Sustained corporate corruption and processes of institutional ascription within professional networks

The last 20 years have seen some of the most dramatic cases of corporate corruption. One of the most striking features of these cases is the inability of professionals and professional firms to recognize and publicize corporate corruption. In this essay, we argue that professionals’ failure to detect corporate corruption may be the result of institutional ascription that occurs within professional networks. Institutional ascription occurs as professionals ascribe probity and diligence to the behaviour of other professionals, and may contribute to sustain corporate corruption. Understanding the conditions and mechanisms that facilitate—or impede—institutional ascription is thus important and we offer suggestions for how this line of research might be advanced.