Exploring the Relationship Between Profit-Squeeze and Occupational Safety and Health Violations

Abstract

One challenge for corporate crime scholars has been to distinguish criminal firms from non-criminal firms. A common explanation for this distinction is that offending companies are more economically troubled than firms that offend less or not at all. This study examines the relationship between firm characteristics and crime by focusing on Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations. Specifically, this research applies a profit-squeeze explanation to account for OSHA violations using a cross-sectional analysis of 77 companies for the time period 1993-2000. Results indicate mixed support for the profit-squeeze argument at the firm level using a variety of financial performance measures. Analyses also reveal that union membership was related to OSHA violations.