Public interest in business ethics rose in the wake of the bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom and has become even more pronounced since the financial crisis of 2008. RAND takes an active role in improving public understanding of corporate governance and ethics issues, with research evaluating the effects of regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley on U.S. businesses, liability risk in the auditing industry, and the relationship between individual investors and the financial services industry.
The RAND Center for Corporate Ethics and Governance, or CCEG, is committed to improving public understanding of corporate ethics, law, and governance, and to identifying specific ways that businesses can operate ethically, legally, and profitably at the same time.
Commentary
Basic questions have been raised about the evolving role of boards, at a time when scandal and perceptions of corporate opportunism have resulted in a loss of public trust in the business community, writes Michael Greenberg.
Report
Explores the link between economic openness and companies' corporate governance practices in developing countries.
Announcement
Karen Elliott House, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, has been elected chairman of the RAND Corporation Board of Trustees.
Report
Surveys the literature on financial sustainability for nonprofit organizations, with an emphasis on urban and lower-resourced organizations, and discusses key themes and findings that may inform such organizations' operations and decisionmaking.
Report
On May 16, 2012, RAND hosted a symposium that brought together senior thought leaders for a discussion about organizational culture and the business and policy ramifications of efforts to build better ethical cultures in corporations.
News Release
Although hedge funds worsened the financial crisis in certain ways, the industry did not play a pivotal role compared to other agents, such as credit rating agencies, mortgage lenders, and issuers of credit default swaps. However, hedge funds do have the potential to contribute to disruptions of the U.S. financial system.
Report
Hedge funds did not play a pivotal role in the financial crisis compared to other agents, such as credit rating agencies, mortgage lenders, and issuers of credit default swaps. However, hedge funds do have the potential to contribute to disruptions of the U.S. financial system.
Research Brief
RAND research finds that hedge funds did not play a pivotal role in the financial crisis of 2007-2008 but assesses how such funds could contribute to systemic risk in the future.
Past Event
News headlines regularly report on corporate crime and prosecution, irresponsible behavior, and catastrophic risk-taking. On May 16, 2012, CCEG hosted an invitation-only symposium event to facilitate discussion on questions about how to build stronger ethical cultures within corporations and what the optimal role of government policy is in this regard.
Report
Examines the economics of financial firms, their governance practices, and governance-performance links.
Report
The debate over the new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower rules overshadows a deeper question for corporations and regulators—how best to reconcile strong compliance and internal reporting mechanisms with the incentives created by the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to report fraud directly to the SEC.
Commentary
The kerfuffle over Dodd-Frank conceals broad agreement that corporate fraud and misconduct are bad and that internal compliance mechanisms are intended to protect companies as well the community at large from bad behavior, write Michael Greenberg and Donna Boehme.
Report
Cloud computing is a model for enabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of computing resources—such as storage and applications—that can be rapidly provisioned with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. RAND Europe explored the security, privacy, and trust challenges that cloud computing poses.
Journal Article
Proactive involvement by corporate boards in compliance and ethics oversight is fundamental in generating a meaningful ethical culture within organizations, and in leading firms to regard Corporate Ethics and Governance as more than just a paper tiger.
Report
Presents findings from a survey and follow-up interviews of corporate counsel on their thinking about arbitration and its use in business-to-business contracts. The data fill a significant gap in the commercial arbitration literature.
Journal Article
There is a strong expectation by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) for boards to be directly involved in compliance and ethics (C&E) oversight, and the reporting relationship between the board and the manager of the compliance and ethics function, the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer (CECO) is viewed as central to that responsibility.
Report
The collapse of financial markets in late 2008 has invited renewed questions about the governance, compliance, and ethics practices of firms. RAND convened a symposium to explore the perspective and role of corporate boards of directors in overseeing ethics and compliance matters within their firms.
Past Event
Robert Jackson, Jr., the Deputy Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation will discuss the topic of executive compensation among companies who received financial assistance as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Journal Article
Evaluates managerial perception of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a stringent rules-based system widely considered the most comprehensive economic regulation since the New Deal.
Journal Article
Directors face newly heightened expectations to recognize and fulfill their responsibilities to oversee the company's management of compliance, ethics, and reputation risks.
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