ABSTRACT Whistleblowing reports, if properly investigated, facilitate the early detection of fraud. Although critical, investigation-related decisions represent a relatively underexplored component of the whistleblowing process. Investigators are responsible for initially deciding whether to follow-up on reports alleging fraud. We report the results of an experimental study examining the follow-up intentions of highly experienced healthcare investigators. Participants, in the role of an insurance investigator, are asked to review a whistleblowing report alleging billing fraud occurring at a medical provider. Thus, participants are serving as external investigators. In a between-participant design, we manipulate the report type and whether the caller previously confronted the wrongdoer. We find that compared to an anonymous report, a non-anonymous report is perceived as more credible and follow-up intentions stronger. We also find that perceived credibility fully mediates the relationship between report type and follow-up intentions. Previous confrontation is not significantly associated with either perceived credibility or follow-up intentions. Data Availability: Data are available upon request.

This study examines supply chain power in the context of real earnings management (REM), instances in which executives execute (or forego) operations transactions for the sole purpose of meeting or beating earnings targets. We examine whether powerful major customers in supply chains exploit their positions to engage in REM to a greater degree than less powerful firms. We also examine (1) whether the stock market reacts differently to major customers' and nonmajor customers' REM, (2) whether any difference exists between major customers' and nonmajor customers' post-REM financial performance, and (3) how suppliers are impacted by their major customers' REM behavior. Results suggest that major customers exploit their supply chain power to engage in more REM. In contrast to the skeptical stock market reaction when other firms engage in REM, we find no evidence that major customers' earnings are discounted when there is evidence of REM. Instead, the market appears to interpret major customers' behavior as "legitimate" uses of power in supply chain management, rather than REM typically considered to be value-destroying. Further, we find that in post-REM periods, major customers that engage in REM exhibit better operating cash flow performance than nonmajor customers who do so. These findings suggest that the consequential costs of REM are lower for major customers than for nonmajor customers. Finally, we report evidence that the particular form of major customers' REM appears to determine the impact on their suppliers. Suppliers' financial performance deteriorates when major customers' REM entails discretionary expense cuts. These findings offer new insights into the benefits and uses of power in supply chain relationships, in a previously unexplored context. We discuss the implications of the findings for future research.

This study extends prior research regarding country compliance with international anti-human trafficking policies by empirically exploring how country corruption and economic freedom interact to impact compliance. It is posited that efforts to reduce corruption in countries that enjoy greater economic freedom will have a smaller marginal impact on policy compliance compared to nations with lower levels of economic freedom. In other words, there is inverse relationship between corruption and compliance with anti-human trafficking policies that decreases in the extent of a country’s economic freedom. Using data from 140 countries, empirical evidence in this study supports this hypothesis

This study extends prior research regarding country compliance with international anti-human trafficking policies by empirically exploring how country corruption and economic freedom interact to impact compliance. It is posited that efforts to reduce corruption in countries that enjoy greater economic freedom will have a smaller marginal impact on policy compliance compared to nations with lower levels of economic freedom. In other words, there is inverse relationship between corruption and compliance with anti-human trafficking policies that decreases in the extent of a country’s economic freedom. Using data from 140 countries, empirical evidence in this study supports this hypothesis

ABSTRACTHuman trafficking has been called the 'dark side' of globalization. Interpol estimates that human trafficking is now the third largest transnational crime and the number of victims increases with each passing year. In an effort to combat the crime, the United Nations created the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons (Protocol) which outlines three anti-human trafficking policy dimensions. Some countries have been very successful in complying with the Protocol and fighting human traffickers while other countries struggle. It is hypothesized in this study that the degree of press freedom within a country significantly affects a country's ability to comply with the Protocol. It is argued that greater press freedom enables the media to increase public awareness of the atrocities of human trafficking, sway public opinion, and call on government officials to take action and adhere to the laws prescribed in the Protocol. This hypothesis is tested using a cross-country data set of 119 countries. The results indicate that countries that allow for greater press freedom are more successful in their compliance with the Protocol.JEL: 057,015KEYWORDS: Anti-Human Trafficking Policies, Press Freedom, Cross-CountryINTRODUCTIONAs a result of increased foreign competition and trade and the dissemination of information and technologies, globalization has brought many positive economic changes such as a higher quality and quantity of products and services and greater levels of human capital. Nonetheless, the process of globalization has brought a host of negative outcomes such as environmental degradation, problems associated with economic inequality and poverty, spread of terrorism and terrorist ideals, and the loss of employment in host countries. While a wealth of literature exists that explored these positive and negative outcomes, a growing body of literature has recently considered the effect of globalization on human trafficking. Advances in technologies, transportations, and the ability to share information across the globe instantaneously have connected countries and people in ways that transcend geographical distances and, as a result, have allowed for an increased illicit flow of human beings. As Cho et al. (2012) state, human trafficking can be viewed as one of the dark sides of globalization.The United Nations (2001) defines human trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. The United Nations estimates that almost every country in the world has been affected by human trafficking and Interpol (2009) estimates that human trafficking is the third largest transnational crime. In the 2012 Trafficking of Humans Report, the U.S. Department of State estimates that as many as 27 million men, women, and children around the world are victims of human trafficking.Increased global awareness of the severity of this issue has led to the creation and adoption of major international treaties and laws to fight human trafficking such as the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the United Nation's Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Protocol). The United Nation's Protocol outlines three distinct policy dimensions to combat human trafficking: the prosecution or criminalization of traffickers, the protection and assistance for victims of human trafficking, and the prevention of the crime itself. For the prosecution dimension, the Protocol calls for each state to adopt legislative and other legal measures necessary to establish participation in human trafficking as a criminal offense such that offenders can be prosecuted. …

Prior research suggests that the party with greater power in an exchange relationship can dictate the terms of exchange. In this study, we examine whether supply chain power influences the extent and valuation consequences of real earnings management (REM), a form of earnings manipulation which necessarily involves transactions with one or more parties external to the firm. We examine the association between suspect earnings (zero or barely positive earnings or earnings changes) and the deployment of three REM tools: sales manipulation, overproduction, and reduction of discretionary expenditures. Test results indicate that use of these REM tools is increasing in the extent of firms‟ supply chain power – that is, we find that the association between suspect earnings and the deployment of REM is stronger for firms with greater supply chain power. Despite this evidence of more pervasive REM among firms with greater supply chain power, we also find that the negative valuation impact of REM is decreasing in the extent of firms‟ supply chain power. We conclude that firms with greater supply chain power are more capable of dictating exchange terms and executing less-value-reducing REM to meet short-term earnings goals. Thus, in contrast to generalizations in prior research regarding the valuedestroying nature of REM, we conclude that REM is executed by two classes of firms: 1) firms lacking significant supply chain power, in which case current-year REM is executed at the expense of firm value, and 2) firms possessing significant supply chain power, in which case current-year REM is executed in a more seamless manner and with little or no adverse effect on firm value.

This study reports evidence that concentrated 3‐firm supply chains achieve superior financial performance, and that supply chains’ financial performance varies systematically with measures of chain concentration and chain duration. Results from firm‐level analyses suggest that the profitability benefits of supply chain relationships are captured predominantly by downstream chain members, whereas cash cycle benefits are realized throughout the supply chain. Firm‐level tests also reveal that chain members’ financial performance varies systematically with measures of downstream bargaining power, downstream relationship duration, and degree of supply consolidation. The study's chain‐ and firm‐level analyses employ data extracted from sample firms’ publicly available financial reports, including their major customer disclosures under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards Nos. 131 (1997) and 14 (1976).

In this study, I investigate whether inferences drawn from customer profitability analysis (CPA) are associated with the information set used by investors valuing firms’ equity. This research question is motivated by the recent emergence of CPA as the most important aspect of strategic planning for managers (e.g., Foster and Young 1997). To the extent that managers use CPA in developing strategies to devote more (less) effort to more (less) profitable customer segments, information about differential profit margins across segments of customer revenues should be value relevant in efficient capital markets. Given that firms generally do not disclose customer profitability details, I use observed income statement data and SFAS 14/131 disclosures to estimate the differential profitability of firms’ major customer sales and non-major customer sales. Using these estimates, I then test whether the association between share prices and major customer profitability is more (less) positive compared to the pricing of non-major customer profitability when major customer sales yield comparatively higher (lower) profit margins. Based on a sample of 20,527 firm-years disclosing major customer sales during 1980 – 2006, I find evidence consistent with the predictions. This study is the first to systematically examine the value relevance of customer-contributed components of income and adds to the literature bridging management accounting and capital markets research (e.g., Banker and Chen 2006; Hemmer and Labro 2008). Furthermore, my results have implications for i) management accounting research concerned with understanding the valuation consequences of CPA and its potential impact on future management behavior; ii) financial accounting research concerned with the informativeness of disaggregated accounting information used by managers for resource allocation decisions; and 3) research interested in the financial effects of significant seller-buyer relationships.