Enhancing Fraud Detection: Professional Skepticism and Whistleblowing in the Context of Hofstede’s Culture in Indonesia

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-994-0_6How to use a DOI?

Keywords

hofstede’s culture; professional skepticism; whistleblowing; auditor fraud detection

Abstract

Fraud detection remains a critical global concern due to its far-reaching consequences for economies, corporations, and public trust. External auditors serve as a frontline defense against fraudulent activity, yet detecting sophisticated and deliberately concealed schemes poses substantial challenges. These challenges are amplified in cultural contexts—such as Indonesia—where deeply embedded norms shape organizational and individual responses to reporting misconduct. This study advances the literature by integrating Hofstede’s cultural dimensions—power distance, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance—into the examination of professional skepticism and whistleblowing as determinants of auditor fraud detection effectiveness. Survey data from 100 external auditors employed in Indonesian Public Accounting Firms were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS. The findings reveal that neither professional skepticism nor whistleblowing exerts a significant direct effect on fraud detection. In contrast, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have a significant direct impact on auditors’ detection capabilities, yet do not moderate the relationships between professional skepticism or whistleblowing and fraud detection. These results underscore the need to treat culture as a direct determinant of fraud detection effectiveness rather than a peripheral or moderating factor.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Desy Lesmana
AU  - Didik Susetyo
AU  - Ika Sasti Ferina
AU  - Yusnaini Yusnaini
AU  - Ahmad Syathiri
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/23
TI  - Enhancing Fraud Detection: Professional Skepticism and Whistleblowing in the Context of Hofstede’s Culture in Indonesia
BT  - Proceedings of the 24th Malaysia-Indonesia International Conference on Economics, Management, and Accounting (The 24th MIICEMA) in conjunction with The 9th Sriwijaya Economics, Accounting, and Business Conference (The 9th SEABC) (MIICEMA-SEABC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 68
EP  - 84
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-994-0_6
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-994-0_6
ID  - Lesmana2026
ER  -