Examining Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Corporate Offending and Overcompliance: The Efficacy of Direct and Indirect Regulatory Interactions

• In Event: Identifying and Regulating White-Collar and Corporate Crime

Abstract

Tyler’s (2006) Procedural Justice Theory has received support in a variety of studies using traditional law enforcement samples. To date, the theory has not been empirically tested using corporate behavior as an outcome. The present study uses factorial survey methods to examine whether corporate compliance and overcompliance are predicted by perceptions of procedural justice and legal legitimacy. We find that procedural justice and legitimacy considerations are only salient in situations involving direct contact with regulatory authorities. This supports Braithwaite’s (2013) argument that effective regulation necessitates micro-level interactions to build trust and establish deontological motivations for corporate compliance.

Authors

• Melissa Rorie, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Sally S. Simpson, University of Maryland

• Mark Cohen, Vanderbilt University

• Michael Vandenbergh, Vanderbilt University