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Motivating Whistleblowers

Author

Listed:
  • Jeffrey V. Butler

    (Louisiana State University)

  • Danila Serra

    (Southern Methodist University)

  • Giancarlo Spagnolo

    (SITE, Stockholm School of Economics, EIEF, and CEPR)

Abstract

We experimentally investigate employees’ decisions to blow the whistle on a manager whose law-breaking benefits the firm but harms society. We investigate the effects of both financial rewards and non-monetary incentives, in the form of public scrutiny, on whistleblowing as well as their interaction with the visibility of harm, i.e., whether the harm to society stemming from the manager’s malfeasance is known to the general public. Our results suggest that: i) financial rewards substantially increase the likelihood of whistleblowing; ii) public scrutiny and social judgment increase (decrease) whistleblowing when the negative externalities generated by fraud are visible (invisible) to the public. Ancillary results suggest an intriguing relationship between political orientation and responsiveness to public scrutiny.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeffrey V. Butler & Danila Serra & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2017. "Motivating Whistleblowers," Departmental Working Papers 1701, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:smu:ecowpa:1701
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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes Buckenmaier & Eugen Dimant & Luigi Mittone, 2016. "Tax Evasion and Institutions. An Experiment on The Role of Principal Witness Regulations," PPE Working Papers 0007, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    2. Attar, Andrea & Campioni, Eloisa & Piaser, Gwenaël, 2019. "Private communication in competing mechanism games," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 258-283.
    3. Armenak Antinyan & Luca Corazzini & Filippo Pavesi, 2018. "What Matters for Whistleblowing on Tax Evaders? Survey and Experimental Evidence," Working Papers 07/2018, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    4. Nyreröd, Theo & Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2017. "Myths and Numbers on Whistleblower Rewards," SITE Working Paper Series 44, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, revised 27 Apr 2018.
    5. Tommaso Proietti & Niels Haldrup & Oskar Knapik, 2017. "Spikes and Memory in (Nord Pool) Electricity Price Spot Prices," CEIS Research Paper 422, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 18 Dec 2017.
    6. Spagnolo, Giancarlo & Nyreröd, Theo, 2019. "Financial Incentives for Whistleblowers: A Short Survey," SITE Working Paper Series 50, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics.
    7. Ahloy, James & Gilland, Rebecca & Hamman, John R., 2024. "A corruption dilemma," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    8. Maria Vittoria Levati & Chiara Nardi, 2019. "The power of words in a petty corruption experiment," Working Papers 18/2019, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    9. Antinyan, Armenak & Corazzini, Luca & Pavesi, Filippo, 2020. "Does trust in the government matter for whistleblowing on tax evaders? Survey and experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 77-95.
    10. Jun Hu, 2021. "Asymmetric punishment, Leniency and Harassment Bribes in China: a selective survey," Working Papers hal-03119491, HAL.
    11. Paolo Buccirossi & Giovanni Immordino & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2021. "Whistleblower rewards, false reports, and corporate fraud," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 411-431, June.
    12. Masclet, David & Montmarquette, Claude & Viennot-Briot, Nathalie, 2019. "Can whistleblower programs reduce tax evasion? Experimental evidence," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    13. Theo Nyreröd & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2021. "Myths and numbers on whistleblower rewards," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 82-97, January.
    14. Buckenmaier, Johannes & Dimant, Eugen & Mittone, Luigi, 2020. "Effects of institutional history and leniency on collusive corruption and tax evasion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 296-313.
    15. Ni Made Mega Abdi Utami & Gugus Irianto & Yeney Widya Prihatiningtias, 2020. "Analyzing the effect of financial reward, personal cost and reporting channel on whistleblowing intentions utilizing an experimental study," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(2), pages 125-132, March.

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    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation

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