Do Employee Fraud Reporting Intentions Differ between For-Profit and Nonprofit Organizations?

Abstract

Scant coverage of fraud in nonprofit organizations and smaller firms exists despite surveys and headlines indicating fraud prevalence is at greater levels among these firms than at for-profit and larger firms. Applying a combination of stakeholder salience theory and whistleblowing theory, this paper establishes a background for such comparisons. Results of a survey of 153 fulltime employees uncover differences in whistleblowing between for-profit and nonprofit organization types. We find those who work at for-profit organizations are more likely to whistleblow than those who work for nonprofit organizations. The results and supplemental analysis suggest whistleblowing intention for fraud is significantly more likely for larger organizations (measured by number of employees) regardless of organization type. Further, as geographic reach increases, for-profit employees are increasingly likely to report.