White-Collar Crime and Entrepreneurial Ethics: Rethinking Criminal Law Frameworks for Sustainable Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66635/cwp2jd24Keywords:
White-collar crime, Entrepreneurial ethics, Criminal law frameworks, Sustainable development, Corporate governanceAbstract
Modern global economies are facing a growing challenge from white-collar crime in terms of entrepreneurial ethics, institutional governance, and sustainable development. Advances in technology, complex organizational structures, financial globalization, and the growing power of corporations have facilitated the rise of economic crimes like corporate environmental misconduct, fraud, corruption, insider trading, embezzlement, and money laundering. The damages caused by these crimes are significant in terms of economic losses, social consequences, environmental damage, and loss of credibility of the system, of public institutions, of the market and of sustainable entrepreneurship activity. Today's entrepreneurial systems are under growing pressure to combine ethical governance, corporate accountability, and business practices conducive to decreased organizational misconduct and enhanced economic viability in the long run. The conceptual underpinning, socioeconomic consequences, criminal law issues, and ethical aspects of white-collar crime in entrepreneurial environments are critically examined. The study also examines the connections between criminal responsibility, sustainable governance and environmental responsibility, and ethical entrepreneurship, and the shortcomings of conventional law in tackling advanced organisational types of crime. Existing criminal justice systems often face certain problems related to regulatory fragmentation, under-prosecution, poor enforcement and a lack of cross-border legal coordination, often in emerging economies and rapidly growing entrepreneurial markets. The review also underscores the rise of environmental, social and governance (ESG) accountability, systems of forensic compliance, anti-corruption provisions, and sustainability-focused governance regimes as tools that can help to minimize corporate misconduct and foster responsible business conduct. To enhance institutional accountability and sustainable entrepreneurial governance, future-oriented approaches are also discussed, such as AI compliance monitoring, blockchain financial transparency, predictive forensic technologies, and multidisciplinary regulatory systems. In sum, this review highlights the need to reconsider the frameworks of criminal law from the prism of entrepreneurial ethics and sustainable development for the institutional trust, responsible innovation and long-term socioeconomic sustainability in an ever more interconnected global business world.
References
1.Chowbe VS. Redefining the Fight Against White Collar Crime: A Moral and Value-Centric Perspective. Available at SSRN 4761381. 2024
Mar 16.
2.Mathew SN, Soundar KG, Martin NR, Dwivedi R. Legally aided leeches—combating the menace of white-collar crimes with respect to sustainable development goals-16. InRule of Law in Context: Globalisation and Indian Resonances to Sustainable Development 2025 Jan 27 (pp. 25-
40). Routledge.
3.Langraw KS, Zaman A. Corporate social responsibility and white-collar crime: exploring how companies can promote ethical behavior and prevent white-collar crime within their
organization. International Journal of Social Science & Entrepreneurship. 2023 Apr 30;3(2):349-66.
4.Rothe D, Kauzlarich D. Crimes of the powerful: White-collar crime and beyond. Routledge; 2022 May 26.
5.Alhamoudi A. The Role of Criminal Justice in Facilitating Sustainable Development. PETITA. 2025;10:836.
6.Staffler L. Business Criminal Law. A Primer for Management and Economics, Wiesbaden. 2022.
7.Sehgal RK, Koul RL. Mitigating white collar crimes: A governance reform agenda. InFacets of Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility in India 2021 Feb 6 (pp. 33-47). Singapore: Springer Singapore.
8.Blaustein J, Fitz-Gibbon K, Pino NW, White R, editors. The Emerald handbook of crime, justice and sustainable development. Emerald Publishing Limited; 2020 Nov 18.
9.Grasso A. Dual Justice: America’s Divergent Approaches to Street and Corporate Crime. University of Chicago Press; 2024 Sep 17.
10.Lord N, Levi M. Organising White-Collar and corporate crimes. Routledge; 2025 Mar 4.
11.Gottschalk P. Research Perspectives on White-Collar and Corporate Crime Convenience: Motives, Opportunities, and Attitudes.
12.Deschner F. White collar crime perspectives on deregulation under Trump (Doctoral dissertation).
13.Stevanović A. Criminal law protection of human health in the context of corporate crime.
14.Kusumo BA, Rustambekovich RI, Nusratilloyevich YA, Kamolovich XB. Corporate Crime Prevention Through Sustainable Governance and Regulatory Reform. Journal of Sustainable Development and Regulatory Issues (JSDERI). 2025 Oct 11;3(3):616-40.
15.Basit A. White-collar crime: understanding the nature and consequences of corporate crime. Social Science Review Archives. 2023 Sep 30;1(1):1-9.
16.Vedula S, Doblinger C, Pacheco D, York JG, Bacq S, Russo MV, Dean TJ. Entrepreneurship for the public good: A review, critique, and path forward for social and environmental entrepreneurship research. Academy of Management Annals. 2022 Jan;16(1):391-425.
17.Bisschop L, Bociga D, Kluin M, Homer E. Examining the multifaceted harms of corporate and white-collar crime. Crime, Law and Social Change. 2025 Jun;83(1):16.
18.Musa I, Danjuma SS, Magaji S. Assessing the Impact of Sustainable Entrepreneurial Practices on Nigeria’s Economic Growth and National Development. Covenant Journal of Entrepreneurship. 2025 Nov 11:69-85.
19.Benson ML, Simpson SS, Rorie M, Kennedy JP. White-collar crime: An opportunity perspective. Routledge; 2024 Jan 22.
20.Bociga D, Davies J. Introduction: Emerging Voices on the Study of White-Collar and Organizational Crime. InWhite-Collar and Organizational Crime 2025 Aug 21 (pp. 1-7). Bristol University Press.
21.Nelson JS. Corporate Criminal ESG. Iowa L. Rev.. 2023;109:1429.
22.Gerson P. Less is More?: Accountability for White-Collar Offenses Through an Abolitionist Framework. Stetson Bus. L. Rev.. 2023;2:144.
23.Tarasiuk A, Prokofieva-Yanchylenko D, Lutsenko Y, Danylevskyi A, Makarenko T. Corporate liability and white-collar crime: Comparative review. Cuestiones Políticas. 2023 Jul 1;41(78).
24.Wiegratz J, editor. Capitalism and Economic Crime in Africa: The Neoliberal Period. Taylor & Francis; 2024 Jun 21.
25.Whalen J. The Under-Prosecution of White-Collar Crime.
26.Mesioye O. The nexus between insider trading and organized crime: Challenges in enforcing ethical market practices. Int J Res Public Rev. 2025;6(1):1817-31.
27.Korkka-Knuts H. Behaviourally informed approach to corporate criminal law: Ethicality as efficiency. Bergen Journal of Criminal Law & Criminal Justice. 2022 May 13;10(1):30-.
28.Davies J, Malik H. Challenging existing regulatory approaches for white-collar and corporate crimes. Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime. 2022 Jan;3(1):3-6.
29.Heeren J, Shichor D. Wells Fargo and Corporate Crime. InEncyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics 2023 May 25 (pp. 1891-1895). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
30.Llarena Z. Organized Corporate Crimes using Model Law Development for Health Regulation and Policy. Journal of Communication and Public Relations. 2022 Dec 30;2(1):33-46.
31.Patty M. The Hidden Mind of White-Collar Crime: Psychological Distortions, Global Scandals, and Forensic Pathways. Global Scandals, and Forensic Pathways (August 25, 2025). 2025 Aug
25.
32.Zabyelina Y, Thachuk KL, editors. The private sector and organized crime: Criminal entrepreneurship, illicit profits, and private sector security governance. Taylor & Francis; 2022 Sep 2.
33.HAMID N. Impact of Anti-Corruption Laws on Bureaucratic Accountability in India: A Socio-Legal Study.
34.Kristanto K, Sunggara MA, Januarsyah MP, Permatasari P, Taniady V. Embezzlement in the Private Sector: Legal Challenges and Regulatory Gaps in Corporate Governance. Indonesian
Journal of Criminal Law Studies. 2025 Nov 5;10(2):801-50.
35.Bundick L. 21st Century White-Collar Crime: Gender Disparities and Psychological Portrayals in Media (Master's thesis, Sam Houston State University).
36.Al-Raggad M, Albalawee N, Al-Mahasneh A, Abu Huson Y, Albajaly A. Unveiling financial crimes: advancing forensic accounting practices and ethical integrity through bibliometric insights. Safer Communities. 2025 Jun 11;24(3):244-64.
37.Das PK. An Empirical Study on White Collar Crime in the Public Sector of Bangladesh. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies (IJHSSS). 2023;9(4):108-23.
38.Gottschalk P. Fraud examinations in white-collar crime investigations: convenience themes and review maturity. Routledge; 2023 May 30.
39.Bisschop L, Hendlin Y, Jaspers J. Designed to break: planned obsolescence as corporate environmental crime. Crime, Law and Social Change. 2022 Oct;78(3):271-93.
40.Toole K, McCormack P, van Uhm D, Beillevert M, Williams C, Cassey P. Using the criminal law to protect the environment: Possibilities and problems.
41.Macias HA, Farfan-Lievano A. White-collar fraudsters in an emerging market: the case of Interbolsa in Colombia. Journal of Financial Crime. 2025 Sep 23;32(5):1120-35.
42.Mintoff Y, Vella MG. Money laundering and the crime nexus: a case study in Malta. Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime. 2025 Jun;6(2):127-42.
43.Higgins GA. An Analysis of White-Collar Crime in Fort Bend County, Texas (Doctoral dissertation, Texas Southern University).
44.Klimecki R, Parker M. Business ethics, law and zemiology: The criminology of social and environmental harm. Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility. 2025
Oct;34(4):1886-96.
45.De Paolis R. Exploiting White-Collar Criminals’ Know-How: Towards a New Way of Punishment. DIRITTO PENALE E UOMO. 2022(ISSN 2704-6516):1-31.
46.Jiménez Serrano J, Delgado Rodriguez MJ, Rodriguez Iglesias I, López Pérez RM. Misappropriation of assets: a quantitative and qualitative analysis of occupational fraud management in organizations. Journal of Financial Crime. 2025 Sep 23;32(5):994-1013.
47.Stadler WA, Gottschalk P. Testing convenience theory for white-collar crime: Perceptions of potential offenders and non-offenders. Deviant Behavior. 2022 Jul 3;43(7):804-20.
48.Kavoukis J. Paper gangsters: White collar and corporate crime on film.
49.Simpson SS, Evens J. Corporate environmental non-compliance and the effects of internal systems and sanctions. InResearch Handbook on Environmental Crimes and Criminal Enforcement 2024 Jul 16 (pp. 36-67). Edward Elgar Publishing.
50.Trabelsi W, Chaabane N, Mahfoudhi S. Uncovering financial crime patterns: a clustering approach to offender typologies. Journal of Financial Crime. 2025 Sep 23;32(5):1152-69.
