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Effectiveness of whistleblower laws in combating corruption

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  • Goel, Rajeev K.
  • Nelson, Michael A.

Abstract

Whistleblower laws are becoming important governance tools in both the public and private sectors. To examine the effectiveness of whistleblower laws and their awareness, this study creates a unique internet-based measure of awareness about whistleblower laws and provisions, focusing on the United States. Placing the analysis within the larger corruption literature, our results show that greater whistleblower awareness results in more observed corruption and this holds across specifications. Internet awareness of whistleblower laws appears to be more effective at exposing corruption than the quantity and quality of whistleblower laws themselves.

Suggested Citation

  • Goel, Rajeev K. & Nelson, Michael A., 2013. "Effectiveness of whistleblower laws in combating corruption," BOFIT Discussion Papers 9/2013, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bofitp:bdp2013_009
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    Cited by:

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    2. Thuy Nguyen & Victoria Perez, 2020. "Privatizing Plaintiffs: How Medicaid, the False Claims Act, and Decentralized Fraud Detection Affect Public Fraud Enforcement Efforts," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(4), pages 1063-1091, December.
    3. Gans-Morse, Jordan & Borges, Mariana & Makarin, Alexey & Mannah-Blankson, Theresa & Nickow, Andre & Zhang, Dong, 2018. "Reducing bureaucratic corruption: Interdisciplinary perspectives on what works," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 171-188.
    4. Cebula, Richard & Clark, Jeff, 2014. "Impact of Economic Freedom, Regulatory Quality, and Taxation on the Per Capita Real Income: An Analysis for OECD Nations and Non-G8 OECD Nations," MPRA Paper 56605, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Aghanya, Daniel & Jimenez, Alfredo & Rajwani, Tazeeb, 2023. "Corporate political activity and bribery in Africa: Do internet penetration and foreign ownership matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    6. Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2021. "COVID-19 internet vaccination information and vaccine administration: evidence from the United States," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 45(4), pages 716-734, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corruption; whistleblowers; law enforcement; internet; United States;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K4 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior
    • H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations

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