Transparency and accountability in municipalities: an analysis of 40 year evolution in Portugal

This chapter reviews the main transparency-related initiatives that have been developed and implemented in the local government context in Portugal, over the last 40 years. A critical discussion on these landmarks allowed concluding that, in order to be effective in what concerns transparency and accountability, initiatives need to combine administrative and legal reforms with automatic data disclosure, embedding reporting mechanisms in already existing processes, and incorporating frameworks to regularly monitor the results. Another major recommendation could finally be derived from this analysis: it is necessary to put in place a comprehensive set of principles regarding transparency mechanisms, to be included, at a very early stage, in every Public Administration innovation programme. Transparency should be a concern when developing such programmes, as it is efficiency and effectiveness.This work has been partially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under project grant PEst-OE/ EEI/UI308/2014 (INESC Coimbra) and national funds awarded by the FCT to the Research Center in Political Science (UID/CPO/0758/2013), University of Minho

Responsabilidad social en el gobierno local: evidencia empírica en la región de Extremadura

This paper serves as a double purpose in the context of local administrations’ information on line disclosure of Social Responsibility (SR). First, this study examines how levels of information dissemination of SR are evolving. Second, some fiscal, political, population, and socioeconomic factors were investigated as determinants of this information disclosed. A content analysis of the websites of the local government in a region of Spain was carried out. This region is the first which has a Corporate Social Responsibility Lay. Later, according to literature review, the authors propose a multiple linear regression model based on disclosure index scores calculated previously. On the one hand, the results show an increase in the amount of SR information disclosed between 2013 and 2016. On the other hand, the study concludes that larger municipalities with more resources, progressive party governments, and intense political competition present higher levels of information disclosure of social responsibility.En el contexto de la divulgación de información sobre Responsabilidad Social (RS) por la Administración Local, este trabajo presenta un doble objetivo. En primer lugar, se examina cómo evolucionan los niveles de divulgación de información sobre RS. Para ello, se ha realizado un análisis de contenido de las páginas web de los gobiernos locales en una región de España, pionera en la aprobación de una Ley de Responsabilidad Social Coroporativa. En segundo lugar, se investigan algunos factores poblacionales, socio-económicos, fiscales y políticos determinantes de la divulgación de este tipo de información, planteando un modelo de regresión lineal múltiple en función de un índice de divulgación calculado previamente. Los resultados muestran, por un lado, un aumento en la cantidad de información divulgada entre los años 2013 y 2016. Por otro lado, los municipios de mayor tamaño, con mayores recursos, gobernados por partidos progresistas y con una alta competencia política, muestran mayores niveles de divulgación de información sobre RS

Factors influencing the information disclosure and access to information in municipalities

A transparência e o acesso à informação são importantes para o escrutínio público, a participação e a responsabilidade, contribuindo para a confiança dos cidadãos no governo. Para aumentar o acesso à informação pública, os governos locais têm recorrido à transparência ativa através da divulgação de informação pública nos seus websites, com acesso livre e aberto. Este estudo analisa a influência de fatores socioeconômicos e políticos na gestão das políticas públicas de transparência ativa nos municípios portugueses. O estudo utiliza a metodologia de dados de painel, que ainda não foi empregada para examinar a transparência municipal ativa em Portugal, testando empiricamente os fatores que impactam a divulgação da informação pública, valendo-se do índice de transparência como um proxy. Foram encontradas evidências empíricas em relação aos fatores políticos e socioeconômicos que influenciaram o nível de transparência municipal. Uma vez que os estudos sobre o caso português são escassos, esta pesquisa contribui para a compreensão das respostas dos municípios às pressões da sociedade por mais transparência.Transparency and access to information are important for public scrutiny, participation and accountability, contributing to citizens’ confidence in the local government. To increase access to public information, local governments resorted to active transparency through the dissemination of public information on their websites, in a free and open manner. This study reviews the influence of socioeconomic and political factors in the management of active transparency of public policies in Portuguese municipalities. The study uses the panel data methodology, which has not yet been used to review active municipal transparency in Portugal, empirically testing the factors that influence the disclosure of public information, using the transparency index as a proxy. Empirical evidence was found regarding the political and socioeconomic factors that have influenced the level of municipal transparency. Since studies regarding Portuguese cases are scarce, this investigation contributes to the understanding of the municipalities’ responses to society’s pressures for more transparency

Fatores associados à transparência pública municipal: um estudo regional no Rio Grande do Sul

One of the objectives of the Regional Development Councils (COREDEs), as well as the mechanisms of public transparency, is the correct application of public resources. This study aimed to identify the factors related to the level of transparency of the 77 municipalities of the RF7 planning functional region. The factors evaluated were socioeconomic (unemployment, investment, debt, Municipal Human Development Index (IDHM) and Firjan Index), politicians (electoral turnout, political competition, reelection, the gender of the mayor) and a demographic factor (population). All data, of secondary origin, were collected on databases available on the internet. For the analysis, descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques were used. The results showed that there is a positive relationship between the index of transparency and the population size and annual investment of the municipality; already with the electoral turnout and the unemployment has verified the existence of a negative relation. In addition, there was no relationship between transparency and municipal debt, with the Municipal Human Development Index (IDHM), the Firjan Municipal Development Index (IFDM) and the political competition factor. Keywords: Access to information. Socioeconomic factors. Political factors.Um dos objetivos dos Conselhos Regionais de Desenvolvimento (COREDEs), assim como dos mecanismos de transparência pública, diz respeito à aplicação correta dos recursos públicos. Este estudo buscou identificar os fatores relacionados ao nível de transparência dos 77 municípios da região funcional de planejamento RF7. Os fatores avaliados foram socioeconômicos (desemprego, investimento, dívida, Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal (IDHM) e Índice Firjan), políticos (participação eleitoral, competitividade política, reeleição, gênero do prefeito) e um fator demográfico (população). Todos os dados, de origem secundária, foram coletados em bases disponíveis na internet. Para a análise fez-se uso de técnicas de estatística descritiva e multivariada. Os resultados demonstraram que, há uma relação positiva do índice de transparência com o tamanho da população e com o investimento anual do município; já com a participação eleitoral e o desemprego verificou-se a existência de uma relação negativa. Além disso, não foi verificada relação da transparência com a dívida municipal, com o Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal (IDHM), com o Índice Firjan de Desenvolvimento Municipal (IFDM) e com o fator competitividade política. Palavras-chaves: Acesso à informação. Fatores socioeconômicos. Fatores políticos

Information on social responsibility contained in municipal web pages: study on the region of Alentejo

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el grado de divulgación de información en materia de Responsabilidad Social (RS) llevada a cabo por los 58 municipios que conforman el Alentejo, en Portugal Continental, así como la identificación de sus posibles factores explicativos. El análisis viene motivado porque, en los últimos años, se ha asistido a un crecimiento significativo de las entidades que forman el sector público que informan sobre cuestiones relativas a su comportamiento económico, social y medioambiental. Para alcanzar este objetivo se lleva a cabo un análisis de contenido de las páginas webs de los ayuntamientos de la población objeto de estudio. Los resultados indican que el grado de divulgación de información sobre RS es bajo y está relacionado con el tamaño de la entidad, la población dependiente, el nivel educativo, la capacidad institucional y la participación electoral.The aim of this paper is to analyze the degree to which information on Social Responsibility (SR) is disseminated by the 58 municipalities of the Alentejo region in Continental Portugal, as well as identifying possible explanatory factors. The analysis is motivated due to the significant increase in recent years of entities within the public sector that report on issues relating to economic, social and environmental performance. To achieve this objective, a content analysis of the websites of the municipalities in the study population was conducted. The results indicate that the degree of dissemination of information on SR is low and is related to the size of the entity, the dependent population, educational level, institutional capacity and electoral participation.peerReviewe

Local Municipality Public Value Co-Creation through Democratic E-Governance: A Mixed Method Analysis of Korean Municipal Government Websites

The use of technology in the public sector can improve the course of government by increasing efficiency and effectiveness, and bolster democratic principles in governance. The aforementioned can occur by employing transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement, thereby bringing the state-citizen relationship closer. Despite the crucial roles of local governments in promoting democratic practices in the e-government context, prior studies tend to have paid limited attention to e-government practices at the local level. Moreover, it was criticized that early e-government practices focused mainly from the provider’s perspectives and lost the sense of purpose. In this respect, integrating the concept of public value creation into the discussion of digital government may help this new mode of governance live up to its premises. With the gap in the current literature, this article presents a theoretical framework that portrays how the government and its citizens can interact through technology-mediated devices in the decision-making process, namely democratic egovernance, which leads to public value co-creation. Based on the theoretical ground, we analyzed municipal government websites in Korea, as its e-government system at the national level has been internationally regarded as one of the best practices. With a mixed method approach that integrated a quantitative approach to the website evaluation and qualitative analyses of in-depth interviews, we aimed to investigate the extent to which local democratic e-governance developed, and how public value was co-created through democratic e-governance in Korea. This study contributes to the literature by sharing the link between e-government studies and public value theory with substantiated evidence, and it discovered both prospects and latent challenges of public value co-creation through e-governance at the local level

Vínculos entre corrupción, transparencia y finanzas públicas en los gobiernos locales españoles

En la primera década del siglo XXI España registró un aumento significativo de la corrupción política, principalmente a nivel local y relacionada con el desarrollo urbanístico. Estos escándalos de corrupción han generado una preocupación creciente por el fortalecimiento de la transparencia y la rendición de cuentas. Esta tesis doctoral se centra en la investigación que explora la relación entre impuestos, transparencia y finanzas públicas en los municipios españoles, con el fin de ayudar a los responsables de la formulación de políticas a desarrollar soluciones efectivas para garantizar la eficiencia y la sostenibilidad de los gobiernos locales. También puede ser útil para legisladores, funcionarios y ciudadanos interesados en el tema. Se analiza si el nivel de transparencia, medido a través del Índice de Transparencia Dinámico de Dyntra, influye en la recaudación de ingresos tributarios municipales, considerando los diferentes impuestos que los municipios pueden gestionar de forma autónoma. Los resultados obtenidos a partir del análisis de regresión por mínimos cuadrados ordinarios y mínimos cuadrados en dos etapas revelan que los municipios más transparentes logran recaudar mayores ingresos tributarios, destacando el Impuesto sobre el Incremento del Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana (IIVNTU) y el Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles (IBI). Se observa que una mayor financiación del ayuntamiento a través de transferencias provenientes de otros niveles de gobierno tiene un impacto negativo en la recaudación por Impuesto sobre Construcciones, Instalaciones y Obras (ICIO) e IIVNTU. También se aborda el análisis del impacto de la corrupción política en los ingresos tributarios de los gobiernos locales. Dado que no existen indicadores de corrupción específicos para los municipios españoles, se ha elaborado una base de datos sobre prácticas corruptas a nivel municipal a partir de la información de los medios de comunicación digital. Aplicando el Método Generalizado de Momentos, se concluye que en los municipios con mayor corrupción se registra un aumento en la recaudación por ICIO. Además, los gobiernos locales cuyos ciudadanos tienen mayores niveles de renta recaudan más a través de impuestos directos quizás porque consideran que este aumento tendrá menos impacto en los ciudadanos con más recursos y, por tanto, recibirán menos críticas a su gestión. Como la corrupción y la falta de transparencia pueden afectar a las finanzas públicas y contribuir al déficit fiscal, se estudia la relación de causalidad entre el déficit y varios factores, como el producto interno bruto, el desempleo y el signo político del partido gobernante. Se demuestra aplicando la regresión cuantílica y el estimador grupo de medias que el crecimiento económico solo tiene un efecto positivo a largo plazo sobre el déficit para el conjunto de municipios, reduciendo el déficit en todos los niveles cuantílicos excepto en el primer decil. El desempleo aumenta el déficit tanto a corto como a largo plazo y se observan diferencias según el tamaño poblacional de los municipios. La participación política y los partidos políticos de derecha contribuyen al crecimiento del déficit en los cuantiles superiores. Por último, mediante diferentes técnicas no paramétricas (Análisis Envolvente de Datos, DEA-boostraping, Free Disposal Hull, fronteras parciales de orden-α y orden-m), se determina si la transparencia (dada por el Indice Dyntra y por sus subindicadores) junto con el déficit y otras variables, influyen en la eficiencia de la prestación de servicios públicos. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que la transparencia influye en la eficiencia, aunque a veces depende del indicador específico de transparencia y de la metodología utilizada. Cuanto mayor es la transparencia económica y financiera, así como la información sobre los contratos de servicios públicos, urbanismo y obras públicas, más eficiente es el municipio.In the first decade of the 21st century Spain registered a significant increase in political corruption, mainly at the local level and related to urban development. These corruption scandals have generated a growing concern for strengthening transparency and accountability. This PhD thesis focuses on research that explores the relationship between taxation, transparency and public finance in Spanish municipalities, with the aim of helping policymakers develop effective solutions to ensure the efficiency and sustainability of local governments. It may also be useful for legislators, civil servants and citizens interested in the subject. We analyze whether the level of transparency, measured through Dyntra's Dynamic Transparency Index, influences the collection of municipal tax revenues, considering the different taxes that municipalities can manage autonomously. The results obtained from the two-stage ordinary least squares and least squares regression analysis reveal that the most transparent municipalities manage to collect higher tax revenues, highlighting the Tax on the Increase in the Value of Urban Land (IIVNTU) and the Real Estate Tax (IBI). It is observed that a greater financing of the municipality through transfers from other levels of government has a negative impact on the collection of the Tax on Construction, Installations and Works (ICIO) and IIVNTU. It also addresses the analysis of the impact of political corruption on local government tax revenues. Since there are no specific corruption indicators for Spanish municipalities, a database on corrupt practices at the municipal level has been developed based on information from digital media. Applying the Generalized Method of Moments, it is concluded that in municipalities with higher corruption there is an increase in ICIO collection. In addition, local governments whose citizens have higher income levels collect more through direct taxes, perhaps because they consider that this increase will have less impact on citizens with more resources and, therefore, they will receive less criticism of their management. Given that corruption and lack of transparency can affect public finances and contribute to the fiscal deficit, we study the causal relationship between the deficit and several factors, such as gross domestic product, unemployment and the political sign of the ruling party. It is shown by applying quantile regression and the group-means estimator that economic growth only has a positive long-run effect on the deficit for the set of municipalities, reducing the deficit at all quantile levels except the first decile. Unemployment increases the deficit in both the short and long term and differences are observed according to the population size of the municipalities. Political participation and right-wing political parties contribute to the growth of the deficit in the upper quantiles. Finally, using different non-parametric techniques (Data Envelopment Analysis, DEA-boostraping, Free Disposal Hull, partial frontiers of order-α and order-m), we determine whether transparency (given by the Dyntra Index and its sub-indicators) together with the deficit and other variables, influence the efficiency of public service provision. Our findings suggest that transparency influences efficiency, although it sometimes depends on the specific transparency indicator and the methodology used. The greater the economic and financial transparency, as well as information on contracts for public services, urban planning and public works, the more efficient the municipality is

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