Using a proprietary data set from a provider of internal whistleblowing (WB) systems, we analyze nearly two million internal WB reports submitted to over 1,000 publicly traded U.S. firms. We provide descriptive statistics, over time and across report types, on the amount and summary details of information provided, how extensively management reviews reports, the amount of time until reviews were completed, and the outcome of these reviews. Further, we examine the characteristics of firms with more actively used systems (i.e., a higher volume of reports, more information provided in reports, and reports that are more frequently reviewed by management). Finally, we show that internal WB report volume is associated with fewer and lower amounts of government fines and material lawsuits.

Using GPS location data from customers’ mobile devices, we develop measures of customer shopping behavior intended to capture the likelihood that customers will shop again in the future, and we examine their associations with firms’ financial decisions and outcomes. We measure customers’ propensity to return using the frequency, distance, duration, and timing of their past visits to a firm’s retail locations. We find a positive association between customers’ propensity to return and the persistence of the firm’s revenues and earnings. We also find a positive association between customers’ propensity to return and the efficiency of investing and operating decisions among firms likely to incorporate customer data into their internal information systems. Our results illustrate conditions under which revenues and earnings are sustainable and when managerial decisions are consistent with insights provided by customer information. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.