The Multi-Faceted Concept of Transparency

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractTransparency has become a catchword and in the economic-political debate is often seen as a universal remedy for all sorts of problems.In this paper, we analyze and discuss the meaning and use of the concept of transparency in economic research. We look for common denominators across different areas where the concept is used, and find that transparency in essence is about reductions in information asymmetries, and therefore entails the transfer of information from a sender to a receiver. Transparency goes beyond mere information disclosure in that it has a demand-side dimension: the information transferred should be trustworthy and have a value to the receiver. We emphasize the distinction between ex ante transparency -related to predictability -and ex post transparency -related to accountability. In economics, increased transparency is mostly rationalized on grounds of improving efficiency, but sometimes transparency is properly viewed simply as a right to know. Complementarities between different types of transparency are pervasive, and its causes and effects typically co-determined -i.e. transparency is endogenous. As a means to improve competitiveness and economic growth, transparency of economic policy and corporate as well as institutional transparency interact. We challenge the view that more transparency is always better and argue for concave net benefits and the existence of optimal transparency, but optimality varies across policy areas, institutional settings, industries and individual firms.

Cross-Country Heterogeneity in Government Transparency and Citizens’ Political Efficacy: A Multilevel Empirical Analysis

“…Second, it showed that citizens’ knowledge and skills (proxied by their level of education) enhance the connection between transparency and political efficacy. This result emphasizes the importance of the demand-side dimension of transparency (Forssbaeck & Oxelheim, 2014), by showing that only people who are endowed with resources and skills that ease their access to information and its understanding (namely more educated people) can fully benefit from government transparency to effectively monitor policy makers and hold them accountable; therefore, the higher people’s education is, the greater the positive effect that government transparency produces on their external political efficacy. Conversely, information disclosure about government activities is less effective for citizens who show lower skills (lower education), because they do not have adequate tools to benefit from it, and, feeling a sense of discomfort, may prefer opacity to transparency.…”

“…As transparency is a multifaceted principle (Forssbaeck & Oxelheim, 2014), there are a number of international transparency indexes, developed by scholars as well as by international organizations. Each index relies on a different conceptualization of the term.…”

“…To deepen understanding of the impact of transparency on individual political efficacy, it is worth noting that “for transparency to be effective, there must be receptors capable of processing, digesting, and using the information” (Heald, 2006, p. 35). Transparency is more than a mere release of information as it includes a demand side dimension concerning the effectiveness of public scrutiny via reliability of information (Forssbaeck & Oxelheim, 2014). This means that together with physical access, users must be able to share the available information (i.e., societal access) and understand the content of government information (i.e., intellectual access; Jaeger & Bertot, 2010).…”

“…Observability creates an incentive for the agent (government) to be less corrupt, more efficient, and responsive to citizens’ needs and actions (Fung, Graham, & Weil, 2007; Heald, 2006; Roberts, 2006). Indeed by making the agent “accountable for the consequences of his actions” (Forssbaeck & Oxelheim, 2014), transparency is claimed to have a positive impact on individuals’ political attitudes.…”

“…Our analysis of the link between government transparency and political efficacy specifically investigates whether the correlation between these two variables significantly depends upon individual attributes. The rationale behind this hypothesis arises from the idea that transparency goes beyond mere information disclosure and has a demand-side dimension (Forssbaeck & Oxelheim, 2014). People’s access and responses to information may be different according to their cognitive capacities (Khagram et al, 2013), for example, availability of information means nothing for those who do not have the skills needed to find, understand, and elaborate it.…”