The Impacts of Fiscal Openness

36 Pages Posted: 6 May 2015 Last revised: 25 Feb 2017

See all articles by Paolo de Renzio

Paolo de Renzio

International Budget Partnership

Joachim Wehner

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE)

Date Written: February 24, 2017

Abstract

Fiscal transparency and participation in government budgeting are widely promoted, yet claims about their benefits are rarely based on convincing evidence. We provide the first systematic review covering 38 empirical studies published between 1991 and early 2015. Increased budgetary disclosure and participation – which we call “fiscal openness” – are consistently associated with improvements in the quality of the budget, as well as governance and development outcomes. Only a handful of studies, however, are able to convincingly identify causal effects, in the form of reduced corruption, enhanced electoral accountability, and improved allocation of resources. We highlight gaps and set out a research agenda that consists of: (a) disaggregating broad measures of budget transparency to uncover which specific disclosures are related to outcomes; (b) tracing causal mechanisms to connect fiscal openness interventions with ultimate impacts on human development; (c) investigating the relative effectiveness of alternative interventions; (d) examining the relationship between transparency and participation; and (e) clarifying the contextual conditions that support particular interventions.

Keywords: Budget, Fiscal policy, Participation, Transparency

JEL Classification: H60, H61

Suggested Citation

de Renzio, Paolo and Wehner, Joachim, The Impacts of Fiscal Openness (February 24, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2602439 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2602439

Paolo De Renzio (Contact Author)

International Budget Partnership ( email )

820 First Street, NE Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002
United States

Joachim Wehner

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) ( email )

Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

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