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do more transparent government govern better?

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  • Islam, Roumeen

Abstract

The author explores the link between information flows and governance or institutional quality. Economic theory expounds on the importance of information on economic outcomes either through its direct effect on prices and quantities or through its effect on other factors such as institutions and the quality of governance. She shows that countries with better information flows also govern better. Two kinds of indicators are used to assess better information flows. One index is based on the existence of freedom of information laws. A second index called the"transparency"index measures the frequency with which economic data are published in countries around the world. Empirical analysis shows that countries which have better information flows as measured by both indicators have better quality governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Islam, Roumeen, 2003. "do more transparent government govern better?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3077, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3077
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Nelson Ramírez-Rondán & Saki Bigio, 2006. "Corruption and Development Indicators: An Empirical Review," Working Papers 2006-007, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú.
    3. Avinash Dixit, 2007. "Evaluating Recipes for Development Success," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 22(2), pages 131-157, June.
    4. Arun Jaitley, 2018. "Economic Survey 2017: Volume I: Chapter 9: Ease of Doing Business’ Next Frontier: Timely Justice," Working Papers id:12448, eSocialSciences.
    5. Corrigan, Caitlin C., 2014. "Breaking the resource curse: Transparency in the natural resource sector and the extractive industries transparency initiative," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 17-30.
    6. World Bank Group, 2014. "Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Citizen Engagement in World Bank Group Operations," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21113, December.
    7. Independent Evaluation Group, 2008. "Public Sector Reform: What Works and Why? An IEG evaluation of World Bank Support," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6484, December.
    8. Kaufmann, Daniel & Bellver, Ana, 2005. "Transparenting Transparency: Intial Empirics and Policy Applications," MPRA Paper 8188, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Bandeira, Pablo, 2009. "El desarrollo institucional en el contexto de la ineficacia de la ayuda: ¿qué podemos hacer? [Promoting institutional development in the context of actual aid ineffectiveness: what can we do?]," MPRA Paper 13372, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Franklin Steves & Alan Rousso, 2004. "Anti-corruption programmes in post-communist transition countries and changes in the business environment, 1999-2002," Law and Economics 0401004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Adams, Dawda & Ullah, Subhan & Akhtar, Pervaiz & Adams, Kweku & Saidi, Samir, 2019. "The role of country-level institutional factors in escaping the natural resource curse: Insights from Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 433-440.

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