Beyond Words: Analyzing Ethical Discourse in Financial Reports

This study explores organizational hypocrisy by analyzing ethical discourse in 2,292 annual reports from Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3) companies between 2013 and 2018. We found a significant increase in ethical language after Brazil's Anti-Corruption Law (2013) and the Operation Car Wash scandal (2014). Intriguingly, firms implicated in the scandal used more ethical terminology than non-implicated ones. This suggests the linguistic shift might be a strategic adaptation, not genuine commitment. By linking ethical narratives to institutional logics, our research reveals how corporate rhetoric can obscure corruption, offering stakeholders insights into ethical discourse and organizational behavior in emerging markets. These findings contribute to the literature on institutional logics and organizational hypocrisy.