The less transparent, the more attractive? A critical perspective on transparency and place branding

Abstract

His current work focuses on transparency and citizens' trust in public authorities. Before his enrolment at IDHEAP, he worked as a program coordinator at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

Exploring the relationship between transparency, attractiveness factors, and the location of foreign companies: what matters most?

“…On a scale ranging from 1 (not attractive at all) to 7 (very attractive), it is ranked third (mean=5.7) behind the quality of life (6.5) and the stability of the political and institutional system (6.2). These data based on the perceptions of cantonal development agencies' heads indicate that the transparency-opacity paradox (Mabillard and Vuignier, 2017) can be empirically observed in the Swiss cantons. Indeed, economic developers generally consider that conditions for settling a business in their jurisdiction are communicated transparently, and that such an awareness about the regulatory framework is highly attractive for foreign companies.…”

“…An important finding concerns the distinction between perceived transparency of the regulatory framework and transparency required by the rules (Mabillard and Vuignier, 2017), referring to Heald's approach of the concept (2006). Our results provide support for this distinction, highlighting a potential discrepancy between the regulatory regime imposed on companies in a mostly liberal country and the transparency practices of public agencies.…”

“…This explains the conceptual confusion frequently found in the literature and the counter-intuitive examples observed in practice. According to Mabillard and Vuignier (2017), the concept can take two forms that should be clearly separated when investigating the significance of transparency as a factor of attractiveness: a) the enactment of transparent rules (is the regulatory framework transparent for companies?) and b) the level of transparency required by the regulatory framework of a place (does the regulatory framework require companies to be transparent?…”

“…The Financial Secrecy Index from TJN (2018), for example, ranks numerous attractive countries among the most secretive ones, especially Switzerland, the U.S. and Singapore. Consequently, attractiveness can be best described as a subtle mix of transparency and opacity (Mabillard and Vuignier, 2017).…”

Measuring Impact of the Accrual Accounting Implementation on Fiscal Transparency Quality: A Mix Method Study in Indonesia

“…Therefore, the public expectation is the information disclosure about the budget that includes quality information at the right time. Fiscal transparency is part of the government transparency concept, specific and becomes one of the points to create a reliable and integrity institutional system (Mabillard & Vuignier, 2017). If the government can realize transparency, it will be a good signal about the budget being drawn up, while transparency can lower public confidence.…”