by Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese, and Gerardo Perez Cavazos

Regulators trying to curtail financial fraud, government procurement fraud, or tax fraud, among many other types of misconduct, increasingly rely on whistleblowers for tips. However, the concern is that whistleblowers face severe costs to help uncover corporate fraud. Yet, there is no large-sample evidence on the consequences for whistleblowers. We examine the costs for whistleblowers using information from lawsuits, a professional networking site, and background checks for up to 1,168 whistleblowers. In particular, we investigate the career, financial, and social consequences for whistleblowers that filed lawsuits under the False Claims Act (FCA) against firms accused of defrauding the government. Continue reading →