Ethics and the Corporate Structure

Newswise — A study co-authored by UAB forensic accounting expert Tommie Singleton, Ph.D., recently published in The Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, examined companies with and without clear ethics compliance policies and found that firms without some formal ethics policy were no more likely to experience fraud than firms with policies in place. "It is a surprise that ethics activities did not seem to lead to less fraud. It is possible ethics compliance activities led to a higher awareness, and thus more reports. Another explanation is that there is a correlation between ethics activities and firm size. Larger firms were much more likely to implement ethics activities but are also more susceptible to the instances of fraud."