IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v114y2013i2p283-295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Companies’ Use of Whistle-Blowing to Detect Fraud: An Examination of Corporate Whistle-Blowing Policies

Author

Listed:
  • Gladys Lee
  • Neil Fargher

Abstract

In order to provide an effective whistle-blowing system, it is expected that companies would provide employees with a high level of disclosure regarding the whistle-blowing process. This study investigates variation in the extent of whistle-blowing disclosures. As a measure of whistle-blowing implementation, this study further examines the provision of a hotline channel. The results suggest that the extent of whistle-blowing disclosures is positively associated with the permissibility of anonymous reporting and organisational support for whistle-blowing, the number of external directors on the audit committee, and the existence of concentrated shareholdings. The mere existence of whistle-blowing disclosures could simply be symbolic. The findings also indicate a greater likelihood of the provision of hotlines when companies are larger in size, have a higher level of current inventory, are cross-listed in the US, and permit anonymous reporting. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Gladys Lee & Neil Fargher, 2013. "Companies’ Use of Whistle-Blowing to Detect Fraud: An Examination of Corporate Whistle-Blowing Policies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 283-295, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:283-295
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1348-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-012-1348-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-012-1348-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary K Meek & Clare B Roberts & Sidney J Gray, 1995. "Factors Influencing Voluntary Annual Report Disclosures By U.S., U.K. and Continental European Multinational Corporations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 26(3), pages 555-572, September.
    2. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    3. Marcia Miceli & Janet Near & Terry Dworkin, 2009. "A Word to the Wise: How Managers and Policy-Makers can Encourage Employees to Report Wrongdoing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 379-396, May.
    4. Alexander Dyck & Adair Morse & Luigi Zingales, 2010. "Who Blows the Whistle on Corporate Fraud?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(6), pages 2213-2253, December.
    5. Singh, Jang & Carasco, Emily & Svensson, Goran & Wood, Greg & Callaghan, Michael, 2005. "A comparative study of the contents of corporate codes of ethics in Australia, Canada and Sweden," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 91-109, February.
    6. Peter Clarkson & Ami Lammerts Van Bueren & Julie Walker, 2006. "Chief executive officer remuneration disclosure quality: corporate responses to an evolving disclosure environment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(5), pages 771-796, December.
    7. Ashbaugh-Skaife, Hollis & Collins, Daniel W. & Kinney Jr., William R., 2007. "The discovery and reporting of internal control deficiencies prior to SOX-mandated audits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 166-192, September.
    8. Harold Hassink & Meinderd Vries & Laury Bollen, 2007. "A Content Analysis of Whistleblowing Policies of Leading European Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 75(1), pages 25-44, September.
    9. Reyes Calderón-Cuadrado & José Álvarez-Arce & Isabel Rodríguez-Tejedo & Stella Salvatierra, 2009. "“Ethics Hotlines” in Transnational Companies: A Comparative Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 199-210, August.
    10. Janet Adams & Armen Tashchian & Ted Shore, 2001. "Codes of Ethics as Signals for Ethical Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 199-211, February.
    11. Beneish, Messod D. & Chatov, Robert, 1993. "Corporate codes of conduct: Economic determinants and legal implications for independent auditors," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 3-35.
    12. Lang, M & Lundholm, R, 1993. "Cross-Sectional Determinants Of Analyst Ratings Of Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 246-271.
    13. Paul Coram & Colin Ferguson & Robyn Moroney, 2008. "Internal audit, alternative internal audit structures and the level of misappropriation of assets fraud," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(4), pages 543-559, December.
    14. Lori Holder-Webb & Jeffrey Cohen & Leda Nath & David Wood, 2008. "A Survey of Governance Disclosures Among U.S. Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 543-563, December.
    15. Ryan Davidson & Jenny Goodwin‐Stewart & Pamela Kent, 2005. "Internal governance structures and earnings management," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 45(2), pages 241-267, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Monica Ramos Montesdeoca & Agustín J. Sánchez Medina & Felix Blázquez Santana, 2019. "Research Topics in Accounting Fraud in the 21st Century: A State of the Art," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-31, March.
    2. Gregory D. Saxton & Daniel G. Neely, 2019. "The Relationship Between Sarbanes–Oxley Policies and Donor Advisories in Nonprofit Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 333-351, August.
    3. Lin, Xiaowei & Li, Ao & Xu, Yonghao & Ding, Zijun, 2023. "Does internal whistleblowing build more socially responsible firms？," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 197-214.
    4. Lan, Fuyin & Chen, Yu & Ding, Zijun & Xu, Yonghao, 2024. "Does internal whistleblowing enhance firm innovation?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Lin, Xiaowei & Ding, Zijun & Chen, Aihua & Shi, Huaizhi, 2022. "Internal whistleblowing and stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Ridha Chakroun & Frédéric Teulon, 2014. "Whistleblowers in the pharmaceutical industry: tragic hero, black sheep or alter ego ?," Working Papers 2014-118, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    7. Elka Johansson & Peter Carey, 2016. "Detecting Fraud: The Role of the Anonymous Reporting Channel," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 391-409, December.
    8. Rafael Robina-Ramírez & M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández & Carlos Díaz-Caro, 2021. "Hotel manager perceptions about corporate compliance in the tourism industry: an empirical regional case study in Spain," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(2), pages 627-654, June.
    9. Lee, Gladys & Xiao, Xinning, 2018. "Whistleblowing on accounting-related misconduct: A synthesis of the literature," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 22-46.
    10. F. Todd DeZoort & Paul D. Harrison, 2018. "Understanding Auditors’ Sense of Responsibility for Detecting Fraud Within Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(4), pages 857-874, June.
    11. Waymond Rodgers & Arne Söderbom & Andrés Guiral, 2015. "Corporate Social Responsibility Enhanced Control Systems Reducing the Likelihood of Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(4), pages 871-882, November.
    12. Benjamin Florian Siggelkow & Jan Trockel & Oliver Dieterle, 2018. "An inspection game of internal audit and the influence of whistle-blowing," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(7), pages 883-914, September.
    13. Esther Pittroff, 2016. "Whistle-blowing regulation in different corporate governance systems: an analysis of the regulation approaches from the view of path dependence theory," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 20(4), pages 703-727, December.
    14. Eugene Soltes, 2020. "Paper Versus Practice: A Field Investigation of Integrity Hotlines," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 429-472, May.
    15. Yunmei Wu & Benjamin Rooij, 2021. "Compliance Dynamism: Capturing the Polynormative and Situational Nature of Business Responses to Law," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 579-591, January.
    16. Gladys Lee & Esther Pittroff & Michael J. Turner, 2020. "Is a Uniform Approach to Whistle-Blowing Regulation Effective? Evidence from the United States and Germany," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 553-576, May.
    17. Erica Harris & Christine Petrovits & Michelle H. Yetman, 2017. "Why Bad Things Happen to Good Organizations: The Link Between Governance and Asset Diversions in Public Charities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 149-166, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Clive Gaunt & Steven Cahan, 2014. "Accounting and Finance: authorship and citation trends," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(2), pages 441-465, June.
    2. Sutharson Kanapathippillai & Dessalegn Mihret & Shireenjit Johl, 2019. "Remuneration Committees and Attribution Disclosures on Remuneration Decisions: Australian Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(4), pages 1063-1082, September.
    3. Eachempati, Prajwal & Srivastava, Praveen Ranjan & Kumar, Ajay & Tan, Kim Hua & Gupta, Shivam, 2021. "Validating the impact of accounting disclosures on stock market: A deep neural network approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    4. Tan, Chyi Woan & Tower, Greg & Hancock, Phil & Taplin, Ross, 2002. "Empires of the sky: determinants of global airlines' accounting-policy choices," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 277-299.
    5. Marie Chavent & Yuan Ding & Linghui Fu & Herve Stolowy & Huiwen Wang, 2006. "Disclosure and determinants studies: An extension using the Divisive Clustering Method (DIV)," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 181-218.
    6. Jacqueline Christensen & Pamela Kent & Jenny Stewart, 2010. "Corporate Governance and Company Performance in Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 20(4), pages 372-386, December.
    7. Dan Amiram & Zahn Bozanic & James D. Cox & Quentin Dupont & Jonathan M. Karpoff & Richard Sloan, 2018. "Financial reporting fraud and other forms of misconduct: a multidisciplinary review of the literature," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 732-783, June.
    8. Julia Krause & Thorsten Sellhorn & Kamran Ahmed, 2017. "Extreme Uncertainty and Forward-looking Disclosure Properties," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 53(2), pages 240-272, June.
    9. Lee, Gladys & Xiao, Xinning, 2018. "Whistleblowing on accounting-related misconduct: A synthesis of the literature," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 22-46.
    10. Guillamon-Saorin, Encarna & Sousa, Carlos M.P., 2010. "Press release disclosures in Spain and the UK," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, February.
    11. Etienne Farvaque & Catherine Refait-Alexandre & Dhafer Saïdane, 2011. "Corporate disclosure: A review of its (direct and indirect) benefits and costs," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 128, pages 5-31.
    12. Abdul Nasser Hasibuan, 2018. "Company Monitoring Analysis on Financial Report Quality in Indonesia Stock Exchange Manufacturing Sector," Academic Journal of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance, Banking and Accountancy Bucharest,"Dimitrie Cantemir" Christian University Bucharest, vol. 4(4), pages 162-175, December.
    13. Like Jiang & Paul André & Chrystelle Richard, 2018. "An international study of internal audit function quality," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 264-298, April.
    14. Stefano Fontana & Daniela Coluccia & Silvia Solimene, 2019. "VAIC as a Tool for Measuring Intangibles Value in Voluntary Multi-Stakeholder Disclosure," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1679-1699, December.
    15. Eugene Soltes, 2020. "Paper Versus Practice: A Field Investigation of Integrity Hotlines," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 429-472, May.
    16. Riaz, Zahid & Ray, Pradeep & Ray, Sangeeta, 2022. "The impact of digitalisation on corporate governance in Australia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 410-424.
    17. Garoui Nassreddine & David McMillan, 2015. "Financial information disclosure," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1038208-103, December.
    18. Connelly, J. Thomas & Limpaphayom, Piman & Nagarajan, Nandu J., 2012. "Form versus substance: The effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on firm value in Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1722-1743.
    19. Luminita Enache & Khaled Hussainey, 2020. "The substitutive relation between voluntary disclosure and corporate governance in their effects on firm performance," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 413-445, February.
    20. Butzbach, Olivier & Di Carlo, Ferdinando, 2008. "The effects of stock options accounting regulation on corporate governance: A comparative European study," MPRA Paper 14843, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:283-295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.