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Measuring Transparency

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  • Hollyer, James R.
  • Rosendorff, B. Peter
  • Vreeland, James Raymond

Abstract

Transparency is often viewed as crucial to government accountability, but its measurement remains elusive. This concept encompasses many dimensions, which have distinct effects. In this article, we focus on a specific dimension of transparency: governments' collection and dissemination of aggregate data. We construct a measure of this aspect of transparency, using an item response model that treats transparency as a latent predictor of the reporting of data to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The resultant index covers 125 countries from 1980 to 2010. Unlike some alternatives (e.g., Freedom House), our measure—the HRV index—is based on objective criteria rather than subjective expert judgments. Unlike newspaper circulation numbers, HRV reflects the dissemination of credible content—in that it has survived the World Bank's quality control assessment. In a validation exercise, we find that our measure outperforms newspaper circulation as a predictor of Law and Order and Bureaucratic Quality as measured by the ICRG, particularly in autocracies. It performs as well as newspaper circulation in predicting corruption. These findings suggest that data dissemination is a distinct, and politically relevant, form of transparency.

Suggested Citation

  • Hollyer, James R. & Rosendorff, B. Peter & Vreeland, James Raymond, 2014. "Measuring Transparency," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 413-434.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:polals:v:22:y:2014:i:04:p:413-434_01
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    Cited by:

    1. Allison F Kingsley & Benjamin A T Graham, 2017. "The effects of information voids on capital flows in emerging markets," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(3), pages 324-343, April.
    2. Bernhard Reinsberg & Haley Swedlund, 2023. "How transparent are aid agencies to their citizens? Introducing the Citizen Aid Transparency Dataset," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 2177-2212, October.
    3. Sima, Di & Huang, Fali, 2023. "Is democracy good for growth? — Development at political transition time matters," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Capasso, Salvatore & Cicatiello, Lorenzo & De Simone, Elina & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio & Mourão, Paulo Reis, 2021. "Fiscal transparency and tax ethics: does better information lead to greater compliance?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 1031-1050.
    5. Lasse Aaskoven, 2016. "Fiscal Transparency, Elections and Public Employment: Evidence from the OECD," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 317-341, November.
    6. Parra, Daniel & Muñoz-Herrera, Manuel & Palacio, Luis A., 2021. "The limits of transparency in reducing corruption," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    7. Soumyajit Mazumder, 2016. "Can I stay a BIT longer? The effect of bilateral investment treaties on political survival," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 477-521, December.
    8. Bernhard Reinsberg & Thomas Stubbs & Alexander Kentikelenis & Lawrence King, 2020. "Bad governance: How privatization increases corruption in the developing world," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 698-717, October.
    9. Claudio Columbano, 2022. "Measuring fiscal guidance transparency," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 46(2), pages 261-296.
    10. Axel Dreher & Sarah Langlotz & Silvia Marchesi, 2017. "Information Transmission And Ownership Consolidation In Aid Programs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(4), pages 1671-1688, October.
    11. Michener, Gregory, 2015. "Policy Evaluation via Composite Indexes: Qualitative Lessons from International Transparency Policy Indexes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 184-196.
    12. Armenia ANDRONICEANU, 2021. "Transparency In Public Administration As A Challenge For A Good Democratic Governance," REVISTA ADMINISTRATIE SI MANAGEMENT PUBLIC, Faculty of Administration and Public Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 2021(36), pages 149-164, June.
    13. Benjamin A. T. Graham & Jacob R. Tucker, 2019. "The international political economy data resource," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 149-161, March.
    14. Dorsch, Michael T. & Dunz, Karl & Maarek, Paul, 2016. "Development and inefficient regulation under the threat of revolution," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1040-1054.
    15. Ben Cormier, 2023. "Chinese or western finance? Transparency, official credit flows, and the international political economy of development," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 297-328, April.
    16. Chang Beum Kwon, 2022. "The Effect of Defense Spending on Subjective Well-Being: Cross-Country Evidence," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 1961-1989, August.
    17. Marko Klašnja, 2016. "Increasing rents and incumbency disadvantage," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 28(2), pages 225-265, April.
    18. Ole‐Kristian Hope & Shushu Jiang & Dushyantkumar Vyas, 2022. "Government transparency and firm‐level operational efficiency," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 752-777, May.
    19. Krishna Chaitanya Vadlamannati & Arusha Cooray & Samuel Brazys, 2018. "Nothing to hide: Commitment to, compliance with, and impact of the special data dissemination standard," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 55-77, March.
    20. Cicatiello, Lorenzo & De Simone, Elina & Ercolano, Salvatore & Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio, 2021. "Assessing the impact of fiscal transparency on FDI inflows," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    21. Nam Kyu Kim, 2018. "Transparency and currency crises," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 394-422, November.
    22. Shambaugh, George E. & Shen, Elaine B., 2018. "A clear advantage: The benefits of transparency to crisis recovery," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 391-416.
    23. Ward, Hugh & Dorussen, Han, 2015. "Public Information and Performance: The Role of Spatial Dependence in the Worldwide Governance Indicators among African Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 253-263.
    24. Rocha Filho, T.M. & Mendes, J.F.F. & Lucio, M.L. & Moret, M.A., 2023. "COVID-19 data, mitigation policies and Newcomb–Benford law," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    25. Daniel Hansen, 2023. "The democratic (dis)advantage: The conditional impact of democracy on credit risk and sovereign default," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 356-410, March.

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