Moral Suasion

Moral suasion (a phrase from the Latin words "moral" and "suasio" which denote respectively "conduct or character that is right and virtuous" and "to present in a pleasing manner" - sometimes known as Jawboning), is defined in the economic sphere as "the attempt to coerce private economic activity via governmental exhortation in directions not already defined or dictated by existing statute law." The 'moral' aspect comes from the pressure for 'moral responsibility' to operate in a way that is consistent with furthering the good of the economy.

There are two types of moral suasion:

• "Pure" moral suasion refers to an appeal for altruistic behaviour and is rarely used in economic policy
• "Impure" moral suasion, or simply "moral suasion", is backed by explicit or implicit threats by authorities in order to provide incentives to comply with their wishes

Moral suasion differs from direct suasion using laws and regulations in that penalties for non-compliance are not systematically assessed on non-compliers. This has led some authors to criticise moral suasion as immoral, since compliers get penalised for cooperating with the stated government agenda (thus incurring extra costs) while non-compliers are not punished. Other objections to the use of moral suasion include the fact that it constitutes extra-legal coercion by the government, that it adds uncertainty to the regulatory process, and that it can undermine or delay the implementation of effective legislation.

Although the present article focuses mainly on the usage of moral suasion by governments to induce behaviour from their citizens and companies, this policy tool has been used in the past by other actors for other purposes. The most famous case is the attempt to end slavery in the United States in the 1830s by using moral suasion. This tactic was attempted by William Lloyd Garrison and his New England Anti-Slavery Society.