When Are Norms Prescriptive? Understanding and Clarifying the Role of Norms in Behavioral Ethics Research
这篇综述区分了商业伦理研究中规范的三种类型（行为、感知和规定），指出当前研究常混淆描述性与规定性规范，并建议通过更精确的研究设计来探究规范的规定性如何改善组织中的伦理结果。
Research on ethical norms has grown in recent years, but imprecise language has made it unclear when these norms prescribe “what ought to be” and when they merely describe behaviors or perceptions (“what is”). Studies of ethical norms, moreover, tend not to investigate whether participants were influenced by the prescriptive aspect of the norm; the studies primarily demonstrate, rather, that people will mimic the behaviors or perceptions of others, which provides evidence for the already well-substantiated social proof theory. In this review article, we delineate three streams of norms research in business ethics: behavioral, perceptual, and prescriptive. We argue that by properly categorizing norms, and designing studies to investigate when prescriptions, more than mere mimicry, improve ethical outcomes in organizations, researchers can enhance managers’ efforts to promote ethical outcomes in organizations.