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The Banker’s oath and financial advice

Author

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  • Weitzel, Utz
  • Kirchler, Michael
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 nudges that (in)directly 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 nudge that directly refers 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Weitzel, Utz & Kirchler, Michael, 2023. "The Banker’s oath and financial advice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:148:y:2023:i:c:s0378426622003302
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2022.106750
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    Cited by:

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    2. Sorravich Kingsuwankul & Chloe Tergiman & Marie Claire Villeval, 2023. "Why do oaths work? Image concerns and credibility in promise keeping," Working Papers hal-04209489, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experimental finance; Audit study; Banker’s oath; Nudges; Financial advice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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