Moral Cents: The Journal of Ethics in Finance (Summer/Fall 2012)

The reader will discern a couple of themes in an entertaining mixture of articles in this issue of Moral Cents. They are, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and real estate markets. The CSR term is brandished too glibly and is at risk of losing its significance. Nevertheless, the CSR movement is growing as more corporations in the U.S. and abroad sign up to the philosophy of doing good while doing well. Anna Kimbrell writes about a new type of legal business form called Benefit Corporations, which are for businesses motivated to create social and environmental benefits as well as profits. Biyan Tang reports on CSR in China with an interview with Mr. Li Weiyang of the State Grid Corporation of China. Mr. Li is deeply involved with CSR in China and gives a State Owned Enterprise’s view of the movement.

The previous issue of Moral Cents had an article analyzing executive compensation in the U.S. Discussion of the vexed subject continues in this issue with an article on cross-cultural comparisons of executive compensation. The author Ji Soo Yim investigates executive compensation in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and South Korea.

Dr. Olivier Mesly gives an account of financial predation from a neuroscience perspective. This unique and multidisciplinary paper examines the neurobiological mechanisms supporting the Mesly model, which states that perceived predation influences trust and cooperation between a financial predator and his clients.

Finally, the other theme in this issue of Moral Cents is real estate. Peter Tilley’s paper tackles the issue of the proper role and responsibilities of the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), a neglected area in the post-crisis chaos of mortgage refinancing and foreclosure. Jane Li writes on property rights and economic justice on the other side of the world. Her article highlights the peculiar structure of the property market in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). She chose to title her paper, “Hong Kong’s Housing Game: Four Giants and Seven Million Commons”.

 

 

 

Moral Cents: The Journal of Ethics in Finance is published by
Seven Pillars Institute for Global Finance and Ethics
ISSN  2326-5663