The Social Construction of Sarbanes-Oxley

Abstract

The closer one looks at SOX and its origins in the financial scandals of the early 2000s, the blurrier the picture, which lets commentators see what they want to see and draw inferences accordingly. That is why social construction is so crucial. My aim in this paper is to illuminate the social nature of SOX\u27s diffusion into practice. I will leave to the reader the judgment about whether this has been or will be good or bad, and for whom. If I seem to challenge SOX\u27s critics more than its supporters, it is because the critics have been more venomous than is fair. Venom aside, the bite still deserves attention