Theoretical justification for the Business Ethics Index (BEI) from the emerging economics of trust literature is discussed. The BEI results for 2007, 2008, and 2009 are presented. While the Personal/Past BEI component shows no significant difference from the previous years, the Vicarious/Past component shows a dramatic drop to levels previously never recorded.However, when it came to the perception of the future business ethical behavior, respondents were significantly more optimistic than in previous measurements.This finding was more than a little surprising given (...) the depth of the economic crisis. A possible explanation is that consumers hopefully perceived the economic crisis as already abating and/or that at least the worst was over. (shrink)

For almost 10 years, the Business Ethics Index (BEI) has measured consumers’ perceptions of business ethical behavior in the USA and numerous other countries. This article expands the BEI to five Latin American countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia). The BEI of Argentina and Bolivia were similar in magnitude to the USA, whereas those for Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico were distinctly higher. The component sub-indices showed divergent patterns. The major ethical concerns for Brazil and Bolivia concerned service, whereas Mexico (...) and Argentina complained about overpricing. (shrink)