We find that local religious social norms mitigate professional misconduct by financial advisors. Using publicly disclosed misconduct data, we find that financial advisors working in areas with greater religious participation are less likely to violate ethical standards. When advisors move to counties with greater religious participation, their misconduct rates decrease. The effect of local religiosity is robust across population density levels, misconduct types, and market conditions. We strengthen identification by using shocks to religious participation following local disclosures of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The findings show that local religiosity restrains misconduct not only in previously studied corporate financial settings but also when professionals provide financial services to individuals and households.

中文翻译：

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当地宗教信仰和财务顾问的不当行为

我们发现当地的宗教社会规范减轻了财务顾问的专业不当行为。使用公开披露的不当行为数据，我们发现在宗教参与程度较高的地区工作的财务顾问不太可能违反道德标准。当顾问搬到宗教参与度较高的县时，他们的不当行为率就会下降。当地宗教信仰的影响在人口密度水平、不当行为类型和市场条件方面都很强大。在当地披露天主教神父性虐待事件后，我们通过对宗教参与进行冲击来加强认同。研究结果表明，当地宗教信仰不仅在先前研究的企业财务环境中抑制不当行为，而且在专业人士向个人和家庭提供金融服务时也抑制不当行为。