Religion and Accounting Ethics: A Comparison of Two Studies

Abstract

This paper will compare two studies that sought to find motivating factors for ethical decision-making in new and emerging accounting professionals. The two studies, Christensen, Rees, and Barnes (2006) and Busila (2014) both used identification with a religion as an attribute. Existing literature in business ethics tends to point to religious affiliation as an indicator that a person will exhibit ethical decision-making. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the similarities and differences between the two studies and present a recommendation for effective accounting ethics pedagogy based on findings in the two studies