Whistleblowing Intentions of Lower-Level Employees: The Effect of Reporting Channel, Bystanders, and Wrongdoer Power Status

Jingyu Gao (), Robert Greenberg () and Bernard Wong-On-Wing ()

Journal of Business Ethics, 2015, vol. 126, issue 1, 85-99

Abstract: It has been suggested that a reporting channel administered by a third-party may represent a stronger procedural safeguard of anonymity and avoids the appearance of impropriety. This study examines whistleblowing intentions among lower-tier employees, specifically examines whether an externally-administered reporting channel increases whistleblowing intentions compared to an internally-administered one. In contrast to the findings of an earlier study by Kaplan et al. (Audit J Pract Theory 28(2):273–288, 2009 ), our results suggest that whistle-blowing intentions are higher when the reporting channel is administered externally than when it is administered internally. We also find that an externally-administered reporting channel mitigates the negative effect of bystanders on whistleblowing intentions. Implications are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Whistleblowing; Bystander effect; Reporting channel; Sarbanes-Oxley (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:126:y:2015:i:1:p:85-99

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-2008-4

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