Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2019
  • Article
  • Journal of Financial Crime

The Frequency of Corporate Misconduct: Public Enforcement versus Private Reality

By: Eugene F. Soltes
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Perceptions about the frequency of misconduct—among the public, academics and even regulators—have largely been formed by examining enforcement statistics, which rely on the detection and sanctioning of the misconduct. This study aims to illuminate the real occurrence of corporate misconduct, much of which escapes public detection. Through analyzing records for several large multinational firms, the author finds that there are, on average, more than two instances of internally substantiated misconduct per week per firm.

Keywords

Fraud; Bribery; Misconduct; Organizations; Crime and Corruption

Citation

Soltes, Eugene F. "The Frequency of Corporate Misconduct: Public Enforcement versus Private Reality." Journal of Financial Crime 26, no. 4 (2019): 923–937.
  • Read Now

About The Author

Eugene F. Soltes

Accounting and Management
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Corporate Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions

    By: Leo R. Tsao, Daniel S. Kahn and Eugene F. Soltes
    • December 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Should I Stay or Should I Go? Assessing Risk in Carlos Ghosn's International Escape

    By: Eugene F. Soltes, Grace Liu and Muneeb Ahmed
    • Journal of Empirical Legal Studies

    Is ‘Not Guilty’ the Same as ‘Innocent’? Evidence from SEC Financial Fraud Investigations

    By: Eugene F. Soltes and David H. Solomon
More from the Author
  • Corporate Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions By: Leo R. Tsao, Daniel S. Kahn and Eugene F. Soltes
  • Should I Stay or Should I Go? Assessing Risk in Carlos Ghosn's International Escape By: Eugene F. Soltes, Grace Liu and Muneeb Ahmed
  • Is ‘Not Guilty’ the Same as ‘Innocent’? Evidence from SEC Financial Fraud Investigations By: Eugene F. Soltes and David H. Solomon
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College