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Determinants of fraud losses in nonprofit organizations
Author(s) -
Holtfreter Kristy
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
nonprofit management and leadership
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.844
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1542-7854
pISSN - 1048-6682
DOI - 10.1002/nml.204
Subject(s) - liberian dollar , agency (philosophy) , exploratory research , control (management) , position (finance) , business , nonprofit organization , accounting , demographic economics , criminology , public relations , psychology , political science , sociology , economics , finance , management , social science
Abstract Although fraud research has increased, the nonprofit setting has been ignored in criminology and business ethics. This exploratory study examines occupational fraud in 128 nonprofit agencies. Characteristics of offenders (age, gender, educational background, position in the agency), victims (size of organization and available control mechanisms), and offenses are compared to previous research. Regression analyses indicate that several factors are significant predictors of financial loss. At the individual level, it appears females are responsible for increased dollar losses; however, subsequent analyses demonstrate that organizations with a higher level of internal controls detect fraud committed by males, and it is these offenses that result in more serious losses.