We investigate the effects of fiscal transparency and political polarization on the prevalence of electoral cycles in fiscal balance. The recent political economy literature on electoral cycles identifies such cycles mainly in weak and recent democracies. In contrast, we show, conditioning on a...

Fiskalische Transparenz ist die Offenheit bezüglich der Planung, Formulierung und Implementierung von Finanzpolitik. Fiskalische Transparenz ist nicht nur ein wichtiges Konzept der gegenwärtigen entwicklungspolitischen Diskussion, sondern gleichzeitig ist auch in Ländern der Europäischen...

What drives improvements in the budget transparency of fragile states? By investigating the dynamics of budget transparency in post 9/11 Afghanistan, this paper demonstrates that factors such as budget reforms, aid conditionality, legislature and civil society (and media) demands for information...

It is widely believed and often argued that fiscal, or budgetary, transparency has large, positive effects on fiscal performance. However, the evidence linking transparency and fiscal policy outcomes is far from compelling. We present a career-concerns model with political parties to analyze the...

We use unique panel data on the evolution of transparent budget procedures in the American states over the past three decades to explore the political and economic determinants of fiscal transparency. Our case studies and quantitative analysis suggest that both politics and fiscal policy...

The aim of the paper is to answer the question of whether fiscal reporting (more precisely, financial reporting of public finance sector entities (PFSE)) earnestly expressed the results of activities (information included is reliable, understandable and complete), and provide suggestions on how...

We develop a new measure of relative debt transparency by comparing the amount of state debt reported in the annual Census survey and the amount reported in the statistical section of the state Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). GASB 44 requires states to start reporting their total...

The paper analyses how independent fiscal watchdogs (fiscal policy councils) can strengthen the incentives for fiscal discipline. By increasing fiscal transparency they can raise the awareness of the long-run costs of current deficits and increase the reputational costs for governments of...

This paper examines how fiscal transparency is linked to bank development. It also hypothesizes that the effect is mediated by reasonable channel(s). Drawing upon a panel dataset of emerging and developing economies, we find that fiscal transparency is positively related to the private credit...