hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
Whistleblowing should improve immoral behaviour beyond the perpetrators exposed, according to standard economic theories of crime, but this has not always been the case. This column uses the example of offshore banking to examine whether whistleblowing successfully deters future immoral or criminal behaviour. Based on the evidence of the first whistleblowing event relating to tax evasion in 2008, an increase in the perceived probability of a leak should be expected to deter the demand and supply of criminal offshore banking services and reduce the earnings of offshore banks.