auditing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijlmap:ijlma-06-2024-0214

DOI: 10.1108/IJLMA-06-2024-0214

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