Resumo

This paper aims to analyse the opinion of Brazilian students in the Accountancy undergraduate program of a public university regarding their notions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics.

What is the opinion of Accountancy undergraduate students concerning the notions of CSR and ethics? Identify the opinion of Accountancy undergraduate students concerning the notions of CSR and ethics.

Theoretically, articulates the conceptual aspects related to corporate social responsibility (CSR), morals and ethics, and Accountants’ education in the Brazilian context.

Methodologically, this is a quantitative, descriptive study carried out through two surveys. We obtained 477 valid questionnaires, 221 of which were obtained in Study 1 (CSR), and 256 obtained in Study 2 (ethics).

Results in Study 1 (CSR) indicate that the most important CSR dimensions are, in hierarchical order, the legal, the philanthropic, the ethical, and the economic. Therefore, it is the legal aspect that informs CSR. As to ethics (Study 2), evidence indicates that the notion of ethics is pervaded by moral duplicity and ambiguity, both deriving from the relationship between the morals of integrity and the morals of opportunism.

These results point out that the educational training of respondents has failed to develop their ability to make value-based judgments.

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