Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/145781 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2016: Demographischer Wandel - Session: Social Norms and Diffusion of Responsibility No. G21-V2
Publisher: 
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Kiel und Hamburg
Abstract: 
Societies today are increasingly reliant on whistleblowing to uncover unfair practices. For policy design it is therefore essential to better understand the impact of socio-psychological factors on whistleblowing propensity. We use an experimental setup to explore the role of “Diffusion of Responsibility” (DOR), which posits that individuals are less likely to whistleblow when others could similarly do so. We find that individuals do not shift responsibility to others if they expect an own monetary benefit from the consequences of whistleblowing, even if they could gain even more by freeriding on others who take action. In contrast, DOR affects whistleblowing propensities severely if whistleblowing is motivated solely by altruistic concerns. Our results highlight the fragility of purely altruistic behaviour and suggest that whistleblowing policies should ensure that potential whistleblowers perceive a gain to their in-group, but need not address the free riding problem among the insiders.
JEL: 
C91
C92
D02
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

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