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Conflict of Interest

Encyclopedia of Law and Economics
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Definition

Fundamental to the notion of conflict of interest is the idea that someone’s ability to exercise proper judgment is at risk of being affected by a personal interest or by a competing duty. These extraneous factors interfere with judgment not as ends that a decision-maker has in view but as factors that tend to influence the ends in view. The presence of such factors puts at risk the decision-maker’s ability to evaluate the weight to be given to the relevant considerations on which the decision is based, irrespective of his desire to resist the temptation of self-interest. The main danger in a conflict of interest situation is the risk of unreliable judgment rather than corruption.

Introduction

A conflict of interest situation arises when a person who has a preexisting obligation to exercise judgment over the interests of another has a personal interest or duty that tends to interfere with the proper exercise of his judgment (Davis 1982). Conflicts of interest can arise in...

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Correspondence to Remus Valsan .

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Valsan, R. (2017). Conflict of Interest. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Conflict of Interest
    Published:
    05 August 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-2

  2. Original

    Conflict of Interest
    Published:
    15 March 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_699-1