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Publications
  • April–May 2021
  • Article
  • Journal of Accounting & Economics

The Effect of Retaliation Costs on Employee Whistleblowing

By: Jonas Heese and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos
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Abstract

We use large increases in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to study the effects of expected retaliation costs on employee whistleblowing. Increases in UI benefits reduce the costs that arise from a job loss, one of the costliest forms of retaliation. We find that increases in UI benefits increase the number of facility-level employee workplace safety complaints filed with the regulator. Furthermore, UI benefit increases also result in more violations and more penalties. The effects are concentrated in firms where retaliation is more likely as measured by weaker employee relations, internal controls, and monitoring. Our findings show the importance of reducing retaliation costs to tap into employees’ knowledge of misconduct.

Keywords

Employee Whistleblowing; Retaliation Costs; Labor Unemployment Insurance; Workplace Safety Inspections

Citation

Heese, Jonas, and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos. "The Effect of Retaliation Costs on Employee Whistleblowing." Art. 101385. Journal of Accounting & Economics 71, nos. 2-3 (April–May 2021).
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About The Author

Jonas Heese

Accounting and Management
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Conflicts of Interest at Bell Bank By: Jonas Heese
  • MicroStrategy: Accounting for Cryptocurrency (B) By: Jonas Heese and Annelena Lobb
  • Introducing EVA at ISS: A Better Way to Evaluate CEO Performance and Compensation? By: Jonas Heese and Charles C.Y. Wang
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