Do Institutional Arrangements Matter for a More Friendly Whistleblowing Environment?

This chapter investigates how employers and managers protect whistleblowers and assess the impact of whistleblowing on their organisations, drawing on survey data from Denmark, England, Ireland and Norway. All four countries included in this study have legislation protecting whistleblowers. Norway and Denmark belong to so-called inclusive employment regimes, while England and Ireland have more market-based employment regimes. Factors that may contribute to fostering a more whistleblower-friendly environment are identified, and the authors examine how institutional arrangements and employment regimes shape these dynamics.

The findings suggest that institutional arrangements and employment regimes play a certain role in promoting environments conducive to whistleblowing, but the findings are not conclusive.

However, neither collective agreements nor whistleblowing procedures do affect managerial attitudes towards whistleblowing. This suggests that other factors, beyond institutional frameworks, such as personal experiences and interests, organisational culture or sector-specific dynamics, influence how managers perceive and respond to whistleblowing.