Improved ethics leads to increased productivity
The Ethical Advantage report, released in 2020, examined the economic benefits to Australia of improving ethical infrastructure. In 2025, The Ethics Centre asked Deloitte Access Economics to build on this work to examine the role that ethics can play in lifting Australia’s productivity.
Specifically, the analysis explains how ethics can impact productivity through:
- enhancing willingness to adopt AI
- reducing the need for regulation
- reducing worker and moral injury including indirect health impacts
- improving business return on investment
- achieving policy reforms.
Much of the literature on ethics and its benefits for productivity use trust. This is a reasonably proxy for the level of ethics because, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer and other research, ethical behaviour accounts for most trust in institutions.
TECHNOLOGY
Strong relationship between trust in AI and use of AI
REDUCED RED TAPE
A 10% increase in distrust is associated with 15-19% increase in the number of steps to open a business
BUSINESS GROWTH
One standard deviation increase in governance index yields a 7% increase in return on assets ($45 bil growth in GDP)
INDIVIDUAL ADVANTAGE
A 10% increase in ethical behaviour is associated with a 2.7% increase in individual wages ($23 bil accumulative)
AUTHORS
Authors
John O'Mahony
John O’Mahony is a Partner at Deloitte Access Economics in Sydney and lead author of The Ethical Advantage report. John’s econometric research has been widely published and he has served as a Senior Economic Adviser for two Prime Ministers of Australia.
Ben?
John O’Mahony is a Partner at Deloitte Access Economics in Sydney and lead author of The Ethical Advantage report. John’s econometric research has been widely published and he has served as a Senior Economic Adviser for two Prime Ministers of Australia.