Title: Fraud versus manipulation by white-collar criminals: an empirical study

Authors: Petter Gottschalk

Addresses: BI Norwegian Business School, Nydalsveien 37, 0484 Oslo, Norway

Abstract: This article addresses the following research question: What differences might be found between white-collar criminals conducting fraud versus white-collar criminals involved in other kinds of financial crime? This research is important, as studies of white-collar criminals so far has focused on case studies rather than statistical analysis of a larger sample. Based on articles in Norwegian financial newspapers for one year, a total of 57 white-collar criminals convicted to jail sentence were identified. The average age of the convicted persons was 51 years. 54 out of 57 criminals were men. The average sentence was three years imprisonment. While no differences between fraud cases and non-fraud cases were found to be statistically different in this study, imprisonment for white-collar fraud cases was a longer jail sentence, fraud cases were associated with white-collar criminals with lower official personal income, and a greater number of persons were involved in each fraud case.

Keywords: white-collar crime; descriptive statistics; court cases; archival analysis; newspapers; fraud cases; non-fraud cases; manipulation; white-collar criminals; financial crime; Norway; newspaper articles; jail sentences; prisons; average ages; convictions; convicted persons; personal incomes; private law.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPL.2013.050527

International Journal of Private Law, 2013 Vol.6 No.1, pp.52 - 66

Published online: 29 Nov 2013 *

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