Definition
Fundamental to the notion of conflict of interest is the idea that someone’s ability to exercise proper judgment is at risk of being affected by a personal interest or by a competing duty. These extraneous factors interfere with judgment not as ends that a decision-maker has in view but as factors that tend to influence the ends in view. The presence of such factors puts at risk the decision-maker’s ability to evaluate the weight to be given to the relevant considerations on which the decision is based, irrespective of his desire to resist the temptation of self-interest. The main danger in a conflict of interest situation is the risk of unreliable judgment rather than corruption.
Introduction
A conflict of interest situation arises when a person who has a preexisting obligation to exercise judgment over the interests of another has a personal interest or duty that tends to interfere with the proper exercise of his judgment (Davis 1982). Conflicts of interest can arise in...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Cain DM et al (2005) The dirt on coming clean: perverse effects of disclosing conflicts of interest. J Leg Stud 34:1
Davis M (1982) Conflict of interest. Bus Prof Ethics J 1:17
Davis M (1993) Conflict of interest revisited. Bus Prof Ethics J 12:21
Davis M (1998) Conflict of interest. In: Chadwick R (ed) Encyclopedia of applied ethics, vol 1. Academic Press, London, p 589
Davis M (2001) Introduction. In: Davis M, Stark A (eds) Conflict of interest in the professions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 3
Kahneman D et al (eds) (1982) Judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Miller DT (2005) Psychologically naïve assumptions about the perils of self-interest. In: Moore DA et al (eds) Conflicts of interest: challenges and solutions in business, law, medicine, and public policy. Cambridge University Press, New York, p 126
Moore DA, Loewenstein G (2004) Self-interest, automaticity, and the psychology of conflict of interest. Soc Justice Res 17:189
Nisbett RE, Wilson TD (1977) Telling more than we can know: verbal reports on mental processes. Psychol Rev 84:231
Norman W, MacDonald C (2010) Conflicts of interest. In: Brenkert G, Beauchamp T (eds) The Oxford handbook of business ethics. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 441
Pronin E (2006) Perception and misperception of bias in human judgment. Trends Cogn Sci 11:37
Stark A (2000) Conflicts of interest in American public life. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Valsan R (2016) Fiduciary duties, conflict of interest and proper exercise of judgment. McGill Law J 62:1
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Valsan, R. (2017). Conflict of Interest. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Conflict of Interest- Published:
- 05 August 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-2
-
Original
Conflict of Interest- Published:
- 15 March 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-1