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Economics Professor Examines Boardroom Ethics in New Book

Does good behavior really pay off? Sean D. Jasso, a practitioner faculty of economics at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, explores this question in his new book, The New Corporation: Aristotle, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the Future Manager.

“The overarching goal is to ascertain to what extent does the Aristotelian credo of arete, or human excellence, serve the future manager and find its formula in the new corporation,” says Jasso, who consults legislative, legal, historical, and philosophical research in the book.

Major corporate and accounting scandals in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to the collapse of Enron, Tyco International, Adelphia, Peregrine Systems and WorldCom, costing investors billions of dollars and shaking public confidence in the nation’s securities markets. As a result, President George W. Bush signed into law the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002.

The book is Jasso's attempt to look deep into the soul of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; not only evaluating the efficacy of the policy, but also the values of an ethical and moral boardroom in the public corporation.

Jasso teaches at the Graduate School of Business and Management, writes, and consults in the areas of global political economy, strategy, and ethics. He holds a PhD in politics and a master’s in public policy from Claremont Graduate University.