In this article, we outline a conceptual framework for dealing with implementation problems of business ethics. To the extent that implementation consumes scarce resources, it is from the economic point of view a problem of production. As such, it can be analyzed with the customary tools of economic analysis. In our comparative approach, we contrast the production of business ethics with the spontaneous emergence of business ethics in the market process. We also compare it to forced ethics (the imposition of ethical codes of conduct by private parties) and to fiat ethics (imposition by legislation and other authoritarian acts).
Guido Hulsmann, "The Production of Business Ethics," Journal of Markets & Morality 11, no. 2 (Fall 2008): 275-299