IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/reggov/v15y2021i3p745-759.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Whistleblowers as regulatory intermediaries: Instrumental and reflexive considerations in decentralizing regulation

Author

Listed:
  • Ioannis Kampourakis

Abstract

This article frames whistleblowers as regulatory intermediaries who provide a response to the problem posed by the fragmentation of knowledge in a complex society and market economy. I identify two ways in which whistleblowers become regulatory intermediaries: The first is by remedying informational asymmetries between the regulator and the target (instrumental approach). Both in the United States and in the European Union, whistleblowers are protected on the basis of the value of the disclosed information for the advancement of regulatory objectives. The second way in which whistleblowers become regulatory intermediaries is by contributing to the development of “communities of compliance” and by enhancing the internal self‐regulatory capacities of regulatory targets (reflexive approach). Creating internal channels of reporting and monitoring is perceived as a way to change the organizational culture of targets. Through the instrumentalism – reflexivity dipole, competing rationales and normative visions of regulatory intermediation become apparent: It could, on the one hand, facilitate state intervention and legal sanctions or, on the other hand, signal the aspiration to embed public and social values in private actors.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioannis Kampourakis, 2021. "Whistleblowers as regulatory intermediaries: Instrumental and reflexive considerations in decentralizing regulation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 745-759, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:15:y:2021:i:3:p:745-759
    DOI: 10.1111/rego.12361
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12361
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rego.12361?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacint Jordana & David Levi-Faur (ed.), 2004. "The Politics of Regulation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3167.
    2. John Ruggie, 2008. "Protect, Respect and Remedy: A Framework for Business and Human Rights," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 3(2), pages 189-212, April.
    3. 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.
    4. Jimmy Donaghey & Juliane Reinecke, 2018. "When Industrial Democracy Meets Corporate Social Responsibility — A Comparison of the Bangladesh Accord and Alliance as Responses to the Rana Plaza Disaster," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 14-42, March.
    5. David Lewis, 2019. "Labour market enforcement in the 21st century: should whistleblowers have a greater role?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 256-276, May.
    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. Catherine Casey & Helen Delaney & Antje Fiedler, 2021. "Recalling the moral dimension: Transnational labour interests and corporate social responsibilities," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 389-405, September.
    2. Onyeka Osuji, 2011. "Fluidity of Regulation-CSR Nexus: The Multinational Corporate Corruption Example," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 31-57, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Domènec Melé & Carlos Sánchez-Runde, 2013. "Cultural Diversity and Universal Ethics in a Global World," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(4), pages 681-687, September.
    5. Alice Evans, 2019. "Incentivising Pro-Labour Reforms," CID Working Papers 349, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    6. Isik Ozel, 2012. "The politics of de‐delegation: Regulatory (in)dependence in Turkey," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 119-129, March.
    7. Ignatowski Grzegorz, 2023. "Problems with the Concept of Whistleblowing in the Intercultural Perspective and the EU Directive 2019/1937," Journal of Intercultural Management, Sciendo, vol. 15(2), pages 78-103, June.
    8. Peter J. May, 2007. "Regulatory regimes and accountability," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 1(1), pages 8-26, March.
    9. Davide Fiaschi & Elisa Giuliani, 2011. "The impact of business on society: exploring CRS adoption and alleged human rights abuses by large corporations," LEM Papers Series 2011/13, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    10. Arif Mostafa Khan & Meine Pieter van Dijk, 2024. "The role of multi‐stakeholder initiatives in advancing circularity and social sustainability in the textiles sector of Bangladesh," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 1765-1788, April.
    11. Florian Wettstein, 2010. "The Duty to Protect: Corporate Complicity, Political Responsibility, and Human Rights Advocacy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 33-47, September.
    12. Braithwaite, John, 2006. "Responsive regulation and developing economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 884-898, May.
    13. Marc Quintyn, 2009. "Independent agencies: more than a cheap copy of independent central banks?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 267-295, September.
    14. John S. Ahlquist & Layna Mosley, 2021. "Firm participation in voluntary regulatory initiatives: The Accord, Alliance, and US garment importers from Bangladesh," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 317-343, April.
    15. Rémi Bourguignon & Pierre Garaudel & Simon Porcher, 2020. "Global Framework Agreements and Trade Unions as Monitoring Agents in Transnational Corporations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 517-533, September.
    16. Jacint Jordana & Xavier Fernández‐i‐Marín & Andrea C. Bianculli, 2018. "Agency proliferation and the globalization of the regulatory state: Introducing a data set on the institutional features of regulatory agencies," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(4), pages 524-540, December.
    17. Graciela Corral de Zubielqui & Howard Harris, 2024. "Why the COVID-19 Crisis Is an Ethical Issue for Business: Evidence from the Australian JobKeeper Initiative," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 123-136, February.
    18. Nina Seppala, 2009. "Business and the International Human Rights Regime: A Comparison of UN Initiatives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 401-417, August.
    19. Vlad Tarko & Kyle O’Donnell, 2019. "Escape from Europe: a calculus of consent model of the origins of liberal institutions in the North American colonies," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 70-95, March.
    20. Wafula, Francis & Molyneux, Catherine & Mackintosh, Maureen & Goodman, Catherine, 2013. "Protecting the public or setting the bar too high? Understanding the causes and consequences of regulatory actions of front-line regulators and specialized drug shop operators in Kenya," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 220-227.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:reggov:v:15:y:2021:i:3:p:745-759. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-5991 .

    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.