ORGANIZATIONS AND FRAUD IN THE SAVINGS-AND-LOAN INDUSTRY

This article analyzes the organizational correlates of fraud in the sa vings and loan industry. We test the hypothesis that during the 1980s institutions that departed from the traditional activities of thrifts to embark on high-growth, high-risk strategies were more likely to be vehicles for fraud than were institutions that retained a more traditi onal focus. The results gf an analysis of data from a sample of 686 in solvent savings and loan institutions support the hypothesis; stock-ow ned thrifts, those with a relatively low proportion of home mortgage l oans, those with a high proportion of their assets in direct investmen ts, and those that experienced high asset growth were the vehicles for the most costly and frequent incidents of suspected crime. These find ings are related to theoretical issues regarding the role of organizat ions in white-collar crime.