Ethical Behaviour of Firms and Competitiveness in Central-Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States

This contribution investigates the responsible conduct of businesses in emerging markets, particularly with reference to the economies of the Central-Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States. After a theoretical review of literature, a cross-country empirical analysis has been conducted through an adequate regression model (OLS & Panel Data) in order to test the hypotheses of the research: data and information from 21 economies (executive opinion survey), from 2006/07 to 2013/14 (along eight years), are thus scrutinized. Ultimately, it emerges that business ethics (which in more recent years is not increasing) thrives especially where public institutions and infrastructures quality are reputed more satisfying and reliable; in turn, ethics is positively associated especially with some corporate governance/performance issues (as the protection of minority shareholders’ interests), as well as the financial market development. Findings are robust in terms of R-squared, F-test, etc. The study can be included in the academic business ethics research framework, a branch of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business & society literature, with the scope to explain the major features and context conditions of business ethics in such challenging economies, evidencing the possible interrelation with competitiveness indicators and sub-indicators achieved in recent times.