Análisis del comportamiento ético de contadores públicos en Colombia. Una visión desde la teoría de grafos

Abstract

Ethics is the science that deals with the study of human behavior, which is why the main objective of this study was to determine the ethical behavior of public accountants in Colombia during the period 2017-2021 through a mixed-type graph model based on the methodology proposed by authors such as Melo & Meira (2012), who spoke of associativity and centrality in the area of management development because an articulation between the ethical regulatory framework and the behavior of accounting professionals is proposed. As a result, a conceptual and theoretical frame of reference was obtained, which allowed a more solid analysis of the ethics of accountants and the Graph Theory; likewise, the ethical behavior of public accountants in Colombia was evidenced during the period 2017-2021, thus showing ethical behaviors of unethical ones according to the normative principles of the accounting profession. The information offered by the Central Board of Public Accountants of Colombia was a limitation since it did not specify very clearly all the principles that an accountant had violated. This study will have important implications for the actions of accountants due to its ethical and conceptual value in administrative theories and the relevance of affectations that may affect the professional life of each one of them. It is original because there has not been a study on ethics in accountants using Graph Theory. In conclusion, we have that the most violated principles of the code of ethics are responsibility, observations of the normative dispositions, respect among colleagues, ethical conduct, and integrity, while those that are violated in smaller proportion are those of objectivity, independence, and confidentiality.