Encouraging bureaucrats to report corruption: human resource management and whistleblowing

ABSTRACT

Although notoriously hierarchical, rigid and impersonal, bureaucracy has recently become the unsung hero in the fight against corruption. Recent studies suggest that countries whose public service reflects characteristics of a Weberian bureaucracy – particularly, permanent careers and merit recruitment – exhibit lower levels of corruption. Uncertainty exists, however, over which qualities are most important, as well as how these lower corruption. This article advances research by examining the relationship that various human resource management practices have with a central mechanism of thwarting corruption: whistleblowing. Using survey data from Australia, the results from various regression models show that bureaucrats’ belief that recruitment within their agency prioritises merit as well as their belief in opportunities for promotion have a positive relationship with whistleblowing. Meanwhile, reporting corruption does not seem to be affected by bureaucrats’ belief in the permanency of their job, satisfaction with remuneration, turnover intention or organisational commitment. The external validity of the findings is considered by comparing the nature of bureaucracy in Australia with some Asia Pacific and Anglo-American countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Bureaucracy
• corruption
• human resource management
• merit recruitment
• quality of government
• whistleblowing

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher A. Cooper

Christopher A. Cooper is Associate Professor of Public Management at the University of Ottawa and the author of At the Pleasure of the Crown: The Politics of Bureaucratic Appointments (UBC Press). His research studying the politics of public administration has been published in various journals including, Public Administration, Governance and Acta Politica.