The Influence of Leadership Style and Personal Costs on Fraud Whistleblowing Intent

Using an experimental approach, this study examines employees’ intention to report occupational fraud through various channels based on the leadership style (transformational or transactional) of the manager and the expected personal costs (either high or low) of reporting. The study also focuses on the influence of value congruence between the manager and the employee, as well as trust factors that motivate employees to report occupational fraud. In examining these issues, I consider two types of occupational fraud schemes (misappropriation of assets and financial statement fraud). Unexpectedly, the results indicate leadership style and/or personal costs do not have a significant influence on reporting intention under most models examined in this study. The findings indicate that age, gender, and/or responsibility to report are significant factors influencing reporting intentions in several models analyzed in this study