Discussion of “economic analysis of accountants’ ethical standards: the case of audit opinion shopping”

In his paper, Cushing (Cushing, B.E., (1999). Economics analysis of accountants’ ethical standards: The case of audit opinion shopping. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 18 (4/5)) argues for an increasing role of “laissez-faire” approaches to professional accounting ethics. To formally present his argument, Cushing (1999) employs a classic auditor–client dispute over a financial reporting issue; the dispute’s resolution is framed within a prisoner’s dilemma game. Three increasingly sophisticated models are used to examine both strict (explicit rules and monitoring) and laissez-faire (moral training and leadership) approaches to induce ethical auditor play within the prisoner’s dilemma game. My comments are an effort to consider if Cushing's (1999) arguments for a laissez-faire approach are practicable. To do this I first relate Cushing's (1999) arguments to the theoretical attributes of a profession. Second, I extend his arguments to include ethical disposition. Two bases of ethical disposition are discussed, moral reasoning theory and the persona of individuals. I conclude that a movement toward a laissez-faire approach to ethics is a strategy the profession should not ignore.