IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ipf/psejou/v43y2019i1p49-77.html

Transparency of law making and fiscal democracy in the Middle East

Author

Listed:
  • Lobna M. Abdellatif

    (Senior Public-Sector Specialist, Governance Global Practice, World Bank, seconded from Cairo University 1818 H street NW, Washington DC, USA)

  • Mohamed Zaky

    (Cairo University, Giza, Egypt)

  • Mohamed Ramadan

    (Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics of Egypt, Cairo, Egypt)

Abstract

Fiscal democracy is the capacity of the legislature to make budgetary choices in response to the emerging needs of citizens. This study indicates that, in Middle Eastern countries, there are specific limitations to fiscal democracy in the process of law-making: most notably the lack of attention to financial impact assessments (FIAs). Without systematic FIAs, mandatory out-of-budget allocations are inadvertently included in public spending, as they do not require parliamentary approval within the regular budgeting process. The low level of effective citizens’ engagement in the process of law-making worsens the situation. Budgetary decisions are not well informed by national priorities and preferences. This study utilizes the dataset of the Open Budget Index (OBI) to measure the quality of the law-making process of the budget law in a sample of Middle Eastern countries. The study concludes with recommendations on mapping the law-making process to increase budget transparency.

Suggested Citation

  • Lobna M. Abdellatif & Mohamed Zaky & Mohamed Ramadan, 2019. "Transparency of law making and fiscal democracy in the Middle East," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 43(1), pages 49-77.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:43:y:2019:i:1:p:49-77
    DOI: 10.3326/pse.43.1.5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.pse-journal.hr/upload/files/pse/2019/1/5.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3326/pse.43.1.5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:wbk:wbpubs:6667 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Streeck, Wolfgang & Mertens, Daniel, 2010. "An index of fiscal democracy," MPIfG Working Paper 10/3, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    3. Paolo de Renzio & Joachim Wehner, 2017. "The Impacts of Fiscal Openness," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 32(2), pages 185-210.
    4. Richard Rose, 1990. "Inheritance Before Choice in Public policy," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 2(3), pages 263-291, July.
    5. de Renzio, Paolo & Wehner, Joachim, 2017. "The impacts of fiscal openness," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 82521, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Alesina, Alberto & Perotti, Roberto, 1996. "Fiscal Discipline and the Budget Process," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 401-407, May.
    7. Williams, Andrew, 2015. "A global index of information transparency and accountability," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 804-824.
    8. James E. Alt & David Dreyer Lassen, 2003. "The Political Economy of Institutions and Corruption in American States," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 15(3), pages 341-365, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Claudio Columbano, 2022. "Measuring fiscal guidance transparency," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 46(2), pages 261-296.
    2. Nada Azmy ElBerry & Stijn Goeminne, 2021. "Fiscal transparency, fiscal forecasting and budget credibility in developing countries," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 144-161, January.
    3. Qiuxia Yang, 2020. "Fiscal Transparency and Public Service Quality Association: Evidence from 12 Coastal Provinces and Cities of China," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Ali Farazmand & Elina Simone & Giuseppe Lucio Gaeta & Salvatore Capasso, 2022. "Corruption, lack of Transparency and the Misuse of Public Funds in Times of Crisis: An introduction," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 497-503, September.
    5. Brändle, Thomas & Elsener, Marc, 2023. "Do fiscal rules matter? A survey on recent evidence," Working papers 2023/07, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    6. Sabina Schnell, 2023. "To know is to act? Revisiting the impact of government transparency on corruption," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(5), pages 355-367, December.
    7. 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).
    8. Josip Grgić, 2021. "Impact of transport infrastructure on local development in Dalmatia," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 527-558, June.
    9. Yuriy V. Belousov & Olga I. Timofeeva, 2021. "Methodological Aspects of Compiling Open Budget Rankings," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 4, pages 122-138, August.
    10. Gootjes, Bram & de Haan, Jakob, 2022. "Do fiscal rules need budget transparency to be effective?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Alina Mungiu‐Pippidi, 2023. "Transparency and corruption: Measuring real transparency by a new index," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 1094-1113, October.
    12. Marzia Romanelli & Pietro Tommasino & Emilio VadalÃ, 2022. "The future of European fiscal governance: a comprehensive approach," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 691, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    13. Philip Keefer & Christopher Kilby, 2021. "Introduction to the special issue: In memoriam Stephen Knack," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 473-493, July.
    14. Rosalyn Perkins & Mary Caroline Castaño & Condrad Montemayor, 2018. "Analysis of predictability and accountability transparency practices and FTA on trade growth in selected countries of the Asia-Pacific region: a descriptive-causal approach," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Rajeev Goel & Michael Nelson, 2011. "Measures of corruption and determinants of US corruption," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 155-176, June.
    16. Frankel, Jeffrey A. & Vegh, Carlos A. & Vuletin, Guillermo, 2013. "On graduation from fiscal procyclicality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 32-47.
    17. Ibrahim Tutar & Aysit Tansel, 2012. "An Analysis Of Political And Institutional Power Dispersion: The Case Of Turkey," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 30(4), pages 548-565, October.
    18. Gupta, Mahima & Dubey, Amlendu, 2025. "Structural characteristics and non-linear fiscal multipliers," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    19. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, "undated". "Direct Democracy: Designing a Living Constitution," IEW - Working Papers 167, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    20. Yifei Cai, 2017. "Nonlinear Analysis of Economic Growth, Public Debt and Policy Tools," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 7(1), pages 99-108, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H61 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Budget; Budget Systems
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:43:y:2019:i:1:p:49-77. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Martina Fabris (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ijfffhr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.