Agents and Norms Inside the Firm: Compliance Officials, Risk Analysis and Compliance Behaviors

Abstract

In making decisions about their compliance with the law, firms are constrained not only by their environment, but also their agents' understanding of whose (or what) interests the corporation should serve. In particular, compliance officials' understandings will frame and influence their calculation of the value, benefits and costs of compliance activities. Corporate cultures regarding risk and compliance may contain not only instrumental and adaptive elements, but also latent identities. This paper uses data from a survey of the officials responsible for compliance in 999 large Australian businesses to examine (1) perceptions of the costs and benefits of compliance; and (2) reports of the f..