IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v163y2020i3d10.1007_s10551-018-4023-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is a Uniform Approach to Whistle-Blowing Regulation Effective? Evidence from the United States and Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Gladys Lee

    (The University of Melbourne)

  • Esther Pittroff

    (University of Leipzig)

  • Michael J. Turner

    (The University of Queensland, UQ Business School)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine whether United States (U.S.)-style regulatory intervention to encourage whistle-blowing can be immediately effective if transplanted into another country with a distinctly different historical cultural background and institutional system. A total of 98 U.S. and 84 German accountants participated in a laboratory experiment relating to a case of financial statement fraud. The provision of anti-retaliation protection and monetary rewards for whistle-blowing were manipulated and participants were asked to assume the role of an internal auditor. We hypothesize and find that the provision of anti-retaliation protection and monetary rewards encourage U.S. accountants to blow the whistle. In contrast, among German accountants, where their country features a historical fear and distrust of whistle-blowers, U.S.-style regulatory interventions are less effective. Together, our findings provide strong support for the theory of path-dependence, suggesting that whistle-blowing regulation should not be uniformly transplanted without due consideration of the unique history and culture of a country.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:163:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-018-4023-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-4023-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-018-4023-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-018-4023-y?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. Jeroen Weimer & Joost Pape, 1999. "A Taxonomy of Systems of Corporate Governance," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(2), pages 152-166, April.
    2. Schultz, Jj & Johnson, Da & Morris, D & Dyrnes, S, 1993. "An Investigation Of The Reporting Of Questionable Acts In An International Setting," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31, pages 75-103.
    3. Arthur, W Brian, 1989. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 116-131, March.
    4. Taras, Vas & Steel, Piers & Kirkman, Bradley L., 2012. "Improving national cultural indices using a longitudinal meta-analysis of Hofstede's dimensions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 329-341.
    5. Steven Kaplan & Kurt Pany & Janet Samuels & Jian Zhang, 2009. "An Examination of the Association Between Gender and Reporting Intentions for Fraudulent Financial Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 15-30, June.
    6. Esther Pittroff, 2014. "Whistle-Blowing Systems and Legitimacy Theory: A Study of the Motivation to Implement Whistle-Blowing Systems in German Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(3), pages 399-412, October.
    7. 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.
    8. repec:bla:intfin:v:5:y:2002:i:3:p:311-33 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Timo Goeschl & Grischa Perino, 2012. "Instrument Choice and Motivation: Evidence from a Climate Change Experiment," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 52(2), pages 195-212, June.
    10. Hengky Latan & Christian M. Ringle & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour, 2018. "Whistleblowing Intentions Among Public Accountants in Indonesia: Testing for the Moderation Effects," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 573-588, October.
    11. Gregory A. Liyanarachchi & Ralph Adler, 2011. "Accountants’ Whistle-Blowing Intentions: The Impact of Retaliation, Age, and Gender," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 21(2), pages 167-182, June.
    12. Trevor Buck & Azura Shahrim, 2005. "The translation of corporate governance changes across national cultures: the case of Germany," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(1), pages 42-61, January.
    13. 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.
    14. Heungsik Park & John Blenkinsopp & M. Oktem & Ugur Omurgonulsen, 2008. "Cultural Orientation and Attitudes Toward Different Forms of Whistleblowing: A Comparison of South Korea, Turkey, and the U.K," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(4), pages 929-939, November.
    15. Hall, Peter A. & Gingerich, Daniel W., 2009. "Varieties of Capitalism and Institutional Complementarities in the Political Economy: An Empirical Analysis," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 449-482, July.
    16. ,, 2000. "Problems And Solutions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 287-299, April.
    17. John Groenewegen, 1997. "Institutions of Capitalisms: American, European, and Japanese Systems Compared," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 333-348, June.
    18. Dellaportas, Steven, 2013. "Conversations with inmate accountants: Motivation, opportunity and the fraud triangle," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 29-39.
    19. Schmidt, Matthias, 2005. ""Whistle Blowing" Regulation and Accounting Standards Enforcement in Germany and Europe--An Economic Perspective," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 143-168, June.
    20. Chizema, Amon & Buck, Trevor, 2006. "Neo-institutional theory and institutional change: Towards empirical tests on the "Americanization" of German executive pay," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 488-504, October.
    21. Reinhard H. Schmidt & Gerald Spindler, 2002. "Path Dependence, Corporate Governance and Complementarity," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 311-333, November.
    22. Licht, Amir N. & Goldschmidt, Chanan & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2005. "Culture, Law, and Corporate Governance," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 229-255, June.
    23. Heungsik Park & John Blenkinsopp & Myeongsil Park, 2014. "The Influence of an Observer’s Value Orientation and Personality Type on Attitudes Toward Whistleblowing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 121-129, March.
    24. 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.
    25. Bradley L Kirkman & Kevin B Lowe & Cristina B Gibson, 2017. "A retrospective on Culture’s Consequences: The 35-year journey," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(1), pages 12-29, January.
    26. Steven Dellaportas, 2013. "Conversations with inmate accountants: Motivation, opportunity and the fraud triangle," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 29-39, March.
    27. Dilek Nayir & Christian Herzig, 2012. "Value Orientations as Determinants of Preference for External and Anonymous Whistleblowing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(2), pages 197-213, May.
    28. Paul Andon & Clinton Free & Benjamin Scard, 2015. "Pathways to accountant fraud: Australian evidence and analysis," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(1), pages 10-44, July.
    29. Pailin Trongmateerut & John Sweeney, 2013. "The Influence of Subjective Norms on Whistle-Blowing: A Cross-Cultural Investigation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 437-451, February.
    30. Pillutla, Madan M. & Murnighan, J. Keith, 1996. "Unfairness, Anger, and Spite: Emotional Rejections of Ultimatum Offers," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 208-224, December.
    31. Hartmut Berghoff, 2018. "“Organised irresponsibility”? The Siemens corruption scandal of the 1990s and 2000s," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(3), pages 423-445, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Hengky Latan & Christian M. Ringle & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour, 2018. "Whistleblowing Intentions Among Public Accountants in Indonesia: Testing for the Moderation Effects," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 573-588, October.
    4. Paul Andon & Clinton Free & Radzi Jidin & Gary S. Monroe & Michael J. Turner, 2018. "The Impact of Financial Incentives and Perceptions of Seriousness on Whistleblowing Intention," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 165-178, August.
    5. Barbara Culiberg & Katarina Katja Mihelič, 2017. "The Evolution of Whistleblowing Studies: A Critical Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(4), pages 787-803, December.
    6. 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.
    7. Hengky Latan & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, 2021. "To Blow or Not to Blow the Whistle: The Role of Rationalization in the Perceived Seriousness of Threats and Wrongdoing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 517-535, March.
    8. Esther Pittroff, 2021. "The legitimacy of global accounting rules: a note on the challenges from path-dependence theory," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(2), pages 379-396, June.
    9. Hengky Latan & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, 2019. "‘Whistleblowing Triangle’: Framework and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 189-204, November.
    10. Waseem Yousaf & Raheel Jamil, 2020. "Does Moral Intensity Affect the Whistleblowing Intentions?," iRASD Journal of Management, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 2(2), pages 84-99, December.
    11. Verschuuren, Pim, 2020. "Whistleblowing determinants and the effectiveness of reporting channels in the international sports sector," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 142-154.
    12. 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.
    13. El-Helaly, Moataz & Ntim, Collins G. & Soliman, Mark, 2020. "The Role of National Culture in International Financial Reporting Standards Adoption," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    14. Hengky Latan & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, 2021. "Social Media as a Form of Virtual Whistleblowing: Empirical Evidence for Elements of the Diamond Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 529-548, December.
    15. Bartuli, Jenny & Djawadi, Behnud Mir & Fahr, René, 2016. "Business Ethics in Organizations: An Experimental Examination of Whistleblowing and Personality," IZA Discussion Papers 10190, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Hanen Khemakhem & Richard Fontaine & Nadia Smaili & Mahbub Zaman, 2023. "Whistleblowing regulations and the role of audit committees: insight from interviews," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(1), pages 131-151, March.
    17. Sheng-min Liu & Jian-qiao Liao & Hongguo Wei, 2015. "Authentic Leadership and Whistleblowing: Mediating Roles of Psychological Safety and Personal Identification," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 107-119, September.
    18. Sebastian Oelrich, 2019. "Making regulation fit by taking irrationality into account: the case of the whistleblower," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(1), pages 175-207, April.
    19. Seifert, Deborah L. & Sweeney, John T. & Joireman, Jeff & Thornton, John M., 2010. "The influence of organizational justice on accountant whistleblowing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 707-717, October.
    20. Said, Jamaliah & Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Karim, Zulyanti Abdul & Johari, Razana Juhaida, 2019. "Integrating Religiosity into Fraud Triangle Theory: Findings on Malaysian Police Officers," SocArXiv sy65n, Center for Open Science.

    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:163:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-018-4023-y. 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.