Linking board gender composition with fraud in community sport organizations: Diversity is prevention

1. Purpose: This study examines the associations between past fraud
occurrence, board gender diversity, trust, and fraud control in non-profit
community sport organizations (CSOs).
2. Methodology: Data were collected from CSOs in Germany, Australia,
and North America using an online survey (n=1,256). Fraud control and
team trust (including propensity to trust, trustworthiness, cooperative
behavior) among board members were measured with established scales.
Their mean indexes were used as dependent variables in seemingly
unrelated regression models.
3. Findings: CSOs having experienced fraud in the past ten years are
characterized by significantly lower levels of team trust overall,
propensity to trust, trustworthiness, and cooperative behavior. While past
fraud occurrence does not affect fraud control, board gender diversity is
associated with more fraud control measures, but also lower levels of
trustworthiness.
4. Practical Implications: The present findings have implications for CSO
governance in terms of trust versus control and how a gender diverse
board can be a source of fraud prevention.
5. Research Contribution: Linking board gender diversity theoretically and
empirically with trust and fraud represents a contribution.
6. Originality: The study is based on unique primary data on fraud in
CSOs allowing to study perceptions of trust and fraud control