Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers
Creation-Date: 2021-04-26
Number: 21-032/IV
Author-Name: Utz Weitzel
Author-Workplace-Name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Author-Name: Michael Kirchler
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Innsbruck
Title: The Banker's Oath And Financial Advice
Abstract: Financial misbehavior is widespread and costly. The Dutch government legally requires every employee in the financial sector to take a Hippocratic oath, the so-called ``banker's oath.'' We investigate whether moral nudges that directly and indirectly remind financial advisers of their oath affect their service. In a large-scale audit study, professional auditors confronted 201 Dutch financial advisers with a conflict of interest. We find that when auditors apply a moral nudge, referring to the banker's oath, advisers are less likely to prioritize bank's interests. In additional prediction tasks, we find that Dutch regulators expect stronger effects of the oath than observed.
Classification-JEL: C92, D84, G02, G14
Keywords: experimental finance, audit study, banker’s oath, moral nudges, financial advice
File-URL: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/21032.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 7384532 bytes
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20210032