Why is transparency about public expenditure so elusive
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9962260 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Heald (0000-0002-1437-2951, University of Aberdeen Business School, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 30-49 |
| Publication date | 2012-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Review of Administrative Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-8523 • E-ISSN: 1461-7226 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852311429931 |
| OpenAlex | W2123469790 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 61 |
| References cited | 34 |
Fiscal transparency is fundamentally important but difficult to achieve. The conceptualization of transparency has to be more sophisticated than current rhetoric implies. Analytical tools relating to the generic concept of transparency can be applied to public expenditure. Achieving transparency about public expenditure presents challenges that require explicit strategies in the context of what can be very different sets of local conditions. This article identifies the specific meaning of transparency about public expenditure, defined in terms of the four directions of transparency: inwards, outwards, upwards and downwards. It identifies barriers to the effective transparency of public expenditure, characterizing these as intrinsic or constructed. Tackling these barriers, especially those constructed by policy actors, constitutes a route towards more effective transparency, not only about public expenditure itself but about surrogates for it. It is not just quantity that matters: different varieties of transparency will have differential effects on the achievement of public policy objectives. How transparency mechanisms are structured will therefore shape their impact on public policy – on efficiency, on equity and on democratic accountability
Accountability · Business · Economics · Equity (law · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Public relations · Transparency (behavior · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Law · Local Government Finance and Decentralization
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| Unique citing works | 61 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,69 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 61 |