Sustainable Whistleblowing

Abstract

A regulation cannot be fully functional if the fact under judgement is unknown. Whistleblowing, if carried out properly, with well established mechanisms and protections, can allow the appropriate authorities to act accordingly. That is, whistleblowing may help the disclosure of unethical business behaviours and penalice the wrongdoers. This study proposes an analysis of the current state of whistleblowing regulation, while comparing some key differences found in the European Union (EU) and The United States (US). Using a survey, we analyse primary information about individuals’ whistleblowing intentions and alignment to different legal frameworks (EU vs. US). We find a vast majority of individuals willing to whistleblow unethical acts (83%), but also varying according to the type of wrongdoing. Furthermore, we find European respondents to strongly prefer some legal protections developed in the US over those already in place in the EU.