ABSTRACT
Nearly all whistleblowing legislation and internal policies include a proper motive as a necessary condition for legitimate whistleblowing. One reason for this might be that this is an attempt to dispose the common objection raised against whistleblowing protection schemes that such schemes will be abused by disgruntled employees who are out for personal gain. This chapter examines the kind of whistleblowing that is advocated by offering rewards to whistleblowers. It explains the link between the focus on efficiency and the growing unease with fraud and discusses whistleblowing as a source of information in that context. The chapter comments on the US False Claims Act and points out some pitfalls of rewarding whistleblowers. It concludes in a balanced way, recognizing both the bright and the dark side of rewarding whistleblowers but generally warning it is not the panacea.
