Corporate Crime

Corporate crimes are illegal and harmful acts, or omissions, committed by legitimate organizations or their members for the benefit of these organizations. In contrast to 'white-collar crime', which is associated with individual offenders, corporate crime draws attention to the opportunities and conditions related to the organizational context within which the crime occurs. Understanding the causes of corporate crime requires the integration of knowledge and theories from various disciplines concerning: organizational behaviour, organizational psychology and organizational sociology; the role of corporate governance, structure and culture; group decision-making and its flaws and irrationalities. The relative impact of various types of social control (criminal, administrative, civil, professional, reputational, societal) and their interplay is therefore one of the most important subjects for future research contributing to the prevention of corporate crime. Increasingly, corporate crime scholarship addresses the relation between globalization and corporate crime and, in particular, the opportunities created by globalization and the increasing global effects of corporate acts.