Rational choice faces a 'morality moment'

It almost became a classroom commandment: teach students how and why decision-making reflects rational preferences. Be they in business transactions, or the economic, political, or social market, humans carry the tendency to maximise their interests, whether that be profits, votes, or values. This view was reinforced by fending off the...

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NPLs and lessons from microfinance

While Bangladesh has been praised in the media for its success in various socio-economic indicators (e.g. poverty reduction, education and child mortality), mounting non-performing loans (NPLs) arising from financial scandals, mismanagement and nepotism certainly undermine the overall progress of the country in the global arena. The negative consequences of rising...

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Promoting ethical practices: Positive and negative incentives

Unethical behaviour seriously affects work environments in banks. Formal internal control hardly prevents unethical behaviour as human behaviour is influenced by multiple factors. Several issues like trust, leadership, and job security can influence ethical behaviour and factors such as authority, conformity, and peer pressure also stimulate such behaviour.Target pressure, time...

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