Where to report wrongdoings? Exploring the determinants of internal versus external whistleblowing

Whistleblowers play an important role in revealing unethical behaviors in government and making government more transparent and accountable to the public. Thus, the question of how to encourage government employees’ whistleblowing behaviors has been of great interest to both scholars and practitioners. What has received relatively little attention, however, is what factors influence public employees to become internal versus external whistleblowers. From an organization’s perspective, external whistleblowing is generally viewed as less desirable than internal whistleblowing. Thus, it is important for an organization to promote internal whistleblowing. This study contributes to expanding our knowledge on whistleblowing by examining what factors influence whistleblower employees to report wrongdoings internally rather than externally. The findings suggest that both individual and situational factors are significant predictors of public employees’ selection of whistleblowing channels. The paper concludes by discussing limitations of the present study and suggesting directions for future research.