We are still working very hard to collect (supplier) codes of conduct from all of the companies of the S&P 1200. As we speak, over 200 companies are published on our website. Therefore a guide will follow so you can use our Database of Business Ethics, for instance for your academic research.

The companies of the Database of Business Ethics have been derived from stock market indices. An index represents (a part of) a stock market and consists of publicly traded companies. This means the company’s shares are available for purchase on the stock market. There are multiple types of stock market indices. National indices cover the stock market of one country. Regional indices cover a certain region, such as Europe. Other stock market indices cover a certain sector of industry. The S&P 1200 contains regional indices. Once those 1200 companies are published on our website, we will research other stock market indices.

To use our database, click on the three stripes, top right on the homepage of our website. Under “codes” you can find four categories: all companies, fundamental labour rights, sector, and continent. The first category, “all companies”, will provide you with the largest range of possibilities for conducting your research, and it is what we recommend if you are just starting out with the database. Here, you can either look for a specific company by typing the name of that company into the search engine, or you can filter the entire database by fundamental labour rights, company sector, continent and/or alphabet. Multiple filters can be applied simultaneously and to remove the filters, you simply click “clear”. Once you have selected a certain company, you will find the link to their (supplier) code of conduct or other ethical document, as well as a sum up of all the fundamental labour rights that are or are not mentioned in the codes.

The other three categories under “codes” allow you to filter directly based on a specific fundamental labour right, a specific sector or continent, and can in that way be seen as a shortcut. Here, you will also find additional contextual information on certain fundamental labour rights and sectors. However, it is important to note that if you use this shortcut, you are unable to apply additional filters to your search query. If you do intend to use multiple filters on your research, we recommend using the “all companies” category. 

If you have any questions regarding using the Database of Business Ethics, or about something else regarding our work, feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..