Form Of White-collar Crime Research Articles

Treat me fairly now or I will commit misconduct later: integrating general strain and procedural (in)justice in graduate education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to integrate general strain theory and procedural justice in the context of research misconduct in university settings. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on media accounts and past research, the authors present data on the financial costs of research misconduct to universities and identify graduate school processes as a possible source of strain may lead to misconduct. Relevant research on procedural justice in organizational settings is also examined. Findings The available literature suggests that the use of procedurally just practices will help reduce strain, and in doing so, potentially prevent research misconduct in university settings. The authors present an integrated theoretical model that can be tested in future empirical studies of research misconduct and other forms of white-collar crime in universities. Directions for future theoretically informed research are discussed, along with recommendations for graduate program administrators. Originality/value Research misconduct causes significant financial and reputational costs to universities. While past research focuses on mentoring and training for preventing misconduct by graduate students, this study argues that the use of fair evaluations and other procedurally just processes is also important.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRIME, CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC AND NATIONAL BORDERS PROTECTION: COMBINATION OF NEW CHALLENGES

The article comprehensively examines the issues related to the transformation of economic crime in the period of globalization and, in particular, the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arguments in favor of the author’s idea of ways to improve the mechanism of criminal law protection of the domestic economy in the face of new challenges. It is stated that in modern societies the emergence of new types of economic crimes, the growth of economic crime in general and its adaptation to various socio-economic changes. Globalization of crime, together with economic globalization, which serves, so to speak, as a general background, requires experts in the field of comparative criminal law to strengthen international cooperation and develop ways to address a number of issues related to combating criminal behavior that has long gone beyond boundaries of national criminal justice systems. The conclusion is reached that the year 2020 has brought new challenges to the modern connected world: the COVID-19 pandemic, which indirectly made nations unite in the face of a major healthcare threat; also, in a somewhat secondary mode, new forms of white collar criminal behavior, which spreads across the state borders is caused, either directly or indirectly, by the pandemic, and also a wide range of issues, related to national border protection modes. This requires law enforcement agencies to build up joint efforts in combatting new forms of white collar crime both on national and international levels.

Faith in Trump and the willingness to punish white-collar crime: Chinese Americans as an out-group.

ObjectivesThe first goal of the study was to investigate the willingness of former President Trump’s supporters to punish a particular form of white-collar crime (i.e., bank fraud). The second objective was to test whether the race of the person who committed the bank fraud influenced Trump supporters’ willingness to punish.MethodsThis study used data from factorial vignettes that were administered to a national sample of adults in 2021 (N = 1509). A 2 (race of the individual who committed bank fraud) × 2 (prior criminal record) × 2 (COVID-19 related fraud) between-subject experimental design was used. Multivariate techniques were used to regress the dependent variables (e.g., length of prison sentence) onto the faith in Trump scale, the experimental conditions, and other variables.ResultsParticipants who expressed a strong faith in Trump were less likely to support sending an adult male who committed bank fraud to prison, but they were more supportive of deporting the individual to another country. The effect of faith in Trump changed when the race of the person who committed bank fraud was manipulated. Specifically, participants who expressed greater faith in Trump were more likely to view bank fraud as harmful and wrong, more likely to support the use of prison and recommend longer prison sentences, and expressed greater support for deporting the individual when he was depicted as Chinese American.ConclusionsAllegiance to the former president likely increased the targeting of Chinese Americans as out-group members in need of greater social control.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11292-022-09528-8.

White-Collar Criminality Within the Video Game Industry

Edwin Sutherland’s concept of white-collar crime remains incredibly influential in contemporary criminological research and thought. Sutherland’s work was critical of several of the most influential industries in the United States, highlighting both their criminal and unethical conduct. Today, the video game industry has garnered tremendous influence over society and until recently, has seemed to escape criminological critique (other than for that of the potential negative effects of violent games) and white-collar crime theoretical inquiry. This study aims to change that, as we analyze the video game industry for its involvement in many traditional (and some more contemporary) forms of white-collar crime. More specifically, we discuss overpromising, broken games, and price gouging.

Incentive systems in anti-bribery whistleblowing

PurposeWhile existing literature focusses on the causes and negative consequences of corruption, this paper illustrates the potential use of whistleblowing incentives to combat bribery in multinational corporations. The purpose of the present study is to highlight that anti-bribery mechanisms, which have already been successfully applied in the public sector, may also be deployed in multinational organisations.Design/methodology/approachA two-step qualitative research process was used. Informal interviews were conducted with 35 corrupt public officials, followed by formal interviews with 35 compliance experts and law enforcement officers. During the interviews, the advantages and disadvantages of whistleblowing incentives in multinational corporations were discussed. The interviewees’ responses were subjected to content analysis.FindingsThe principal finding was that rewarding employees with significant monetary bonuses may help to increase anti-bribery whistleblowing. However, such bonus payments should be made in only major cases of bribery to safeguard multinational corporations, company cultures and trust among employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings convey the perspectives of the 70 interviewees based in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.Practical implicationsThe paper offers suggestions to multinational corporations on how to effectively combat corruption and other forms of white-collar crime.Originality/valueWhile the empirical findings are based on a European sample, the results may be applied globally.

Peacebuilding and white-collar crime in post-war natural resource sectors

ABSTRACTPost-war situations can present an opportune context for white-collar crime in resource sectors – including corruption, tax evasion, land dispossession, and illegal resource exploitation. This paper investigates various forms of white-collar crime and associated human rights abuses, and points at biased processes of ‘criminalization’. Whereas white-collar crime is frequently legitimated under the guise of reconstruction and economic growth strategies, the victims of corruption and resource grabs often become ‘criminalised’. Such selective forms of criminalisation reflect a securitisation of resource sectors characterised by repressive forms of resource enclosures and increased socio-economic inequalities; putting resource-related white-collar crime at the core of negative peace economies.

Deterring white-collar crime: insights from Australia’s insider trading penalties regime

In Australia, insider trading by individuals or corporations can attract either criminal or civil penalties. This article considers the potential deterrent effect of the different types of penalties for illegal insider trading and concludes that while criminal prosecution remains the preferred enforcement option in relation to wrongdoing by individuals motivated by personal gain, civil penalty proceedings may be a more effective deterrent of unlawful conduct by individual wrongdoers motivated by corporate success, or by corporations. If so, this may have implications for penalties design in relation to other forms of white-collar crime, at least where the harm caused is not to an individual victim.

The influence of psychopathic traits on the acceptance of white-collar crime: do corporate psychopaths cook the books and misuse the news?

Due to several empirical shortcomings in the research of personality characteristics in ethical decision making, we address in this paper the concept of corporate psychopathy in the organizational context. Corporate psychopaths are individuals successfully working in organizations, but are selfish, manipulative, and exhibit a lack of empathy, remorse, and conscience; therefore, they may be viewed as risk factors for organizations. While there is abundant literature on the connection between clinical psychopathy and criminal behavior, such research is scarce in the business context where successful psychopaths operate. Thus, we examine if the malevolent traits of corporate psychopaths predict the acceptance of different forms of white-collar crime. In doing so, we conduct two survey studies in which we first measure participants’ psychopathic tendencies and then assess their acceptance of either an accounting fraud or an insider-trading situation. Consistent with our hypotheses and across both studies, we find a highly significant relationship between personality traits that are associated with corporate psychopathy and the acceptance of white-collar crime. This paper discusses the implications of these findings and identifies some potentially useful approaches for excluding corporate psychopaths from organizations.

Pro et Contra Criminalization of Corporate Liability in the Russian Federation

The article focuses on different theoretical approaches towards establishing corporate criminal liability in national legislature of the Russian Federation. The article focuses on the roots and evolution of the problem of introducing criminal corporate liability, analyses arguments pro et contra corporate criminal liability as an instrument of prevention and combat against corporate and other forms of white-collar crime. The central part of the article examines different theoretical and practical views on introduction of corporate liability in general and in the Russian Federation in particular. The author aims to shed light on different dimensions of the matter, pointing to interdependency of various aspects.

Research practices and assessment of research misconduct

Abstract This article discusses the responsible conduct of research, questionable research practices, and research misconduct. Responsible conduct of research is often defined in terms of a set of abstract, normative principles, professional standards, and ethics in doing research. In order to accommodate the normative principles of scientific research, the professional standards, and a researcher’s moral principles, transparent research practices can serve as a framework for responsible conduct of research. We suggest a “prune-and-add” project structure to enhance transparency and, by extension, responsible conduct of research. Questionable research practices are defined as practices that are detrimental to the research process. The prevalence of questionable research practices remains largely unknown, and reproducibility of findings has been shown to be problematic. Questionable practices are discouraged by transparent practices because practices that arise from them will become more apparent to scientific peers. Most effective might be preregistrations of research design, hypotheses, and analyses, which reduce particularism of results by providing an a priori research scheme. Research misconduct has been defined as fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism (FFP), which is clearly the worst type of research practice. Despite it being clearly wrong, it can be approached from a scientific and legal perspective. The legal perspective sees research misconduct as a form of white-collar crime. The scientific perspective seeks to answer the following question: “Were results invalidated because of the misconduct?” We review how misconduct is typically detected, how its detection can be improved, and how prevalent it might be. Institutions could facilitate detection of data fabrication and falsification by implementing data auditing. Nonetheless, the effect of misconduct is pervasive: many retracted articles are still cited after the retraction has been issued. Main points Researchers systematically evaluate their own conduct as more responsible than colleagues, but not as responsible as they would like. Transparent practices, facilitated by the Open Science Framework, help embody scientific norms that promote responsible conduct. Questionable research practices harm the research process and work counter to the generally accepted scientific norms, but are hard to detect. Research misconduct requires active scrutiny of the research community because editors and peer-reviewers do not pay adequate attention to detecting this. Tips are given on how to improve your detection of potential problems.

Criminal policy on corporate criminal liability: Different theoretical approaches

The article focuses on different theoretical approaches towards establishing corporate criminal liability in national legislatures. Corporate crime is a serious criminal phenomenon, which produces high level of social danger in many fields - economy and trade, health and safety at work­place, environmental protection, human rights and others. Introducing criminal liability of legal persons in most of contemporary legislatures has opened theoretical debates in various academic disciplines, such as criminal law, criminology, sociology and social psychology, economic science and others. As a significant criminological discipline, criminal policy is supposed to analyze arguments pro et contra corporate criminal liability as an instrument of prevention and combat against corporate and other forms of white-collar crime. The central part of the article examines different theoretical views and arguments on efficiency and justification of legislative measures towards corporate crime phenomenon. The author stresses economical, sociological and corporate cultural aspects of introducing and implementing criminal liability of legal persons. The author aims to shed light on different dimensions of the matter, pointing to interdependency of various aspects.

An overview of waste crime, its characteristics, and the vulnerability of the EU waste sector

While waste is increasingly viewed as a resource to be globally traded, increased regulatory control on waste across Europe has created the conditions where waste crime now operates alongside a legitimate waste sector. Waste crime,is an environmental crime and a form of white-collar crime, which exploits the physical characteristics of waste, the complexity of the collection and downstream infrastructure, and the market opportunities for profit. This paper highlights some of the factors which make the waste sector vulnerable to waste crime. These factors include new legislation and its weak regulatory enforcement, the economics of waste treatment, where legal and safe treatment of waste can be more expensive than illegal operations, the complexity of the waste sector and the different actors who can have some involvement, directly or indirectly, in the movement of illegal wastes, and finally that waste can be hidden or disguised and creates an opportunity for illegal businesses to operate alongside legitimate waste operators. The study also considers waste crime from the perspective of particular waste streams that are often associated with illegal shipment or through illegal treatment and disposal. For each, the nature of the crime which occurs is shown to differ, but for each, vulnerabilities to waste crime are evident. The paper also describes some approaches which can be adopted by regulators and those involved in developing new legislation for identifying where opportunities for waste crime occurs and how to prevent it.

Economic Development: Threats and Opportunities

Economic initiative, by definition, is a human and social effort devoted to the collective wellbeing. However, economic development in general, along with more or less measurable benefits, may cause harm to people and the environment. This aspect tends to be obscured by advocates of the currently predominant philosophy (or ideology) known as neo-liberalism. This paper sets off with a critical analysis of the axioms of neo-liberalism focusing on the variable risk and on the harm provoked by economic development on the environment. Straddling legality and illegality, harmful economic conduct is then equated to a specific form of white collar crime, while an attempt is made to trace in the history of economic thought itself the embryo of a destructive rationale. After considering how harm to individuals and the environment is hidden through ideological strategies, the paper looks at some refreshing proposals to turn the threats of economic development into human opportunities.

Health consumer susceptibility to medical care fraud: an exploratory analysis

Healthcare fraud and abuse by medical providers is a form of white-collar crime that has had considerable cost and consequences to society. The following study seeks to investigate factors associated with consumers that make them susceptible to potential fraud and abuse schemes. The analysis consists of 56,441 health consumers identified through Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) fraud algorithms for high cost patients, billing after hour procedures and using modifiers in claims payments. The logistic regression results for any fraud event show that those who reside in the south region of Florida [odds ratio (OR) 2.39, (2.33–2.44)], are Caucasian [OR 2.07, (2.02–2.11)], with a preference sensitive condition (like hip, knee or back problems) [OR 1.76, (1.73–1.80)], who speak English [OR 1.47, (1.45–1.50)], with a higher average future risk score [OR 1.29, (1.28–1.30)], are female [OR 1.16, (1.14–1.18)] and have HMO insurance [OR 1.14, (1.11–1.18)] were more likely to have encountered potential fraud during 2008.

The Roots of Modern White-Collar Crime: Does the Modern Form of White-Collar Crime have its Foundation in the Transition from a Society Dominated by Agriculture to One Dominated by Industry?

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate whether the process of transition from an agricultural to an industrial society was a watershed for white-collar crime, such that this type of crime increased rapidly in connection with the industrialization process. The theoretical reasoning behind this notion is that the transition process promoted a mentality characterized by self-centered values and a culture of competitiveness, which together paved the way for fraud perpetrated at the expense of others. The data are from Statistic Sweden’s historical records and cover the period of 1864–1912. Since there is no way to measure all crimes that can be defined as white collar crime, we have used bankruptcy offences as an example of white collar crime. The results do not support the notion that the transition period from an agricultural to an industrial society showed an increase in bankruptcy offences. Instead, the results show that when fluctuations in the economy are taken into account, the industrialization process per se entailed less bankruptcy offences. On the other hand, other research using the case of Sweden has shown that it was first after World War II that bankruptcy offences increased rapidly. Our argument is that the transition process as a structural mechanism had a greater impact on bankruptcy offences when industrialized capitalism became advanced.

Exorbitant CEO compensation: just reward or grand theft?

The failure of society to criminalize policies and practices of powerful organizations and individuals that are demonstrably harmful has been a central theme of the white collar crime literature since Sutherland. In recent years much commentary and criticism has been directed at vastly exorbitant compensation packages awarded to CEOs of major corporations and other major institutions. Although some criminal prosecutions have been pursued on the basis of allegations of fraud in relation to CEO compensation (e.g., the Dennis Kozlowski/Tyco case and the Conrad Black/Hollinger case), and some civil lawsuits demanding repayment of unjustifiably large CEO compensation have been initiated (e.g., the Richard Grasso/New York Stock Exchange case), most typically exorbitant CEO compensation packages result in neither criminal indictments nor civil lawsuits. This article explores the status of exorbitant CEO compensation as a criminological phenomenon, beginning with a typology of different views on such compensation. The contemporary scope of disproportionate compensation is reviewed, with the exponential increase in the gaps between the compensation of CEOs and those below them documented. Some of the different mechanisms along a continuum of legal to illegal for providing exorbitant CEO compensation are identified. Why is the awarding of exorbitant CEO compensation typically legal? What specific forms of harm arise from awarding exorbitant CEO compensation? Why do Corporate Board Compensation Committees award exorbitant CEO compensation? Indeed, what are the specifically criminogenic dimensions of Corporate Board decision-making that contribute to this process? What arguments can be advanced in favor of criminalizing exorbitant CEO compensation and against doing so? What specific practical constraints would have to be overcome to criminalize the awarding of exorbitant CEO compensation? If exorbitant CEO compensation has not been addressed traditionally as a form of white collar crime, what arguments can be advanced in favor and against doing so now? This article promotes attention to the exorbitant CEO compensation issue by white collar crime scholars, with a provisional addressing of the questions raised above.

How secure are your check transactions?

Check fraud is one of the most common forms of white-collar crime (WCC). And it is one of the fastest-growing WCC problems facing business today. The authors detail the types of check fraud that can damage your company and explain how to detect and prevent them. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Occupational crime, occupational deviance, and workplace crime

The concept of occupational crime—as one of the principal forms of white collar crime—has been quite familiar and widely invoked since the publication of Clinard and Quinney's influential Criminal Behavior Systems: A Typology. More recently, however, the term occupational crime has been applied to activities quite removed from the original meaning of white collar crime, and it has been used interchangeably with such terms as occupational deviance and workplace crime. In the interest of greater conceptual clarity within the field of white collar crime the argument is made here for restricting the term `occupational crime' to illegal and unethical activities committed for individual financial gain—or to avoid financial loss—in the context of a legitimate occupation. The term `occupational deviance' is better reserved for deviation from occupational norms (e.g. drinking on the job; sexual harassment), and the term `workplace crime' is better reserved for conventional forms of crime committed in the workplace (e.g. rape; assault). The conceptual conflation of fundamentally dissimilar activities hinders theoretical, empirical, and policy-related progress in the field of white collar crime studies.

Risky Business Revisited: White-Collar Crime and the Orange County Bankruptcy

Orange County's bankruptcy is the largest governmental bankruptcy in U.S. history. Initial reports blamed the county's financial difficulties on the county treasurer's gambling with taxpayer dollars in the high-risk derivative market. This article forwards the argument that it was not simply “risky business” that caused the bankruptcy; rather, fraud and other forms of white-collar crime played a significant role in the $2 billion debacle. Using concepts and theories from the literature on white-collar crime and drawing comparisons with other financial scandals, most notably the savings and loan crisis, the authors argue that the financial downfall of Orange County was due to a “criminogenic environment” that allowed for concerted ignorance among officials who were motivated by a fear of falling from their positions of power.

Trafficking in Human Organs: An Emerging Form of White-Collar Crime?

This article is based on a review and synthesis of media information and the professional literature relating to international human organ trafficking. The article inquires into the global scarcity of transplantable organs and explores the typical circumstances that surround the sale-for profit-of organs. Factors contributing to the establishment of legal, as well as clandestine, organ markets are discussed, as are the efforts of buyers and sellers of organs to avoid, or to violate, national laws that criminalize the sale and purchase of organs in most Western nations.