Skip to main content
Log in

Unethical Demand and Employee Turnover

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper argues that consumer demand for unethical behavior such as fraud can impact employee turnover through market and psychological forces. Widespread conditions of unethical demand can improve career prospects for employees of unethical firms through higher income and stability associated with firm financial health. Similarly, unethical employees enjoy increased tenure from the financial and psychological rewards of prosocial behavior toward customers demanding corrupt or unethical behavior. We specifically examine the well-documented unethical demand for fraud in the vehicle emissions testing industry, and its impact on employee tenure. We use data from tests conducted by several thousand licensed inspectors to demonstrate that fraudulent employees and employees of fraudulent firms enjoy longer tenure. These results suggest further work to separate the multiple psychological and economic mechanisms likely driving our findings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. It is important to note that we do not argue that all fraud is necessarily unethical., Snyder (2010) for example, finds that doctors’ fraudulent use of intensive care units to procure transplant livers was likely motivated by concern for the patient, was used to protect the patient from other doctors’ misrepresentation, and had no observable social welfare cost in driving patient mortality.

  2. Pierce and Snyder (2012) use the same data as this paper.

  3. The economics and sociology literatures typically refer to fit as “match”.

  4. One can choose any cutpoint to define the categories that is theoretically justified, although it is important to adjust the cutpoint to assure that empirical findings are robust to this choice. While we will use 50 % as our cutpoint, we will also show that our results hold for other choices.

  5. We will interchangeably use the fraudulent/strict dichotomy with the lenient/strict dichotomy throughout the paper.

  6. It is important to note that Edwards (1994) introduces a number of specifications targeted toward specific hypotheses.

  7. If a driver has a registered vehicle weighing less than 8500 lbs., they must get it tested for hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxide (NOx). If their car is newer than 1981, they must choose a testing station at which to conduct the test. These testing facilities will be private companies, but will be licensed by the state. Vehicles will receive one of two tests: dynamometer and idle. In the idle test, the probe is inserted into the tailpipe while the car engine idles. This test is much easier to pass, as it doesn’t measure NO x levels. The dynamometer test measures exhaust at different engine RPM's.

  8. While such investigations are effective in some contexts (e.g., Levine et al. 2012), discussions with the state agency suggest that covert audits are very rare, due to the unwillingness of state workers to participate in them.

  9. Choosing a sample smaller is problematic for the reason that one cannot precisely estimate the true pass rate of a firm or individual inspector. For example, suppose that a particular inspector passes 90 % of the vehicles they see. If the sample size of inspections were 100, then over 40 % of the time we would observe a pass rate greater than 92 % or less than 88 %. With a sample size of 500 this percentage drops to less than 3 %. Nevertheless, our results are robust to changes in the sample size as documented in Appendix Table 6.

  10. Because we are using the 2 × 2 construct, we have to use seemingly arbitrary cutoffs. In unreported analysis—we verify that the choice of the cutoff threshold is not driving the results.

  11. Again, we note that the 50 % cutoff is consistent with evidence on actual fraud rates in this industry, but also that our results are robust to alternative cutoffs.

  12. We operate under the assumption that if the employee was with the facility during the last month of the sample that they stayed with the firm. If the employee is not with the firm during the last month of the sample the date of separation is the last inspection performed by the employee at the facility.

  13. Since the model is non-linear the interpretation of the interaction enters the equations non-linearly. Because the effect size is so small this is not substantively relevant in this case. We have run this as an OLS regression with both total tenure at the station and probability the inspector leaves the station as the dependent variable and found substantively similar results.

  14. In unreported results we use a continuous leniency variable. We find substantively similar results to those in Table (5).

  15. These results are available from the authors on request.

References

  • Anteby, M. (2008). Moral gray zones: Side productions, identity, and regulation in an aeronautic plant. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Anteby, M. (2010). Markets, morals, and practices of trade: Jurisdictional disputes in the U.S. commerce in cadavers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55, 606–638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashford, B., & Anand, V. (2003). The normalization of corruption in organizations. In R. Kramer & B. Staw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 25, pp. 1–52). Oxford: Elsevier.

  • Bagnoli, M., & Watts, S. G. (2003). Selling to socially responsible consumers: Competition and the private provision of public goods. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 12, 419–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banaji, M. R., Bazerman, M. H., & Chugh, D. (2003). How (un)ethical are you? Harvard Business Review, 81, 56–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1991). Social Cognitive Theory of Moral Thought and Action. In W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development, Vol. 1, Theory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

  • Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 71, 364–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, D. (2001). Private politics corporate social responsibility, and integrated strategy. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 10, 7–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batson, C. D. (1990). How social an animal? The human capacity for caring. American Psychologist, 45, 336–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bazerman, M. H., & Banaji, M. R. (2004). The social psychology of ordinary ethical failures. Social Justice Research, 17, 111–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, D., G. Jin, & P. Leslie. (2013). Inspection design and inspector behavior, Unpublished Working Paper.

  • Becker, B., & Milbourn, T. (2011). How did increased competition affect credit ratings? Journal of Financial Economics, 101(3), 493–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, V., Pierce, L., Snyder, J., & Toffel, M. (2013). Customer driven misconduct: How competition corrupts business practices. Management Science, 59(8), 1725–1742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand, M., Djankov, S., Hanna, R., & Mullainathan, S. (2006). Obtaining a driver’s license in India: An experimental approach to studying corruption. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122, 1639–1676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand, M., Luttmer, E., & Mullainathan, S. (2000). Network effects and welfare cultures. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 1019–1055.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2001). Do people mean what they say? Implications for subjective survey data. American Economic Review, 91, 67–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, P., Freixas, X., & Shapiro, J. (2012). The credit ratings game. Journal of Finance, 67(1), 85–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boxx, W. R., Odom, R., & Dunn, M. G. (1991). Organizational values and value congruency and their impact on satisfaction, commitment, and cohesion: An empirical examination within the public sector. Public Personnel Management, 20, 195–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bretz, R. D., & Judge, T. A. (1994). Person–organization fit and the theory of work adjustment: Implications for satisfaction tenure, and career success. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 32–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brief, A. P., & Motowidlo, S. J. (1986). Prosocial organizational behaviors. Academy of Management Review, 11, 710–725.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, A. C. (2008). Gross national happiness: Why happiness matters for America—And how we can get more of it. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. J., Mowen, J. C., Donavan, D. T., & Licata, J. W. (2002). The customer orientation of service workers: Personality trait determinants and effects on self- and supervisor performance ratings. Journal of Marketing Research, 39, 110–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cable, D., & Judge, T. (1997). Interviewers’ perceptions of person–organization fit and organizational selection decision. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 546–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cain, D. M., Loewenstein, G., & Moore, D. A. (2005). The dirt on coming clean: Perverse effects of disclosing conflicts of interest. Journal of Legal Studies, 34, 1–2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castilla, E. (2005). Social networks and employee performance in a call center. American Journal of Sociology, 110, 1243–1283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatman, J. A. (1989). Improving interactional organizational research: A model of person–organization fit. Academy of Management Review, 14, 333–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatman, J. A. (1991). Matching people and organizations: Selection and socialization in public accounting firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 459–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chay, K. Y., & Greenstone, M. (2003). The impact of air pollution on infant mortality: Evidence from geographic variation in pollution shocks induced by a recession. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118, 1121–1167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, B. G., & Schneider, B. (2002). Serving multiple masters: Role conflict experienced by service employees. Journal of Services Marketing, 16, 70–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Currie, J., Neidell, M., & Schmieder, J. F. (2009). Air pollution and infant health: Lessons from New Jersey. Journal of Health Economics, 28(3), 688–703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutler, D. M., Huckman, R. S., & Kolstad, J. T. (2010). Input constraints and the efficiency of entry: Lessons from cardiac surgery. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2, 51–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahling, J. J., Chau, S. L., Mayer, D. M., & Gregory, J. B. (2010). Breaking rules for the right reasons? An investigation of pro-social rule-breaking. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33, 21–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, W., III, Jiraporn, P., & DaDalt, P. (2006). Causes and consequences of audit shopping: An analysis of auditor opinion, earnings management, and auditor changes. Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics, 45(1), 69–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donavan, T., Brown, T. J., & Mowen, J. C. (2004). Internal benefits of service-worker customer orientation: Job satisfaction, commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The Journal of Marketing, 68, 128–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drugov, M. (2010). Competition in bureaucracy and corruption. Journal of Development Economics, 92(2), 107–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duggan, M., & Levitt, S. D. (2002). Winning isn’t everything: Corruption in sumo wrestling. The American Economic Review, 92, 1594–1605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. R. (1994). The study of congruence in organizational behavior research: Critique and a proposed alternative. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 58, 51–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. R., & Rothbard, N. P. (1999). Work and family stress and well-being: An examination of person–environment fit in the work and family domains. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 77, 85–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erat, S., & Gneezy, U. (2012). White lies. Management Science, 58(4), 723–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, D. C., Leana, C. R., & Bolino, M. C. (2002). Underemployment and relative deprivation among re-employed executives. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 75, 453–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, R. M., Castilla, E. J., & Moore, P. (2000). Social capital at work: Networks and employment at a phone center. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 1288–1356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisman, R., & Miguel, E. (2007). Corruption norms, and legal enforcement: Evidence from diplomatic parking tickets. Journal of Political Economy, 115, 1020–1048.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flannery, B. L., & May, D. R. (2000). Environmental ethical decision making in the U.S. metal-finishing industry. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 642–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, R. C., & Richardson, W. D. (1994). Ethical decision-making: A review of the empirical literature. Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 205–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French, J. R. P, Jr, Caplan, R. D., & Harrison, R. V. (1982). The mechanisms of job stress and strain. London: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., Ayal, S., & Ariely, D. (2008). Contagion and differentiation in unethical behavior. Psychological Science, 20(3), 393–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., Ayal, S., & Ariely, D. (2013). Self-serving altruism? The lure of unethical actions that benefit others. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization,. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2013.04.005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., & Bazerman, M. H. (2009). When misconduct goes unnoticed: The acceptability of gradual erosion in others’ unethical behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 708–719.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., & Galinsky, A. D. (2012). Vicarious dishonesty: When psychological closeness creates distance from one’s moral compass. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 119(1), 15–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., & Pierce, L. (2009). Dishonesty in the name of equity. Psychological Science, 20(9), 89–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., & Pierce, L. (2010a). Robin Hood under the hood: Wealth-based discrimination in illicit customer help. Organization Science, 21, 1176–1194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., & Pierce, L. (2010b). Lying to level the playing field: Why people may dishonestly help or hurt others to restore equity. Journal of Business Ethics, 95(1), 89–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gino, F., Shu, L., & Bazerman, M. (2010). Nameless + harmless = blameless: When seemingly irrelevant factors influence judgment of (un) ethical behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 111(2), 93–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M. (2007). Relational job design and the motivation to make a prosocial difference. Academy of Management Review, 32, 393–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M., & Campbell, E. M. (2007). Doing good doing harm, being well and burning out: The interactions of perceived prosocial and antisocial impact in service work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 80, 665–691.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 946–955.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M., & Sonnentag, S. (2010). Doing good buffers against feeling bad: Prosocial impact compensates for negative task and self-evaluations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 111, 13–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, E. A., & Marks, N. F. (2004). Formal volunteering as a protective factor for older adults’ psychological well-being. Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59, S258–S264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griliches, Z. (1971). Price indexes and quality change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Grojean, M., Resick, C., Dickson, M., & Smith, D. (2004). Leaders values, and organizational climate: Examining leadership strategies for establishing an organizational climate regarding ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 55, 223–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard, T. N. (1998). An empirical examination of moral hazard in the vehicle inspection market. Rand Journal of Economics, 29, 406–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard, T. N. (2002). How do consumers motivate experts? Reputational incentives in an auto repair market. Journal of Law and Economics, 45, 437–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huckman, R. S., & Pisano, G. P. (2006). The firm specificity of individual performance: Evidence from cardiac surgery. Management Science, 52, 473–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S. D., & Vitelli, S. (1986). A general theory of marketing ethics. Journal of Macromarketing (Spring), 1–12.

  • Hunt, S. D., Wood, V. R., & Chonko, L. B. (1989). Corporate ethical values and organizational commitment in marketing. Journal of Marketing, 53, 79–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irwin, J., & McClelland, G. (2003). Negative consequences of dichotomizing continuous predictor variables. Journal of Marketing Research, 40(3), 366–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansen, K. J., & Kristof-Brown, A. L. (2005). Marching to the beat of a different drummer: Examining the impact of pacing congruence. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97, 93–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, G. J., & Johnson, W. R. (1999). Perceived over qualification and health: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Social Psychology, 139, 14–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision-making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of Management Review, 16, 366–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jovanovic, B. (1979). Job matching and the theory of turnover. Journal of Political Economy, 87, 90–972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolstad, J. (2012). Information and quality when motivation is intrinsic: Evidence from surgeon report cards. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. w18804.

  • Kristof, A. L. (1996). Person–organization fit: An integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications. Personnel Psychology, 49, 1–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristof-Brown, A. L., Barrick, M. R., & Stevens, C. K. (2005a). When opposites attract: A multi-sample demonstration of complementary person–team fit on extraversion. Journal of Personality, 73, 935–958.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005b). Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: A metaaanalysis of person–job, person–organization, person–group, and person–supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58, 281–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larkin, I. (2013). The cost of high-powered incentives: Employee gaming in enterprise software sales. Journal of Labor Economics.

  • Laufer, W. S., & Robertson, D. C. (1997). Corporate ethics initiatives as social control. Journal of Business Ethics, 16, 1029–1048.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lev, B. I., Petrovits, C., & Radhakrishnan, S. (2008). Is doing good, good for you? How corporate charitable contributions enhance revenue growth. Strategic Management Journal, 31, 182–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, D., Toffel, M., & Johnson, M. (2012). Randomized government safety inspections reduce worker injuries with no detectable job loss. Science, 336, 907–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, M., & Dubinsky, A. J. (1983). Identifying and addressing retail salespeople’s ethical problems: A method and application. Journal of Retailing, 59, 46–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loe, T. W., Ferrell, L., & Mansfield, P. (2000). A review of empirical studies assessing ethical decision making in business. Journal of Business Ethics, 25, 185–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazar, N., & Aggarwal, P. (2011). Greasing the palm: Can collectivism promote bribery? Psychological Science, 22(7), 843–848.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazar, N., Amir, O., & Ariely, D. (2008). The dishonesty of honest people: A theory of self-concept maintenance. Journal of Marketing Research, 45(6), 633–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miceli, M. P., & Near, J. P. (1992). What makes whistle-blowers effective? Three field studies. Human Relations, 55, 455–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, C. (2008). Moral disengagement in process of organizational corruption. Journal of Business Ethics, 80, 129–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, E. W. (2006). Doing the job well: An investigation of pro-social rule breaking. Journal of Management, 32(1), 5–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, P. R. (2010). The attitude toward and rationalization of fraudulent financial reporting. Working Paper, Queen’s University.

  • Murphy, P. R., & Dacin, M. T. (2011). Psychological pathways to fraud: Understanding and preventing fraud in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(4), 601–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Musick, M. A., & Wilson, J. (2003). Volunteering and depression: The role of psychological and social resources in different age groups. Social Science and Medicine, 56, 259–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Near, M. P., & Miceli, J. P. (1988). Individual and situational correlates of whistle-blowing. Personnel Psychology, 41, 267–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliva, P. (2013). Environmental Regulations and Corruption: Automobile Emissions in Mexico, Unpublished Working Paper.

  • O’Reilly, C. A., Chatman, J., & Caldwell, D. F. (1991). People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person–organization fit. Academy of Management Journal, 34, 487–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlitzky, M., Schmidt, F. L., & Rynes, S. L. (2003). Corporate social and financial performance: A meta-analysis. Organization Studies, 24(3), 403–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, J. F. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettijohn, C., Pettijohn, L., & Taylor, A. J. (2008). Salesperson perceptions of ethical behaviors: Their influence on satisfaction and turnover intentions. Journal of Business Ethics, 78, 547–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, L., & Snyder, J. A. (2008). Ethical spillovers in firms: Evidence from vehicle emissions testing. Management Science, 54, 1891–1903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, L., & Snyder, J. A. (2011). Discretion and manipulation by experts: Evidence from a vehicle emissions policy change. B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 13(3), 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, L., & Toffel, M. (2013). The role of organizational scope and governance in strengthening private regulatory monitoring. Organization Science, 24(5), 1291–1315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto, J., Leana, C. R., & Pil, F. K. (2008). Corrupt organizations or organizations of corrupt individuals? Two types of organization-level corruption. Academy of Management Review, 33, 685–709.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ponemon, L. A. (1992). Ethical reasoning and selection-socialization in accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 17, 239–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, S., & Bennett, R. (1995). A typology of deviant workplace behaviors: A multidimensional study. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 555–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, E., Watson, M., & Goldberger, B. (2011). Bath salts intoxication. New England Journal of Medicine, 365(10), 967–968.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruegger, D., & King, E. W. (1992). A study of the effect of age and gender upon student business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 11, 179–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaller, M., & Cialdini, R. B. (1988). The economics of empathic helping: Support for a mood management motive. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 24, 163–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, B. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology, 40, 437–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, M. (2003). Impermanent institutionalization: The duration dependence of organizational rules. Industrial and Corporate Change, 12, 1077–1098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, N. (1999). Self-reports: How the questions shape the answers. American Psychologist, 54, 93–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schweitzer, M. E., & Croson, R. (1999). Curtailing deception: The impact of direct questions on lies and omissions. The International Journal of Conflict Management, 10, 225–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serwinek, P. J. (1992). Demographic and related differences in ethical views among small businesses. Journal of Business Ethics, 11, 555–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shleifer, A. (2004). Does competition destroy ethical behavior. American Economic Review, 94, 414–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sicilian, P. (1995). Employer search and worker–firm match quality. Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 35, 515–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, J. C. (1987). Wall street’s courting of MBAs proceeds apace despite scandals. Wall Street Journal, 2, 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Small, D., & Loewenstein, G. (2003). Helping a victim or helping the victim: Altruism and identifiability. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 26(1), 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, J. A. (2010). Gaming the liver transplant market. Journal of Law Economics and Organization, 26, 546–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K. (1986). Ethical decision making in organizations: A person–situation interactionist model. Academy of Management Review, 11, 601–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K., & Youngblood, S. A. (1990). Bad apples in bad barrels: A causal analysis of ethical decision-making behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 378–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umphress, E. E., & Bingham, J. B. (2011). When employees do bad things for good reasons: Examining unethical pro-organizational behaviors. Organization Science, 22(3), 621–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umphress, E. E., Bingham, J. B., & Mitchell, M. S. (2010). Unethical behavior in the name of the company: The moderating effect of organizational identification and positive reciprocity beliefs on unethical pro-organizational behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95, 769–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, S., Godkin, L., Fleischman, G. M., & Kidwell, R. (2010). Corporate ethical values group creativity, job satisfaction and intention: The impact of work context on work response. Journal of Business Ethics, 98, 353–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, S., Godkin, L., & Lucero, M. (2002). Ethical context organizational commitment, and person–organization fit. Journal of Business Ethics, 41, 349–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vancouver, J. B., & Schmitt, N. W. (1991). An exploratory examination of person–organization fit: Organizational goal congruence. Personnel Psychology, 44, 333–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, D. E. (2003). Constructive and destructive deviance in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 28, 622–632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watts, R. L., & Zimmerman, J. L. (1983). Agency problems auditing, and the theory of the firm: Some evidence. Journal of Law and Economics, 26, 613–633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G. R., Trevino, L. K., & Cochran, P. L. (1999). Integrated and decoupled corporate social performance: Management commitments, external pressures, and corporate ethics practices. The Academy of Management Journal, 42, 539–552.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, G. M., & Clark, M. S. (1989). Providing help and desired relationship type as determinants of changes in moods and self-evaluations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 722–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiltermuth, S. (2011). Cheating more when the spoils are split. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115(2), 157–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiltermuth, S., Bennett, V., Pierce, L. (2013). Doing as they would do: How the ethical preferences of third-party beneficiaries impact ethical decision-making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 122(2), 280–290.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lamar Pierce.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 6.

Table 6 Cox model robustness to sample specification

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pierce, L., Snyder, J.A. Unethical Demand and Employee Turnover. J Bus Ethics 131, 853–869 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-2018-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-2018-2

Keywords

Navigation