Accounting fraud in light of organismic integration theory
| Date | 19 October 2022 |
| Pages | 1323-1341 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-08-2022-0198 |
| Published date | 19 October 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial crime |
| Author | Caroline de Oliveira Orth,Daniela D’Incao Marrone,Clea Beatriz Macagnan |
Accounting fraud in light of
organismic integration theory
Caroline de Oliveira Orth
Department of Accounting and Actuarial Sciences, Faculty of Economic Sciences,
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Daniela D’Incao Marrone
Department of Developmental and Personality Psychology, Psychology Institute,
Measurement Laboratory, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul,
Porto Alegre, Brazil, and
Clea Beatriz Macagnan
Business School, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Abstract
Purpose –This systematic literature review aims to identify how literature approaches motivations for
committing fraud in financial statements and presents a framework on these motivations in the light of
organismicintegration theory (OIT).
Design/methodology/approach –Therefore,initially, 251 articles were analyzed. Through a systematic
review of theliterature, 25 were submitted to content analysis.
Findings –The findings suggest that the OIT explains motivational processes neglected by traditional
theories, such as the fraud triangle and agency theory. Both theories consider that all human beings are
utilitarian by nature. The authors expect that the better we understand the motivational factors that
contribute to the large-scaleendorsement of immoral behavior, it would be easier to prevent accountingfraud
incidents.
Research limitations/implications –This work went to the limit of the proposition of premises;
however,other authors can be to advance to the empirical tests.
Practical implications –So, different people have different motivationsfor committing fraud. For this
reason, it is important that organizations, auditors, regulatory and professional bodies that are engaged in
combating such dysfunctional behaviors seek to know more deeply whether people are more externally or
internallymotivated.
Social implications –This recognitionwill make it possible to design adequate rules and controls, rather
than assuming that everyone isequal, and will be discouraged from committing fraud only when thereis a
severe punishmentassociated with it.
Originality/value –This study adds to the stream of scholars who analyze fraud from a broader
perspective than the assumptionthat all beings are rational and seek to maximize their well-being. However,
to the best of the authors’knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the phenomenon of fraud from the
perspectiveof the OIT.
Keywords Financial statements fraud, Management behavior, Organismic integration theory
Paper type Literature review
The authors are greatful for the support provided by CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de
Pessoal de Nível Superior) and CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e
Tecnol
ogico), research agencies, Brazil.
Accounting
fraud
1323
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.30 No. 5, 2023
pp. 1323-1341
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-08-2022-0198
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm
1. Introduction
Financial statement fraud is one of the most expensive types of fraud for companies, according
to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners –ACFE (2018). In addition, one of the OECD’s
concerns (2016) when editing its corporate governance principles is to stop dishonest behavior
and enable good corporate governance practices. Therefore, fraud compromises shareholders’
rights and just treatment, as the principle of disclosure and transparency.
This issue has been analyzed mainly through the theoretical lens of the fraud triangle
(Cressey, 1953), which assumes that the individual must be exposed to three conditions
necessary to perpetrate fraud: opportunity, pressure and rationalization. However, more
recently, other studies have criticized this approach for considering only the individual
perspective, disregarding other aspects that could explain fraud (Boyle et al., 2015;Free and
Murphy 2015;Dorminey et al., 2010;Nuswantara and Maulidi, 2021) . This study adds to the
current scholars who analyze fraud from a broader perspective than the assumption that all
beings are rational and seek to maximize their well-being. In other words, it is important to take
into consideration behavioral factors, the internal and external environment and the social
environment (Maulidi 2020a;Maulidi 2020b;Monteverde, 2021;Lokanan and Aujla, 2020).
Based on the criticism of the fraud triangle and considering the assumptionsof the SDT
and, more specifically, the organismic integration theory (OIT), this study differs from the
others by developing a framework on the motivation to commit accounting fraud. The
objective was achieved through a systematic literature review. This theory mainly deals
with motivation, which can be intrinsic or extrinsic. The OIT explains this construct
through a continuum that goes from amotivationto external motivation and then to intrinsic
motivation. Externally regulated motivation achieves various degrees of internalization:
external, introjected, identified and integrated. Regarding demotivation, there is no outline
of the intention of any behavior in the face of a certainevent, evidencing lack of motivation,
passivity and inactivity. It is fundamental to transform external regulation into internal,
involving a more excellentperception of autonomy (Deci and Ryan, 2000)
Thus, this work seeksto answer the following research questions:
RQ1. How is recent scientific research on the relationships between accounting fraud
and motivations in terms of paradigms, theories, methods, leading journals and
authors characterized?
RQ2. What does the recent literature on accounting fraudinform about the motivations
(individual and collective)for the committing of accounting fraud?
RQ3. How and to what extent can the continuum of motivation proposed by OIT
explain the motivationsfor committing accounting fraud?
Therefore, the general objective is to identify themain characteristics of this field and develop a
framework on the motivations for committing accounting fraud according to OIT. We
understand that analyzing the phenomenon from another perspective can help better
understand personal motivations and how and to what extent the organization, by itself,
creates pressures for committing fraud. Besides, Armstrong et al. (2010) call for more research
to “consider behavioral explanations beyond traditional economic or agency rationalizations.”
Furthermore, “investigating psychological factors related to fraud is a recent study trend and a
good research flow”in Montesdeoca et al.’s (2019) vision.
As Levy and Ellis (2006) recommended, this article was systematically carried out.This
work is structured as follows: Section 2 presents a literature review on the assumptions of
OIT. Section 3 discusses the method used. Section 4 presentsthe results, and finally, Section
5 presents the conclusionsand guidelines for future research.
JFC
30,5
1324
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