The Problem of Measurements: Fiscal Transparency and Diverging Outcomes

Transparency studies are characterised by critical insights into the contextual determinants, as well as the consequences of open and accountable processes. In the realm of fiscal governance, studies of transparency have focused on a variety of issues, ranging from budget efficiency to investment opportunities. However, since fiscal transparency remains a deeply interdisciplinary field, emphasis on determinants and context-dependency occupy a secondary role in the scholarship. Transparency is taken to be a pre-condition for other governance and development outcomes – most causal studies analyse this directionality, whilst few occupy themselves with the factors mediating transparency. Against this backdrop, we conduct a survey of the literature on fiscal transparency, systematically review a sample of 35 empirical studies, and finally show results of a meta-analysis of the reported effects. The findings support our claim that transparency outcomes depend heavily on the aspects of transparency policies observed and measured, which are not uniform across the literature. We discuss the impacts and point towards further research avenues in the field.