Reporting Sexual Misconduct in the #MeToo Era

Ing-Haw Cheng and Alice Hsiaw

American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 761-803

Abstract: We model the reporting of sexual misconduct. Individuals underreport misconduct due to strategic uncertainty over whether others will report and corroborate a pattern of behavior. Underreporting occurs if and only if misconduct is widespread. Making sanctions more responsive to reports, raising public awareness of misconduct, implementing confidential holding tanks, and appropriately calibrating damage awards can encourage reporting. However, we also show when such policies are ineffective or backfire. Managers may avoid mentoring subordinates, spilling over into reporting. A holding tank may discourage reporting by raising the bar to access reports. Overall, we highlight several unintended and intended consequences of #MeToo.

JEL-codes: D82 D83 J16 K13 K42 M14 M54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Related works:
Working Paper: Reporting Sexual Misconduct in the #MeToo Era (2020)
Working Paper: Reporting Sexual Misconduct in the #MeToo Era (2020)
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DOI: 10.1257/mic.20200218

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