Companies are nudging. That is, they are using the tools of behavioral science as pioneered by behavioral economists and promoted by policymakers to steer employees toward welfare-maximizing options. While companies began nudging to increase employee health, safety, and financial literacy, choice architecture is now being used to make employees more ethical. “Behavioral ethics nudging” is seen as the future of corporate compliance because it offers an evidence-based, cost effective way to reduce the risks of respondeat superior liability. Amid that promise, however, lies a nagging unease. Behavioral ethics research demonstrates that ethical decision making is influenced, often subconsciously, by situational and social factors. When a company alters the conditions under which its employees make decisions, their ethical behavior can be changed without them knowing it. Thus, the intent of behavioral ethics nudging may be laudable—to increase employee ethicality and improve compliance—but it is also susceptible to becoming a tool of unwanted behavioral manipulation. This Article undertakes the first detailed analysis of the role of behavioral ethics nudging in corporate compliance. Viewing the issue from an empirical and normative lens, it finds that while nudging offers important compliance opportunities, it must be implemented with caution. That is because nudging employees to be more ethical is conceptually distinct from governmental nudges popularized as a way of promoting public welfare. Companies that simply import public policy nudges into the workplace may find them wholly ineffective as a compliance strategy. Moreover, behavioral ethics nudging may violate deeply held notions of personal autonomy, especially when it surreptitiously capitalizes on employees’ cognitive irrationalities. While some autonomy costs may be justified under legal doctrines and consequentialist analysis, a significant question remains whether behavioral ethics nudges are ethical themselves. Drawing on this analysis, which is supported by extensive behavioral ethics research, the Article offers a simple framework companies can use when contemplating employing behavioral ethics nudging as part of their compliance regimes.

中文翻译：

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推动企业合规

公司正在推动。也就是说，他们使用的是行为经济学家开创和政策制定者所倡导的行为科学工具，以引导员工朝着最大化福利的方向发展。当公司开始努力提高员工的健康，安全和财务素养时，选择架构现在正在被用来提高员工的道德意识。“举止行为道德”被视为公司合规的未来，因为它提供了一种基于证据的，具有成本效益的方式来减少被告承担更高责任的风险。然而，在这个承诺之中，存在着一种令人不安的不安。行为伦理学研究表明，道德决策通常受情况和社会因素的影响，而在潜意识中是受其影响的。当公司改变其员工做出决定的条件时，他们的道德行为可以在他们不知道的情况下改变。因此，举止行为道德的意图可能值得称赞-提高员工道德和改善合规性-但也很容易成为不良行为操纵的工具。本文对行为道德在公司合规中的作用进行了首次详细分析。从经验和规范的角度看问题，它发现尽管轻推提供了重要的合规机会，但必须谨慎实施。那是因为从概念上讲，鼓励员工更加道德是与作为促进公共福利的方式而普及的政府官员不同的。仅仅将公共政策推论引入工作场所的公司可能会发现它们完全无法作为合规策略。此外，举止行为伦理可能会违反根深蒂固的个人自主权概念，尤其是当它秘密地利用员工的认知非理性时。虽然在法律学说和结果论分析下，某些自治成本可能是合理的，但一个重要的问题仍然是行为伦理推动者本身是否具有道德性。借助广泛的行为伦理学研究的支持，本文提供了一个简单的框架，供公司在考虑将行为伦理作为其合规制度的一部分时使用。仍然存在一个重要的问题，即行为伦理推动者本身是否具有伦理道德。借助广泛的行为伦理学研究的支持，本文提供了一个简单的框架，供公司在考虑将行为伦理作为其合规制度的一部分时使用。仍然存在一个重要的问题，即行为伦理推动者本身是否具有伦理道德。借助广泛的行为伦理学研究的支持，本文提供了一个简单的框架，供公司在考虑将行为伦理作为其合规制度的一部分时使用。