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The expansion of online shopping aligned with challenging economic conditions has contributed to increasing fraudulent retail product returns. Retailers employ numerous interventions typically determined by embedded perspectives within the company (supply side) rather than consumer-based assessments of their effectiveness (demand side). This study aims to understand how customers evaluate counter-fraud measures on opportunistic returns fraud in the UK. Based on the fraud triangle and the theory of planned behaviour, we develop an empirically informed framework to assist retail practice.

We collected 485 valid survey responses about consumer attitudes regarding which interventions are effective against different types of returns fraud. First, a principal component section evaluates the policies' effectiveness to identify any policy grouping that could help prioritise specific sets of policies. Second, cluster analysis follows a two-stage approach, where cluster size is determined, and then survey respondents are partitioned into subgroups based on how similar their beliefs are regarding the effectiveness of anti-fraud policies.

We identify policies relating to perceived effectiveness of interventions and create customer profiles to assist retailers in conceptualising potential opportunistic fraudsters. Our product returns fraud framework adopts a consumer perspective to capture the perceived behavioural control of potential fraudsters. Results suggest effectiveness of different types of interventions vary between different types of consumers, which leads to the development of propositions to combat the fraud.

This study is unique in assessing the perceived effectiveness of a range of interventions based on data collection and advanced analytics to combat fraudulent product returns in omnichannel retail.

The purpose of this paper is to examine failures in internal and external controls associated with sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), using three caselets to illustrate the fraud triangle theory factors.

This study uses a qualitative research approach. Caselets are used to illustrate the fraud triangle factors associated with SWFs.

Ideally, SWFs would be characterized by opacity and the strategic flexibility to advance political goals, but this operational agility facilitates an environment ripe for fraud, in large part because there is little transparency with regard to their regulatory structure. Elements of the fraud triangle inherent in the structure of SWFs contribute to the fraud found in the three case examples.

The authors use three SWF fraud cases rather than statistical sampling of all SWFs, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Future research should explore additional recommendations for the evaluation of SWF governance.

The overlap between public sector governance and SWF governance creates an environment amenable to fraud, and as a result, fraud has occurred in several SWFs. Governance recommendations should take into account the lessons learned from previous SWF fraud cases.

Ideally, SWFs would be characterized by opacity and the strategic flexibility to advance political goals, but this operational agility may also facilitate an environment ripe for fraud, in large part because there is little transparency with regard to their regulatory structure.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to identify the fraud triangle risk factors associated with sovereign wealth funds using SWF fraud caselets.

This study addresses the ever-increasing cyber risks confronting the global banking sector, particularly in India, amid rapid technological advancements. The purpose of this study is to de velop an innovative cyber fraud (CF) response system that effectively controls cyber threats, prioritizes fraud, detects early warning signs (EWS) and suggests mitigation measures.

The methodology involves a detailed literature review on fraud identification, assessment methods, prevention techniques and a theoretical model for fraud prevention. Machine learning-based data analysis, using self-organizing maps, is used to assess the severity of CF dynamically and in real-time.

Findings reveal the multifaceted nature of CF, emphasizing the need for tailored control measures and a shift from reactive to proactive mitigation. The study introduces a paradigm shift by viewing each CF as a unique “fraud event,” incorporating EWS as a proactive intervention. This innovative approach distinguishes the study, allowing for the efficient prioritization of CFs.

The practical implications of such a study lie in its potential to enhance the banking sector’s resilience to cyber threats, safeguarding stability, reputation and overall risk management.

The originality stems from proposing a comprehensive framework that combines machine learning, EWS and a proactive mitigation model, addressing critical gaps in existing cyber security systems.

Financial statement fraud has become a global concern, and auditors are increasingly focused on identifying and investigating it. Auditors may play a crucial role in investigating and reducing financial statement fraud, and this is particularly important in developing countries where fraudulent practices are more prevalent due to the lack of strict regulations and oversight. This study investigates whether enhanced audit quality has an impact on reducing financial statement fraud. The primary aim is to recognize whether a higher level of audit quality relates with a decrease in fraudulent activities in Indonesia, which is one such country that has not yet adopted IFRS.

This study investigates the effect of audit quality, as measured by audit tenure, audit fee, and audit size, on the dependent variable of financial statement fraud, as indicated by Dechow F-value. The sample for this study comprises 951 observations from 2015 to 2020, and the research design utilizes a panel data approach. To test the main hypothesis, OLS, and GMM estimation techniques are employed.

The analyses reveal a negative relationship between audit tenure and financial statement fraud. This suggests that shorter audit tenure may be associated with an increased risk of financial statement fraud. This heightened risk could stem from auditors having limited time to thoroughly understand the company's operations and internal controls, potentially making it more challenging to detect and prevent fraudulent activities perpetrated by the client. Conversely, a positive relationship is identified between audit fees and financial statement fraud, suggesting that companies paying higher fees may be engaging auditors less adept at detecting fraudulent activities. Furthermore, a negative relationship is observed between Big-5 and financial statement fraud, which may be due to the greater resources, expertise, quality control, scrutiny, reputation, and ethical conduct of Big-5 audit companies.

This study only focused on listed companies in Indonesia, therefore, caution should be exercised when generalizing the findings to other developing and Muslim countries such as Malaysia. The findings may differ due to the adoption of IFRS in Malaysia. As such, it is important for future studies to include Malaysia as a sample and compare the results with those of Indonesia. This comparison would demonstrate the impact of IFRS adoption on the relationship between audit quality and financial statement fraud and provide insights for policy makers in Indonesia.

The findings of this study have important implications for developing countries that have been shown to be more susceptible to fraud than developed countries. This study contributes to the existing research on the role of audit quality in reducing financial statement fraud and emphasizes the need for auditors and accountants to take a proactive approach in detecting and investigating financial fraud.

This study is a new study because it investigates the relationship between audit quality and financial statement fraud in Indonesia, a developing Muslim country that has not yet adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The study provides valuable evidence on the unique factors that influence fraud in Indonesia and fills a gap in the literature as previous studies on this topic have largely focused on developed countries. Additionally, the study recommends that policymakers in Indonesia consider implementing IFRS to improve the reliability of financial reporting and strengthen the effectiveness of the auditing process, thus reducing the incidence of fraud.

This study examines the effect of delegation of decision rights, moral justification (MJ), and ethical climate (EC) on managers’ misreporting in the financial services sector. We employed an online research panel called Qualtrics, to collect data based on a sample of 127 middle-level managers from various US financial services firms. We find that MJ mediates the relation between delegation and misreporting, suggesting delegation of decision rights increases employees’ misreporting indirectly by increasing MJ. We also find that EC significantly moderates the relationship between MJ and misreporting. Furthermore, our test of the moderated-mediation effect reveals that the indirect effect of the delegation of decision rights on misreporting through MJ is stronger when there is a higher level of instrumental climate (IC) and a lower level of principle climate (PC).

This study examines whether common directors are guilty of contagion of corporate frauds from the customer side and, if so, how contagion occurs. Moreover, it explores a way to mitigate it, which is the increased digital orientation of firms.

Secondary data analysis is applied in this paper. We extract supply chain relations from the China Stock Market and Account Research (CSMAR) database as well as corporate fraud data from the same database and the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Digital orientations are estimated through text analysis. Poisson regression is conducted to examine the moderating effect of common directors and the moderated moderating effect of the firms’ digital orientations.

By analysing the 2,096 downstream relations from 2000 to 2021 in China, the study reveals that corporate frauds are contagious through supply chains, while only customers’ misconduct can contagion to upstream firms. The presence of common directors strengthens such supply chain contagion. Additionally, the digital orientation can mitigate the positive moderating effect of common directors on supply chain contagion.

This study highlights the importance of understanding supply chain contagion through corporate fraud by (1) emphasising the existence of the contagion effects of corporate frauds; (2) understanding the potential channel in the process of contagion; (3) considering how digital orientation can mitigate this contagion and (4) recognising that the effect of contagion comes only from the downstream, not from the upstream.

The ongoing evolution of the Internet and the subsequent digitalisation of financial services, along with the ever-increasing innovation of financial products, have rendered consumers more vulnerable to a wider range of fraud in the banking sector and, particularly, to consumer financial fraud (CFF). This paper aims to analyse the factors that may contribute to CFF exposure and victimisation among Spaniards, with a special focus on financial literacy.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of leading publications on the topic, followed by empirical analyses using regression models with a sample of 6,207 Spanish individuals drawn from the Survey of Financial Competences.

Objective and subjective financial knowledge are positively correlated with CFF exposure via email but do not protect against CFF victimisation. Similarly, financial knowledge overconfidence is positively related to the former but fails to constitute a driver of the latter. Financial inclusion, measured by the number of financial products held, not only increases the risk of this exposure but also contributes to its subsequent victimisation.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous paper has analysed the relationship between CFF and financial literacy by differentiating two types of vulnerabilities to fraud (exposure and victimisation) while considering different constructs of financial literacy. Dissecting these two domains may explain why the same financial literacy construct can have different effects at both stages of financial fraud and, furthermore, how different financial literacy constructs may affect the same stage of financial fraud.

Although there is a growing body of work on immigrants' information behavior, little is known about the pre-arrival information experiences of immigrants who consult formal information sources such as immigration agents. Drawn from a larger study on the information behavior of immigrants, this paper mainly reports the semi-structured interview findings on the pre-arrival information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants who used formal information sources with discussion on how that affected their post-arrival settlement into Canada.

The study used a mixed method approach with semi-structured interviews (n = 60) and surveys (n = 205) with participants who arrived in Canada between the years of 1971 and 2017. Data were collected from May 2017 to February 2018.

Although the overall scope of the original study is much larger, this paper features findings on the pre-arrival information experiences derived mainly from an analysis of interview data. This study provides insights into the pre-arrival information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants consulting formal information sources such as immigration firms, individual immigration consultants and more formal government agencies. The author introduces a new concept of “information crafting” by exploring the negative consequences of selective information sharing by immigration consultants/agents in newcomers' settlements in Canada, primarily positive information about life in Canada, sometimes with exaggeration and falsification. The interview participants shared story after the story of the settlement challenges they faced after arriving in Canada and how the expectations they built through the information received from immigration consultants and government agencies did not match after arrival. This study emphasizes the importance of providing comprehensive information about life in Canada to potential newcomers so that they can make informed decisions even before they apply.

The findings of this study have theoretical and practical implications for policy and research. This study provides insights into the complicated culturally situated pre-arrival information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants. Moreover, the study findings encourage researchers in various disciplines, including psychology, migration studies and geography, to delve more deeply into newcomers' information experiences using an informational lens to examine the information newcomers receive from diverse sources and their effects on their post-arrival settlement in a new country. The study challenges the general assumptions that formal information sources are always reputable, useful, and comprehensive, and it provides some future directions for research that seeks to understand the culturally situated information behavior of diverse immigrant groups.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the whistleblowing intentions of external auditors and the factors that influence their intentions.

Using the survey methodology, data was collected from 339 external auditors from licensed private audit firms. The partial least squares structural equation modelling technique was used to analyse the data.

The results indicate that external auditors have a greater propensity to blow the whistle on wrongdoings and they prefer to report wrongdoings using internal channels than external channels. The study further found uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and long-term orientation to be good predictors of whistleblowing intentions.

The findings have practical implications for human resource practitioners who seek to foster job synergy and encourage the reporting of wrongdoings. Also, it has useful implications for policymakers who seek to enhance whistleblowing activities.

Theoretically, this study is among the first to provide empirical support for the applicability of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory at the individual level within the whistleblowing discourse from an African perspective.

The purpose of this study is to comprehensively analyse and compare equity crowdfunding (ECF) regulations across 26 countries, shedding light on the diverse regulatory frameworks, investor and issuer limits and the evolution of ECF globally. By addressing this research gap and providing consolidated insights, the study aims to inform policymakers, researchers and entrepreneurs about the regulatory landscape of ECF, fostering a deeper understanding of its potential and challenges in various economies. Ultimately, the study contributes to the advancement of ECF as an alternative financing method for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups, empowering them to access much-needed capital for growth.

The study used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model for a systematic literature review on global ECF regulations. Starting with 74 initial articles from Web of Sciences and Scopus databases, duplicates were removed and language criteria applied, leaving 42 articles. After a thorough full-text screening, 20 articles were excluded, resulting in the review of 22 papers from 2016 to 2022. PRISMA’s structured framework enhances the quality of systematic reviews, ensuring transparency and accessibility of findings for various stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners and policymakers, in the field of ECF regulations.

This study examines ECF regulations across various countries. Notably, the UK has advanced regulations, while the USA adopted them later through the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act. Canada regulates at the provincial level. Malaysia and China were early adopters in Asia, but Hong Kong, Japan, Israel and India have bans. Turkey introduced regulations in 2019. New Zealand and Australia enacted laws, with Australia referring to it as “crowd-sourced equity funding”. Italy, Austria, France, Germany and Belgium have established regulations in Europe. These regulations vary in investor and issuer limits, disclosure requirements and anti-corruption measures, impacting the growth of ECF markets.

This study’s findings underscore the diverse regulatory landscape governing ECF worldwide. It reveals that regulatory approaches vary from liberal to protectionist, reflecting each country’s unique economic and political context. The implications of this research highlight the need for cross-country analysis to inform practical implementation and the effectiveness of emerging ECF ecosystems. This knowledge can inspire regulatory adjustments, support startups and foster entrepreneurial growth in emerging economies, ultimately reshaping early-stage funding for new-age startups and SMEs on a global scale.

This study’s originality lies in its comprehensive analysis of ECF regulations across 26 diverse countries, shedding light on the intricate interplay between regulatory frameworks and a nation’s political-economic landscape. By delving into the nuanced variations in investor limits, investment types and regulatory strategies, it unveils the multifaceted nature of ECF regulation globally. Furthermore, this research adds value by comparing divergent perspectives on investment constraints and offering an understanding of their impact on ECF efficacy. Ultimately, the study’s unique contribution lies in its potential to inform practical implementation, shape legislative frameworks and catalyse entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging economies, propelling the evolution of early-stage funding practices.