Why donors give during emergencies—An institutional analysis on government transparency

This study employs an institutional approach to examine and explain donor‐giving to a government during emergencies. Using data from 120 countries during Covid‐19 and other sources, we tested a process transparency explanation against a performance transparency perspective. We find that a donor's decision to give to a government during emergencies is likely influenced by the availability and quality of process‐oriented fiscal information, not past performance or impact information of the government. This result indicates that it is important for governments, especially those without proper transparency institutions and practice, to establish reporting measures in process‐oriented information such as revenue sources, spending directions, and debt levels during emergencies. These insights have significant theoretical and policy implications for countries, especially developing countries, to develop government transparency. 本文采用制度分析方法，深入探讨并检验在危机时捐赠者向政府捐赠的行为。通过分析120个国家在新冠疫情期间的数据及其他相关资料，本研究对比了基于过程透明的解释与基于绩效透明的视角。研究结果表明，捐赠者在危机情况下向政府捐赠的决策很可能受到过程导向的财政信息的提供和质量的影响，而不是受到政府过往绩效信息的影响。这一发现强调了，政府建立关于收入来源、支出方向和债务水平等关键财政流程的透明措施在遇到危机时的重要性。本文的发现对于各国在提升政府透明方面具有重要的理论和政策意义，特别是对于发展中国家来说。