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Myths and Numbers on Whistleblower Rewards

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  • Nyreröd, Theo

    (Independent)

  • Spagnolo, Giancarlo

    (Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics)

Abstract

Whistleblower rewards have been used extensively in the US to limit procurement fraud and tax evasion, and their use has been extended to fight financial fraud after the recent financial crisis. In Europe there is currently a debate on their possible introduction, but authorities appear considerably less enthusiastic than their US counterparts. While it is important that these tools are scrutinized by a lively democratic debate, many things have been written, even by important institutional players, that have no empirical backing or that are in open contrast with the available evidence from independent research. In this paper we review some of the most debated issues regarding the potential benefits and costs of financial incentives whistleblowers trying to separate existing empirical evidence from conjectures with no empirical support, and myths in obvious contrast with available evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:hasite:0044
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jeffrey V. Butler & Danila Serra & Giancarlo Spagnolo, 2020. "Motivating Whistleblowers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(2), pages 605-621, February.
    2. Colignatus, Thomas, 2020. "Forum Theory & A National Assembly of Science and Learning," MPRA Paper 98568, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Feb 2020.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    whistleblowers; rewards; economic crime; tax evasion; corruption;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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