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A Virtue Ethics Approach in Finance

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Handbook on Ethics in Finance

Part of the book series: International Handbooks in Business Ethics ((IHBE))

Abstract

The global financial crisis and the subsequent economic recession brought attention to bear on banking and financial activities. Although the financial crisis had several causes, financial and political economists have been largely concerned with the institutional side of the crisis, often marginalizing an ethical dimension as something that diverts attention from what they consider the real structural problems of a complex sector. This chapter (i) reviews existing literature on the ethics of finance from the perspective of virtue ethics and, based on that literature, (ii) offers an explanation of how the institutionalist perspective can be integrated with the ethical approach typical of virtue ethics, showing that finance can be an activity that enhances the good of those who practice it and similarly enhances the effectiveness of financial institutions to contribute to the good of society.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business, School of Economics and Business, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    Ignacio Ferrero & Andrea Roncella

  2. DCU Business School, Irish Institute of Digital Business, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Marta Rocchi

Authors
  1. Ignacio Ferrero
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  2. Andrea Roncella
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  3. Marta Rocchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ignacio Ferrero .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ECRI Ethics in Finance Research Group, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain

    Leire San-Jose

  2. ECRI Ethics in Finance & Social Value, Deusto Business School, Bilbo, Vizcaya, Spain

    José Luis Retolaza

  3. University of Antwerp, Antwerpen, Belgium

    Luc van Liedekerke

Section Editor information

  1. ECRI Ethics in Finance Research Group, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Bilbao, Spain

    Leire San-Jose

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Ferrero, I., Roncella, A., Rocchi, M. (2020). A Virtue Ethics Approach in Finance. In: San-Jose, L., Retolaza, J., van Liedekerke, L. (eds) Handbook on Ethics in Finance. International Handbooks in Business Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00001-1_25-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00001-1_25-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-00001-1

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