Transparansi

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-G overnment
Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 129 - 160, April 2015
Determining Factors of Transparency and

Accountability in Local Governments: A MetaAnalytic Study
L a u ra A lca id e M u n o z & M a n u el P ed ro R o d rig u ez B o liv a r
A bstract The im portance granted to inform ation transparency in

improving the accountability o f public adm inistrations has become
increasingly greater in recent years under a scenario o f econom ic
and financial crisis as a tool o f control. A lthough academ ic studies
are aim ed at identifying the key factors underlying a higher level o f
econom ic-financial inform ation disclosure by local governm ents,
there exists considerable heterogeneity in the results obtained. In this
sense, we have carried out a m eta-analysis to validate previous
em pirical results, and highlight causes o f the variations and
contradictions identified. O ur study shows the variables analysed to
be positively associated with the disclosure o f public financial
inform ation, but also that this depends on the context in w hich the
research is carried out.
Keywords: accountability financial transparency

governm ents m oderator variables meta-analysis
local
Correspondence Address: Laura Alcaide Munoz, Ph. D.. Assistant Professor,

University of Granada, Faculty of Business Studies, Department of Accounting and
Finance, C/ Campus Universitario de Cartuja S/N. Post Code (Box). 18071 Granada,
Spain, email: lauraam@ugr.es. Manuel Pedro Rodriguez Bolivar, Ph. D.. Associate
Professor, University of Granada, Faculty of Business Studies, Department of
Accounting and Finance. C/ Campus Universitario de Cartuja S/N. Post Code (Box),
18071 Granada, Spain, email: manuelp@ugr.es.
DOl 10.4335/13.2.129-160(2015)
ISSN 1581-5374 Print/1855-363X Online O 2015 Lex localis (Maribor. Graz. Trieste. Split)
Available online at http://joumal.Iex-localis.info.
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L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency
and Accountability in Local Governments: A Meta-Analytic Study
Introduction
The current financial and economic crisis has spurred a demand for greater
accountability in public administrations (Carmeli, 2003), especially in local
governments. There is generally acknowledged to be a need for more financial
transparency in order to achieve a stable financial balance (Burritt and
Schaltegger, 2010; Martinsen and Beg Jorgensen, 2010). In fact, public
administrations are being pressured for the disclosure of higher quality and
transparency of financial information with the aim of controlling the use of public
resources (Pina et ah, 2010; Rodriguez et ah, 2007), detecting financial distress in
local governments (Zafra et al., 2009), and achieving the sustainable financial
balance in the public administration (Dollery and Grant, 2011).
One of the best instruments currently available for helping public administrations
to improve transparency and accountability in the use of public financial resources
has been the implementation of information and communication technologies
(ICTs) (Heeks, 2005; Kraemer and King, 2006), which could improve government
responsiveness and empower individual citizens to improve democratic
governance (Cullen and Sommer, 2011; Mutula and Wamukoya, 2009).
Therefore, in recent years, a growing body of literature has been developed with
the aim of identifying the key factors underlying a higher level of economicfinancial information disclosure, particularly by local public organisations (Caba
et al., 2008; Carcaba and Garcia, 2010; Evans and Patton, 1987).
Nevertheless, despite the best endeavors of previous research, there exists
considerable heterogeneity in the results obtained, and conclusive evidence has yet
to be obtained regarding the influence of the above-mentioned factors to clearly
establish their influence, in quantitative terms, on the disclosure of public financial
information. Possible inconsistency in study design could account for the uneven
results obtained (Pomeroy and Thornton, 2008). Whatever the reason, there is as
yet insufficient empirical evidence of the validity and generality of these results to
clearly establish the influence of the above-mentioned factors, in quantitative
terms, on the disclosure of public financial information.
Although prior research has addressed the general area of determining factors for
disclosing public sector financial reporting, there is no study in which drivers for
disclosing financial reporting are examined in detail and that erases moderator
variables that could influence the results in prior research. For this purpose, many
advantages are offered by the meta-analysis technique, which is aimed at enabling
statistically significant conclusions by exploring the causes of the inconsistency
identified in earlier published results and the moderator variables responsible for
the heterogeneous results reported (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004; Lipsey and Wilson,
2001). In this regard, the application of the meta-analysis technique could be
relevant to feature different models and variables accounting for the nature and
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intensity of relations between levels of disclosure of financial reports and the

incentives identified.
Therefore, the aim of this paper, in which 36 empirical studies are analysed, is to
examine diverse factors that influence the disclosure of economic-financial
information by local public administrations, and thus identify the main
determinants of financial information transparency in local governments, which is
a key aspect of accountability. To achieve this aim, the statistical validity of
previous empirical results is tested, and the underlying causes of the variations and
contradictions identified are investigated using a meta-analysis technique. The rest
of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2 analyses incentives to the
disclosure of public financial information and their moderating effects, and
Section 3 then presents the empirical research method followed and the principal
results obtained. Finally, the Discussion and Conclusions section presents the
main findings of this study and its implications for future work.
2.
Incentives to disclose public financial information: Determining

hypotheses
Since the mid-1970s, various studies have been made of the factors promoting
more and better disclosure of public financial information. These studies are
mainly based on agency theory, legitimacy theory, and institutional theory
(Carpenter and Feroz, 2001; Collin et al., 2009; Feroz et al., 2007; Zimmerman
1977). Agency relations within public sector organisations have been argued to
constitute an incentive for public managers to voluntarily disclose the information
that will allow their actions to be monitored and analysed. In recent years, along
with agency theory, institutional theory has been applied to explain the adoption
of innovations in management accounting (Ribeiro and Scapens, 2006; Carpenter
and Feroz, 2001). According to this theory, organisations respond to external
pressures by adopting structures and practices that are considered legitimate and
socially acceptable, thus producing homogeneous practices and structures
(DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Feroz et al., 2007).
In this context, information disclosure is a symbol of trust and modernity,
constituting a trend that governments adopt in response to external factors
(Hoffman, 1999) requiring greater transparency of public functions, and also to
project an image of good governance. Thus the governments reputation is
enhanced, and hence voters trust in it. Regarding the determinant factors of public
information disclosure, they could be classified into two main groups: institutional
factors (financial condition, intergovernmental subsidies, and political
competition) and environmental factors (municipal size and income level for the
municipality). This approach enables us to determine whether information
transparency and accountability policies applied by local public organisations,
through the greater disclosure of public financial information, depend mainly on a
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L. Alcaide Munoz A M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency
decision taken within the institutional area of the organisation or whether, on the
contrary, the environment affecting these local governments is of greater
significance.
2.1
Institutional factors
Regarding the institutional factors, the most commonly analysed in the academic
literature is the question of financial condition, taking municipal debt as the
principal measure used. Following Robbins and Austin (1986) and Evans and
Patton (1987), financial condition is positively associated with the motivation of
the public manager to provide greater information transparency in local public
administration. This variable is included in the analysis of financial information
disclosure, because it is an integral component of the financial credibility of public
administrations vis-a-vis external agents (Baber 1983; Ingram, 1984). It is also
integral to the governments capacity to meet its payment commitments (Giroux
and Deis, 1993), meaning that public managers must respond to greater demands
for information disclosure in order to minimise conflicts of interest (Baber and
Gore, 2008; Baber and Sen, 1986; Gore, 2004; Zimmerman, 1977). Indeed, in the
public sector, the voluntary provision of information has been seen as a way of
limiting conflicts between citizens and politicians and forms part of agency theory
(Zimmerman, 1977). Under this theory, in order to generate positive signals about
their performance, public managers are promoted to disclose public financial
information as a mechanism for monitoring their actions (Carcaba and Garcia,
2008).
In addition, citizens wish to know the use made of financial resources obtained
from municipal indebtedness, especially with respect to financing the provision of
public services and programmes (Styles and Tennyson, 2007). In this respect,
Liider (1994) and Laswad et al. (2005), among others, have found a positive
association between municipal debt and the voluntary disclosure of public
financial information, because when indebtedness becomes a significant burden,
financial difficulties appear. Thus, there is a greater need to publish reports
reflecting the financial situation and the management policies adopted in this
respect by the organisation. Accordingly, the following hypothesis is proposed:
Hp There is a positive relation between the financial condition o f local
governments and the disclosure ofpublic financial information
Another variable to be considered is the question of the inter-governmental
transfers received by public organisations. These funds are argued to constitute an
essential factor in the disclosure of financial information, in order to control by the
public administrations providing them (Copley, 1991; Ingram and DeJong, 1987;
Robbins and Austin, 1986). In the U.S., researchers have found that the presence
of a substantial proportion of a state's funding by the federal government may
serve to increase federal influence and monitoring of the state's financial
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disclosure (Ingram and DeJong, 1987). Accordingly, the following hypothesis is

proposed:
H2: There is a positive relation between transfers and funds received from other
public organisations and the disclosure ofpublic financial information
Finally, political competition although measured with different indicators, such
as the index of political competition or the percentage of seats held by the
minority political party constitutes another factor that has been widely
discussed in the academic literature as a variable accounting for public managers
incentive to satisfy citizens demands (Evans and Patton, 1987; Robbins and
Austin, 1986). Although the results are not empirically conclusive (Carpenter,
1991), there exists evidence that the political factors influencing public
organisations encourage local public managers to be more responsive to the needs
of their voters, offering them a greater quantity of information (Giroux, 1989;
Serrano et al., 2009). Politicians seek to obtain as many votes as possible, and the
greater the political competition, the greater the incentive to demonstrate the good
management carried out. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H3: There is a positive relation between political competition and the disclosure o f
public financial information
2.2
Environmental factors
Of the environmental factors analysed, one featuring in most empirical studies is

the size of the local public administration, traditionally measured with respect to
that of the population (Copley, 1991; Robbins and Austin, 1986; Ryan et al.,
2002). From the standpoints of agency theory (Zimmerman, 1977) and of
legitimacy theory (Evans and Patton, 1987), Baber (1983) found that larger cities
supply services to a greater number of citizens and receive more resources. This
leads citizens to demand a greater volume of information on the performance of
government, and therefore there is likely to be a greater need for large cities to
provide information. Moreover, there may be conflicts of interest and subsequent
pressures upon town halls to be transparent (McLelland and Giroux, 2003).
Legitimacy theory also propounds a positive relationship between size and
disclosure, as the varied pressures upon town halls to be transparent are greater in
larger councils (Serrano et al., 2009).
From the empirical point of view, although Christiaens (1999), Ingram and
Robbins (1988), and Ryan et al., (2002) reported significant and positive
relationships between disclosure levels and the size of local public
administrations, other authors such as Robbins and Austin (1986) found no
significant association. In any case, in general, empirical evidence shows that
municipalities with a large number of inhabitants are more likely to disclose
financial information and to facilitate access to this information to the public
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(Copley, 1991; Giroux and McLelland, 2003; Gore, 2004; Styles and Tennyson,
2007). Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H4: There is a positive relation between the size o f local public administrations
and the disclosure o f public financial information
To conclude this analysis of environmental factors, among the external variables
that may influence the disclosure of financial information is income levels in the
municipality (Malone, 2006). Prior research has demonstrated that when residents
income increases they expect to receive better services and a greater amount of
information to confirm that the taxes paid are being implemented effectively
(Giroux, 1989; Giroux and McLelland, 2003). Therefore, the following hypothesis
is proposed:
Hs: There is a positive relation between income levels in the municipality and the
disclosure ofpublic financial information
3
Previous research and moderators variables in Public Financial

Transparency
Although prior research has analysed determinant factors for public

accountability, results have been confused. In fact, previous studies have not been
consistent in the variables considered or in how incentives were measured. Four
essential elements under which different empirical studies have been developed
are: a) the administrative culture of the countries in which the study data were
obtained; b) the medium employed for the disclosure of financial information
(hardcopy versus online); c) the date of publication of research; and d) the
measure used to quantify the determinant factors being analysed.
These conditions under which empirical investigations are implemented in any
field of research i.e., the moderator variables (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004;
Rosenthal, 1991) are elements to be taken into consideration, as they provoke
inconsistency in the results obtained (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004; Lipsey, 1990)
(see Table 1). Therefore, a methodology is needed to identify the factors that in
a statistically significant way and independently of the considerations underlying
studies in which they were examined as possible determining factors to the
disclosure of public financial information influence public managers in their
design of information transparency strategies. Thus, designing public policies that
take such drivers into account will enable public managers to better comply with
their duty of accountability.
a)
Administrative culture
The implementation of New Public Management (NPM) models conforms to

common patterns in countries that share certain cultural values and is in
accordance with the national context, which influences the role played by the state
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L. Alcaide Munoz A M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency
135
and its relationship with its citizens. This in turn contributes to the importance
granted to transparency and the duty of accountability owed by public
administrations (Kickert, 1997; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2004; Torres, 2004). The
political and legal setting (Chan and Rosenbloom, 2010), the situation of
administrative and fiscal/financial autonomy (Venugopal and Yilmaz, 2010;
Yilmaz et al., 2008), and the socio-political and ideological contexts (Chan and
Rosenbloom, 2010) are crucial to understanding local government accountability
and the different implementation of NPM reforms.
Prior research has highlighted differences in public administrations degree of
involvement with their citizens, the emphasis on the implementation of NPM
reforms, and their bureaucratic structures and legal systems. It has also highlighted
differences in administrative cultures that affect the evolution of e-Govemment
(Rodriguez et al., 2011), both in providing online public services (Torres et al.,
2005; 2006) and in the public disclosure of financial information (Pina et al.,
2007; 2009; 2010; Rodriguez et al., 2006). Therefore, we would expect a meta
analysis to reveal discrepancies in the disclosure of public financial information
between different countries, in accordance with the corresponding administrative
culture.
EMy. The differences between administrative cultures moderate the relationship
between incentives and the level o f disclosure ofpublic financial information
b)
Means employed for the disclosure of public financial information

(hardcopy versus online)
The present research study addresses two different, heterogeneous scenarios, in

accordance with the format used for the disclosure of financial information: the
Internet or hardcopy-based documentation. The use of these media, as well as
responding to the characteristics pertaining to each, such as the need to respond to
the information needs of a larger or smaller population, is also influenced by the
moment of time being considered; it was only with the development of ICTs,
fundamentally in the 21st century, that the online format came into widespread
use.
Studies that focus on the dissemination of information on hardcopy are mainly
research that analyses the causes and factors responsible for the decision of the
U.S. government to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(GAAP) when they prepare their financial reports (Baber and Sen, 1984; Evans
and Patton, 1987), or the development of consolidated financial statements
(Giroux, 1989). Meanwhile, studies examining the public financial disclosure on
the Internet examine administrative reforms in public administration developed
under the framework of the NPM, and how the adoption and implementation of
ICT has favored innovation of public bodies, improving transparency, and
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L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodrigue: Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency
therefore accountability of these (Caba et ah, 2008; Carcaba and Garcia, 2008;
Pina et al., 2007).
The above reasons led us to enquire whether the results obtained in each
individual study might be influenced by the means of disclosure through which
information was accessed. Empirical evidence of this heterogeneity can be
observed when the variables being analysed are citizens per capita income (see
Christiaens, 1999 and Giroux and McLelland, 2003 versus Caba et al., 2008 and
Gandia and Archidona, 2008) or the transfers received from other public
administrations (see Ingram and DeJong, 1987 and Robbins and Austin, 1986
versus Laswad et al., 2005 and Caba et al., 2008).
EM2: Differences in formats o f presentation and disclosure moderate the relation
between incentives and the level ofpublic financial information disclosure
c)
Date of publication of research
In the sample analysed, the initial studies addressed the role played by economic
and political factors in the choice of accounting policies, auditing levels, and
voluntary disclosure practices (Dwyer and Wilson, 1989; Evans and Patton, 1987;
Giroux, 1989). These studies were based on agency theory (Jensen and Meckling,
1976), legitimacy theory (Preston and Post, 1975), and political factors
(Zimmerman, 1977), and identified various factors affecting accounting and
auditing practices, chief among which was the decision by U.S. public-sector
entities to adopt GAAP. From this research, there began to emerge studies
supported by complementary theories, such as the economic interest group theory
of government (McCormick and Tollison, 1981) or economic factors (Evans and
Patton, 1983; 1987). This enables us to distinguish a first group of studies those
published in the period 1983-1999 and those published more recently.
Other studies have examined how administrative reforms have improved
transparency and accountability, and how this process has been enhanced by new
IT systems. These studies have also identified the determinants favoring greater
financial disclosure by means of the Internet. As shown in Table 1, the first study
to analyse the dissemination of public sector financial information via the Internet
was McLelland and Giroux (2000). Later articles considered public sector reforms
introduced in accordance with NPM principles, and showed that the adoption of
web-based technologies improves public transparency and accountability (Caba et
al., 2008; Carcaba and Garcia, 2008; Pina et al., 2007). Therefore, it is possible to
distinguish a second group of studies those published in the period 2000-2013.
The above considerations led us to enquire whether the results obtained in each
study might be influenced year by when the research was carried out. Empirical
evidence of this heterogeneity can be observed when the variables being analysed
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137
are per capita income (see Christiaens, 1999 and Giroux and McLelland, 2003
versus Caba et al., 2008 and Gandia and Archidona, 2008) or the transfers
received from other government agencies (see Ingram and DeJong, 1987 and
Robbins and Austin, 1986 versus Laswad et al., 2005 and Caba et al., 2008).
EM3: Differences in the year o f publication moderate the relation found between
incentives and the level o f disclosure o f public financial information
d)
Impact of the unit of measure on determinant factors
Finally, the measure used to quantify different determinant factors could account
for the inconsistent results obtained in previous studies (Pomeroy and Thornton,
2008). In this respect, Serrano et al., (2009) observed that, depending on the
measure used, the relation between political competition and the disclosure of
public financial information gave rise to contradictory reports. Similarly, when the
financial condition is measured by the fiscal stress provides a direct association
(Giroux and Deis, 1993), while this association is not significant when the
financial condition is measured by the ratio of total debt (Evans and Patton, 1983;
Giroux and McLelland, 2003; Ingram and DeJong, 1987).
EM4: Differences in methods used to measure the variables considered moderate
the relation between incentives and the level o f disclosure o f public financial
information
To sum up, Table 2 shows the incentives analysed in prior research, the
moderating effects on empirical investigations of incentives to the disclosure of
public financial information, and the hypotheses tested in this paper as regards
their influence on the results obtained.
4
Empirical research
4.1
Sample selection and literature search
In the present study, a comprehensive analysis was first made of all the
publications listed in the categories of Public Administration, Information
Science, Computer Science, Information Systems, Economics, and Business and
Finance, indexed by the Institute for Scientific Information for the period 19802011. To do this, we examined the title, abstract (Lan and Anders, 2000; Plumper
and Radaelli, 2004), keywords (Hartley and Kostoff, 2003), and introduction of
each article to ensure that the studys research goals were relevant to our
investigation. In the few cases in which application of these discrimination criteria
was not decisive, we read the entire article.
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Then, a systematic search was made of the ABI/INFORM, EJS Ebsco, Blackwell,
Scopus, Emerald/Insight, SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, Social Science Research
Network (SSRN), Econlit, Ecopapers, and Business Source Premier databases
using descriptors and keywords such as public financial reporting practices,
voluntary disclosure, government accounting, local government, and
accounting disclosure, among others. We then selected the most relevant papers
identified in the first search and performed an exhaustive analysis of the
references cited in them.
All the studies that met the above inclusion-exclusion requirements were
examined to determine whether their aim was to analyse the determinant factors of
the presentation and disclosure of financial information by public organisations,
analysing the theoretical relations applicable. Of the articles resulting from this
search, we discarded studies that did not analyse the determinants of economic
and financial disclosure in local governments. The reason for focusing on research
on local governments is due to the following reasons: a) the local government
context is a fundamental focus in many public sector reforms (Pallot, 2001; Smith,
2004); b) the local government context is a fundamental focus for detecting
financial distress (Zafra et al., 2009) and for achieving the sustainable financial
balanced in the public administration (Dollery and Grant, 2011); and c) the local
government is considered the closest tier (level) of government to citizens because
it is mostly concerned with the daily life of the people (Cegarra et al., 2012). All
this leads local governments to be a central focus on demand on public sector
financial information as a main tool to accomplish their duty of accountability
(Carcaba and Garcia, 2010; Pina et al., 2010; Ryan et al., 2002).
Some of the articles extracted did not provide the statistical information needed
for the meta-analysis technique, and so the authors in question (Carcaba and
Garcia, 2008; 2010; Pina et al., 2007, 2009, 2010) were contacted and requested to
supply the missing information. Thus, all 36 of the articles initially identified were
included in the sample for final analysis. It should be noted that the meta-analysis
technique does not require a large number of studies to produce useful results
(Lipsey and Wilson, 2001), because what is really important is to have a sufficient
number of observations that allow us to undertake meta-analytic study. Therefore,
our review of previous research produced some meta-analytical studies based on a
smaller sample than our own (Bel and Fageda, 2009; Bel et al., 2010; Garcia and
Sanchez, 2010; Longhi et al., 2010; Pomeroy and Thornton, 2008).
For inclusion in our sample, the articles examined had to provide the Pearson or
Spearman (r) correlations addressing the relation between the different variables
considered and the disclosure of public economic and financial information. When
r statistics were not reported, but other statistics transformable into r statistics
were, we applied formulas given by Lipsey and Wilson (2001) and Rosenthal
(1991). Thus, we have a total sample of 30 published studies for final analysis for
139

over three decades. From this sample, we estimated the sign of the relations
between the different variables and the strength of this relation, determining the
sources of difference among the studies. Note: the meta-analysis technique does
not require a large number of studies to produce useful results (Lipsey and Wilson,
2001 ).
4.2
Meta-Analytic Technique
Meta-analysis is a statistical technique to integrate the findings of previous studies

on a particular topic in order to assess the overall effect and to evaluate the impact
of different data characteristics on the results obtained (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004;
Lipsey and Wilson, 2001; Rosenthal, 1991). Meta-analysis accumulates statistical
information on the results published by independent studies in order to assess
them and determine whether the differences identified are due mainly to
discrepancies in the variables, to differences in the measurement scales used, to
sampling error, or whether instead they are due to the existence of other factors
inherent to the study design (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004; Rosenthal, 1991). By
factors inherent to the study design we mean the specific characteristics of
research such as sample size, date of publication, country in which the study
was carried out, etc. which may influence the findings achieved and, therefore,
explain the variability in the results of individual studies. In this sense, there may
be three types of moderator effects: substantive, methodological, and extrinsic
(Hunter and Schmidt, 2004).
Meta-analysis is recognised as an alternative to traditional review (which often
runs into difficulties extracting useful knowledge from a body of studies on a
common subject), enabling clear, conclusive conclusions to be drawn (Hedges,
1984). Indeed, only by systematising the process of research synthesis is it
possible to identify comparable results among different studies focusing on a
given subject (Light and Pillemer, 1982). In this sense, meta-analysis involves
applying statistical methods to the results produced from earlier studies, thus
achieving a beneficial accumulation of scientific knowledge (Cooper and Hedges,
1994).
According to Glass (1976), meta-analysis is a robust statistical technique that is
used to accumulate and integrate results obtained from previous statistical
analyses and to draw overall conclusions. This technique enables the researcher to
achieve clear, coherent conclusions systematically extracted from previous
research, highlighting points common to all that would be difficult to identify by
descriptive analysis alone (Hunter, Schmidt, and Jackson, 1982; Rosenthal, 1991).
Hence, through the use of appropriate statistical procedures, we can identify the
moderator variables explaining the heterogeneity of earlier results (Stanley, 2001;
Stanley and Jarrell, 1989).
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Diverse reviews have attempted to reconcile the conflicting findings of previous

research in this field, since such differences limit the theoretical and researchbased development of the field being analysed. However, these reviews present
difficulties of their own, making it hard to reach conclusions that are clear,
conclusive, and objective regarding the analysis of a body of research on a given
topic (Lipsey and Wilson, 2001; Rosenthal, 1991). Nevertheless, by means of the
meta-analysis technique, it is possible to accumulate statistical information on the
results obtained by independent studies, so that these may be evaluated, and it can
be determined whether their differences are due mainly to discrepancies in the
variables, or in the measuring scales applied, or to sampling error. Moreover, there
may exist other modulating factors specific to the design of the research study
(Hunter and Schmidt, 2004; Rosenthal, 1991). These factors might help us identify
the causes of inconsistencies in published results (Lipsey and Wilson, 2001).
The meta-analysis technique is widely accepted as a valid, reliable research
methodology. It has been widely employed in different research fields in the social
sciences (Hunter and Schmidt, 2000; Wu et al., 2011), and in recent years it has
been introduced in studies of corporate governance (Garcia and Sanchez, 2010),
public services (Bel and Fageda 2009; Bel et al., 2010) and decentralisation in the
public sector (Yeung, 2009). Application of this technique is intended to enable
statistically significant conclusions to be drawn by exploring the causes of the
inconsistency identified in earlier published results, and through the use of
statistical procedures to detect the moderator variables responsible for the
heterogeneous results reported (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004; Lipsey and Wilson,
2001).
We used the meta-analytic technique developed by Hunter and Schmidt (2004),
calculating the weighted mean correlation coefficient (p = N, r, / Nj), the total
observed variance (S2r = N, (r; - p)2/ Nj), and the sampling error variance (S2r =
(1 - p2)2 k / Nj), where Nj is the number of observations in each sample, r is the
effect size for sample i, and k is the number of effect sizes. Larger sample sizes are
given more weight in order to reduce sampling error, which declines as the sample
size increases (Hunter and Schmidt, 2004).
The correlations were examined taking into account the content of the variables
utilised, and not the names used for them, as there are similar variables that
frequently appear under different denominations (Derfuss, 2009). This is the case
in the size of municipal public organisations, for which the population size can be
used (Gore 2004; Malone, 2006; Caba et al., 2008), or the level of assets and
revenue (Lim and McKinnon 1993; Serrano et al., 2009), or the financial
condition of public organisations, which are valued using diverse measures
(Laswad et al., 2005; Serrano et al., 2009). In the same way, in considering
measures used for the different variables taken, we used the definitions provided
by the authors as a reference.
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141
To evaluate whether empirical correlations are homogeneous, two tests were used:
(1) the 75% rule, according to which if 75% of the observed variance across
studies can be explained by sampling errors [(100) S2e / S2r > 75], there is no true
variance in the studies, and thus the association is non-modulated and
homogeneous; and (2) the Q statistic [(&) (S2r) / (S2e) = (N S2r) / (1 - p2)2], where k
is the number of effect sizes included in the analysis, S2r the total observed
variance, S2e the sampling error variance, N the total sample size of the effect
sizes, and p the mean correlation coefficient. This statistical function has a chisquare distribution with (k -1) degrees of freedom, and a significant Q would
indicate rejection of the null hypothesis of homogeneity.
The hypothesis of homogeneity is rejected in many cases, and so to limit the Type
I error rate a random effect model is used (Hunter and Schmidt, 2000; Shadish and
Haddock, 1994) using V (S2r / k) as the standard error in order to create a 95%
confidence interval around the mean effect size, and to assess the significance of
the null hypothesis, H0: p = 0). In our analysis, no correction is made for statistical
artifacts other than sampling error, such as range restriction and measurement
unreliability, because this information was not provided in the studies analysed.
This is a characteristic limitation of research studies in the financial accounting
field, which nevertheless are not usually subject to the problems of reliability that
affect other areas such as psychology or business management (Garcia and
Sanchez, 2 0 10). Moreover, some researchers do not believe this type of correction
should be applied (Rosenthal, 1994).
4.3
Results analysis
Table 3 shows the global meta-analytic results for the relations between
institutional characteristics (financial condition, inter-governmental grants, and
political competition), environmental factors (size of public administrations and
income level for the municipality), and the level of disclosure of public economic
and financial information.
4.3.1
a)
Institutional factors
Financial Condition
Municipal financial condition as an incentive to information disclosure has been

widely examined in the literature (Table 3), with a total of 80 observations,
producing a mean correlation value of 0.098 and a confidence interval of
0.081,0.115, which indicates a statistically significant association (z = 11.29;
p<0.001) with the level of information disclosure. Therefore, these results support
the relation expressed in hypothesis H, (see Figure 2). Nevertheless, the limited
explanatory power of the variance of the error (Q 169.240; p<0.001) shows there
142

is a high degree of variability (heterogeneity), which in turn suggests the existence

of factors moderating the relation.
Table 4 illustrates the influence of moderator variables on the results of the studies
analysed. In all cases, financial condition has a statistically significant positive
influence on the disclosure of economic and financial information by municipal
governments. Furthermore, the explanatory power of the variance of the error is
greatly increased, and the heterogeneity of the variance decreases, and even
disappears in the measurement of variables case.
With regard to the influence of the different moderator variables, administrative
culture, means of information disclosure, and year of publication of research are
not as noticeable as measure used, although there are indications of the influence
of individual results, and so hypotheses EM b EM2, and EM3 cannot be rejected.
For the remaining moderator variables, the empirical results of the meta-analysis
lead us to accept that the measure used does influence the results obtained in
empirical studies (thus, EM4 is accepted). Furthermore, the use of the total debt
ratio gets more statistically significant (r = 0.115, p <0.001) than when researchers
use another measure. With respect to other moderator variables, results indicate
that the financial condition of municipal bodies has more influence on public
managers of Anglo-Saxon countries than in other countries (r = 0.099> r = 0.094).
Similarly, it is greater when using the digital as a format for disclosure (r = 0.112,
p <0.001), and has been increasing as time has passed (r = 0.134, p <0.001).
b)
Inter-governmental grants
The grant funds received by local public administrations constitute a factor that
has been widely examined by researchers, as shown by a mean correlation of
0.117, and a confidence interval of 0.107,0.127 (see Table 3). Although in some
studies the authors conclude that the receipt of funds from other administrations
may discourage public managers from disclosing economic and financial
information (Giroux and Deis, 1993), the results indicate that the association is
statistically significant and positive (z =14.38; p<0.001). This confirms hypothesis
H2. However, there does exist a high degree of heterogeneity (Q 112.953; p<0.01),
which suggests the existence of factors moderating the relation in question.
Table 5 shows that the explanatory power of the variance of the error has
increased, with heterogeneity disappearing in all cases. Therefore, we conclude
that administrative culture, means of information disclosure, year of publication of
research, and measure used all influence the results achieved in individual studies.
Thus, the hypotheses proposed in this meta-analytic study EMb EM2, EM3, and
EM4 should be accepted.
143
L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determ ining Factors o f Transparency

Referring to these results, it should be noted that studies examining the public
financial disclosure by non-Anglo-Saxon municipalities and the Internet are
scarce. Although there is statistical evidence that administrative culture and means
employed for the disclosure of information influence the results, we cannot
generalise due to the low number of observations. However, we note how in the
more recent studies, transfer funds received by municipal governments exert a
greater influence on public managers to disclose information (r = 0.125> r =
0.002). Also, our results show that the measure used does influence the individual
results (and hence, EM4 must be accepted), and that study of this factor alone
revealed a statistically significant positive relationship with respect to current and
capital transfers (r = 0.126, p <0.001).
c)
Political Competition
Political competition is another of the institutional incentives examined in the

academic literature. As shown in Table 3, the mean correlation presented is weak
(0.026), with a confidence interval of (0.000,0.052), which leads us to believe that
this positive association is not statistically significant. Accordingly, hypothesis H3
must not be rejected. Nevertheless, the variance observed reveals a high degree of
heterogeneity in the studies analysed ( Q 52.743; p<0.01). Since prior research
produced many contradictory reports for this variable (Giroux, 1989; Smith,
2004), it is necessary to search for the moderating effects that this variability may
have produced in the findings reported.
Table 6 confirms that political competition does not have a statistically significant
relationship in Anglo-Saxon countries, when the information disclosure is in
hardcopy format and at the first studies results, but it is a determinant factor in the
disclosure of economic and financial information in some cases. In this sense,
administrative culture is a moderator variable, the meta-analytic results for which
indicate that it influences individual results, with their variability being greatly
reduced and disappearing. In addition, we see how the association is positive and
statistically significant in the non-Anglo-Saxon municipalities (EM, is accepted).
The rest of the moderator variables exert a noticeable influence on the results
achieved in previous studies, increasing the explanatory power of the variance and
reducing the heterogeneity in the other cases. Therefore, the hypotheses EM2,
EM3, and EM4 must be accepted. In addition, the results indicate that the
association is statistically significant and positive when disclosure is through the
Internet (r = 0.118, p <0.001). And since these studies have been published since
2000, the association is positive and statistically significant for studies published
in the period 2000-2013 (r = 0.111, p <0.001). Finally, Table 6 shows that
political competition has a greater influence on the disclosure of public economic
and financial information when the measure used is the inverse of political
competition index ( r = 0.130, p <0.001), but there is no relationship when the
study uses ratio candidates and dichotomous variable as the measure used.
144

4.3.2 Environmental factors

d)
Size
The highest mean correlation of all the incentives considered was that obtained for
the first environmental factor, that is, the size of the public administration, with a
value of 0.173 and a confidence interval of 0.156,0.190, revealing a positive and
statistically significant relation (z = 8.56; p<0.001) (Table 3). The data obtained
lead us to accept hypothesis H4, although the Q value (440.910; p<0.001) suggests
the existence of other factors that could modulate this association. Table 7
illustrates the moderator variables present. The results confirm that the size of the
local government exerts a statistically significant relationship, except for the nonAnglo-Saxon governments. In addition, the explanatory power of the variance of
the error remains low, and heterogeneity of the results persists in all cases. From
these results, we must reject hypotheses EMb EM2, EM3, and EM4. In this regard,
the association is greater when information is disseminated through the Internet (r
= 0.309, p <0.001), recently published articles (r = 0.215, p <0.001), and the
measure used is the total revenue (r = 0.357, p <0.001).
e)
Income level for the municipality
The income level for the municipality presents a statistically significant, positive
relation (z = 3.58; p<0.001), as shown by its confidence interval (0.046,0.121).
This leads us to accept hypothesis H5 (Table 3). Thus, we conclude that the
economic status of the population has a positive and statistically significant
influence (r = 0.084; p <0.001), moderating the disclosure of economic and
financial information in the public sector, although the Q value (39.387; p<0.05)
suggests the existence of other factors that could influence this association.
Table 8 illustrates the influence of the moderator variables considered in this
empirical research. The explanatory power of the variance of the error has
increased and the variability in results has decreased in all cases, so we accepted
all hypotheses EM|, EM2, EM3, and EM4. Although the administrative culture
and dissemination of information exert a noticeable influence, it must be borne in
mind that the few studies that address this variable, in particular when the
disclosure is made via the Internet by non-Anglo-Saxon local governments. In this
regard, income level for the municipality has increasingly become over time a
determinant of financial disclosure by the local governments (r = 0.148, p <0.001),
and when researchers use the per capita citizens' income as the measure used (r =
0.082, p <0.001).
Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-C.ovf.rnmfnt
145

Discussion and Conclusions
This study investigates the statistical validity of empirical results of prior research
on determinants of financial information transparency in municipal public
administrations as a key aspect for accountability, making use of the meta-analysis
technique. The findings indicate that the characteristics of each research study do
influence the results obtained. The prevailing administrative culture, means of
disclosure adopted, year of publication of research, and measure used all influence
the strength and significance of the statistical relations considered. Our empirical
study shows that the measure used for institutional and environmental variables in
empirical models is one of the moderator variables that exert the greatest influence
on the results of individual studies irrespective of the variable analysed.
Accordingly, it would be interesting to establish a homogeneous definition of the
variables to enable comparisons among studies, and thus facilitate consistency and
achieve models favoring information transparency and compliance by local public
administrations with their duty of accountability.
With respect to financial condition, public managers feel pressured to disclose and
justify their management role by reporting financial information. Moreover, recent
studies have shown that public managers face increasing demands from citizens
for financial information, especially in view of rapid changes taking place in
society and the technological innovations that have led to an abundance of new,
alternative mechanisms of accountability (Schillemans et al., 2013). Perhaps this
increase in demand for public financial information, provided online, is due to the
perceived influence of information disclosure on public debt and the economy,
and its value as a tool for assessing the accountability and effectiveness of public
administration (Carcaba and Garcia, 2010; Yang, 2012). This influence is exerted
more strongly in countries where the administrative culture is of the Anglo-Saxon
type.
The results obtained in our meta-analysis show that the influence of financial
condition is greater within Anglo-Saxon public administrations, and that this
factor motivates public managers to disclose financial information. This
association is modulated by the administrative culture, a finding that is consistent
with previous studies (Pina et al., 2009; 2010; Rodriguez et al., 2006; 2013),
according to which the level of information disclosure by public bodies is higher
where the Anglo-Saxon tradition prevails. This is because in common-law
countries the government relies heavily on markets as sources of capital (La Porte
et al., 2006), and so there is a more highly developed tradition of public financial
accountability and transparency. Therefore, public managers, especially in AngloSaxon countries, should establish financial transparency policies to reduce the
pressure to which they are exposed.
146

In addition, our results indicate that, over time, the governments financial
condition is increasingly pushing local public managers to disclose financial
information in order to defend the policies adopted, and to show that the
governments situation is financially sustainable (Rodriguez et al., 2014). This
result may be a consequence of the economic and financial crisis that has
impacted severely on local governments and society in recent years. Moreover,
social and technological changes have established the publics right to know what
the government is planning, what it hopes to achieve, and what this will mean to
the population, and subsequently, the extent to which goals have been achieved
and how the budget has been distributed (Schillemans et al., 2013). These findings
underline the need to create transparency policies and portals to communicate
financial information effectively.
With respect to inter-governmental transfers, our findings confirm the existence of
a strong positive association with the disclosure of financial information when this
disclosure is made in hardcopy format. In this case, the level of public
administration and the type of administrative culture exert moderating effects on
the data achieved in studies examining information disclosure as hardcopy.
However, when information is made available online, the relation between this
disclosure and the level of inter-governmental transfers, although positive, is not
significant, possibly due to the scant number of studies examining this
relationship; this aspect might limit the validity of our findings in this respect.
These results highlight the importance of disseminating public financial
information by local authorities to account for transfers received from national or
supra-national administrations, usually in hardcopy format. In fact, due to the
financial dependence of local governments, these entities are particularly
motivated to disclose public economic and financial information, and to
demonstrate that the funds received have been used in accordance with the
requirements of the programme for which they were assigned (Copley, 1991;
Ingram and DeJong, 1987). This would have the effect of corroborating the
efficiency of their management and the good use made of these resources
(Robbins and Austin, 1986; Ltider, 1992). In this sense, the fact of being
subsumed today in an economic and financial crisis has increased pressure on
local governments for more transparent financial reporting, as evidenced by the
results of our study in relation to the importance attached to year of publication as
a key element for the association between inter-government transfers and public
financial disclosure.
Moreover, it seems clear that the economic variables, such as financial condition
and inter-governmental grants, have a marked effect on the results obtained by
individual studies. These variables have a traditional legal value of accountability
and are influenced by administrative culture, and different results are explained by
agency theory (Feroz et al., 2007; Zimerman, 1977). Thus, these variables have a
147

greater influence on the disclosure of Anglo-Saxon countries, where government

funding comes from the market, having a tradition of public accountability and
financial transparency more developed than non-Anglo-Saxon countries. The
current economic and financial crisis that is making citizens and other
stakeholders demand more transparent financial reporting to exert a greater control
in the use of financial resources, a pressure that motivate public servants to
innovate and improve transparency.
In addition, political factors spur government agencies to provide more
information (Giroux, 1989; Serrano et al., 2009), although these are subject to
moderating effects. Thus, public sector financial transparency and accountability
are greater when the local government has no absolute majority, and opposition
political parties demand the full disclosure of public financial information in order
to exercise their role of financial control and to present effective opposition. In
addition, highly competitive political environments are conducive to the adoption
of communication strategies via websites and technological reforms, and to the
provision of high levels of information transparency (Tolbert et al., 2008). This
allows for the continuous monitoring of governance, which in turn can benefit
from the use of new technologies, as shown by our findings.
In more recent studies, this influence appears to be even greater. Therefore, it
could be argued that under conditions of greater political competition, local public
managers are forced to disclose information and to be accountable to citizens; the
greater the competition, the greater the cost for politicians if they do not
implement pre-election commitments (Baber and Sen, 1984; Evans and Patton,
1987). The results of this study show that there are indications that the political
factors affecting government agencies oblige local public managers to be more
sensitive to the needs of voters and to provide more information (Giroux, 1989;
Serrano et al., 2009), and it is subject to moderator variables. Regarding the size of
the public administration, the results of our analysis confirm the existence of a
strong positive association between this factor and the disclosure of financial
information. According to agency theory, public managers are pressured by the
population to disclose more information on their performance (Moon and Norris,
2005) and to accept a high level of control (Baber, 1983; Evans and Patton, 1987;
Robbins and Austin, 1986; Serrano et al., 2009; Tennyson and Styles, 2007).
In addition, the preparation and disclosure of financial information is costly for
local governments (Da Silva and Aibar-Guzman, 2010; Herian et al., 2012) and
represents a fixed cost for the organisation. In comparison to small and medium
sized cities, larger ones can afford to invest the financial and technical resources
that are necessary to prepare and disclose financial information and, consequently,
they are more likely to provide such information. Therefore, it is expected that
expenditure by large governments can and should be devoted to adopting the
measures needed for appropriate financial transparency to be provided.
148

and Accountability in Local Governments: A Meta-Analvtic Study
However, this factor is where the highest level of variability was detected, and the
influence of the moderating factors is important, especially regarding the measure
used and means of disclosure chosen to distribute information. The association is
greater when information is disclosed by means of the Internet, because large
cities offer programmes and services to a greater number of residents and consume
a greater quantity of resources (Christiaens, 1999; Copley, 1991; Giroux and
McLelland, 2003; Giroux and Shield, 1993). Thus, their populations are more
likely to demand a greater volume of financial reports and services (Moon and
Norris, 2005). As the previous variable, the application of new technologies offers
better support for economic and financial disclosure by municipal agencies, as the
associations are strongest and statistically positive in most recent studies and when
these studies analysed the dissemination via the Internet.
Finally, the results obtained confirm that municipal wealth is a variable that is
positively associated with the level of disclosure of public information, and so
municipalities with a higher per capita income disclose a greater volume of public
financial information (Giroux and McLelland, 2003; Ingram, 1984). In addition,
previous investigations have shown that it is in wealthier public administrations
where there is greater access to this information, through the implementation of
new technologies. Thus, there is a relation between per capita income and access
to new technologies (Ho, 2002); hence the association found in our meta-analytic
study is stronger with respect to information disclosed online. Therefore, access to
the Internet, and the public financial information disclosed via this medium,
depend to a large extent on municipal wealth and the per capita income of the
population (Serrano et al., 2009; Tennyson and Styles, 2007).
In conclusion, our study empirically shows that most of the hypotheses contained
in the academic literature are confirmed, although the influence of each of the
variables considered is subject to moderator variables, the most significant of
which is the measure used. This may account for much of the inconsistency
present in the results obtained in previous research (Pomeroy and Thornton,
2008). This factor is followed in importance by means of information disclosure
examined and year of publication of research, and in most cases stronger
associations are found when information disclosure via the Internet is analysed
and recent studies.
In this article, we set out to establish a basis for subsequent analysis. Our findings
show that the five variables analysed (financial condition, inter-governmental
grants, political competition, size of government, and income level per capita)
should be considered in future research. In addition, when new variables are found
to meet the requirements for the application of meta-analysis techniques, they
could be included in the analysis, with the aim of designing an econometric model
including all the variables that influence information disclosure. Future research
could usefully identify the main stakeholders influencing information disclosure
149

and make use of surveys to directly examine the need for public sector financial
information. Nevertheless, the present article represents a first step toward
achieving a framework to design the complex econometric model previously
mentioned, and our findings show that the five variables analysed should be
included in any future econometric model in this area.
This study seeks to determine which variables are important in explaining the
models considered in previous research, and how local public managers could take
action to improve financial information disclosure. One strategy that could be used
to promote greater information transparency would be to make greater use of IT to
meet social demands more efficiently and effectively, making management
systems more transparent, democratic, and participatory. In this way, citizens
would be better informed and could play a more active advisory role in public
affairs, and the better governance achieved would contribute to social and
economic development.
All these considerations lead us to inquire whether it is possible to construct a
single model of incentives for the disclosure of public financial information that is
valid for all environments. Future studies should investigate such aspects further,
adding new variables and effects that might modulate the relations we have
examined, and subsequently develop a framework enabling public managers and
citizens to obtain a useful instrument facilitating accountability by public
administrations.
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Appendix
Table 1:
Main characteristics of the studies analysed
AUTHOR /STUDIES
COUNTRY
Evans & Patton (1983)

Robbins & Austin (1986)
Evans & Patton (1987)
Giroux (1989)
Dwyer & Wilson (1989)
Banker et al. (1989)
Copley (1991)
Feroz & Wilson (1992)
Giroux & Deis (1993)
Lim & McKinnon (1993)
Allen & Sander (1994)
Christiaens (1999)
McLelland & Giroux
(2000)
Ryan et al. (2002)
Giroux & McLelland
(2003)
Gore (2004)
Gore et al. (2004)
Smith (2004)
Laswad et al. (2005)
Malone (2006)
Justice et al. (2006)
Tennyson & Styles (2007)
Mills et al. (2007)
Baptista et al. (2007)
Pina et al. (2007)
Steccolini et al. (2008)
Gandia & Archidona
(2008)
Caba et al. (2008)
Carcaba & Garcia (2008)
Pina et al. (2009)
Pina et al. (2010)
Serrano et al. (2009)
Carcaba & Garcia (2010)
Guillamon et al., (2011)
Albalate (2013)
Caamafio-Alegre et al.,
(2013)
INTERGUVERNAMENTAL
GRANTS
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
NLANDS
USA
ONLINE VS.
HARDCOPY
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Online
1032-977-269-839
99
151-145-148-444
97
69-73-47-95
127
129
119
110
50
293
100
92
+;Non-Significant
"
USA
USA
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
36
92
+;Non-Sign./Sign
USA
USA
USA
N.ZELAND
USA
USA
USA
USA
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy
Hardcopy/Online
Hardcopy
Online
Online
Hardcopy
+;Significant
+;Non-Sign./Sign.
Mixed results
+;Non-Significant
+;Significant
PORTUGAL
EU
ITALY
SPAIN
Hardcopy
Online
Hardcopy
Online
87-175
66-48
107
60
57
104
162
6573-6848-7197-74108169
175
76
287
130
SPAIN
SPAIN
EU
EU
SPAIN
SPAIN
SPAIN
SPAIN
SPAIN
Online
Online
Online
Online
Online
Online
Online
Online
Online
65
334
75
57
92
334
100
103
33
+;Non-Significant
Mixed Results
POLITICAL COMPETITION
SAMPLE SIZE
SIZE
FINANCIAL
CONDITION
Mixed results
+;Significant
+;Significant
-;Non-Sign./Sing.
+;Significant
+;Significant
-
Mixed results
-
+;Significant
Mixed results
-
+;Non-Significant
Mixed Results
+; Non-Significant
+;Non-Significant
+;Non-Significant
MUNICIPAL WEALTH
157

-;Non-significant
Mixed results
-;Non-significant
+;NonSign./Sign.
+;Significant
Mixed results
-;Non-Significant
Mixed results
+;Non-significant
+;Non-significant
^Significant
Mixed results
+;Significant
+;NonSignificant
-;Non-Sign./Sign.
+;Significant
Mixed results
Mixed results
-;Non-Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;NonSignificant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;NonSign./Sign.
Mixed results
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;NonSignificant
+;NonSignificant
+;Significant
+; Significant
+;Significant
+;Non-Significant
+;Non-Significant
Mixed results
+;Non-Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
Mixed results
+;Significant
+;NonSignificant
+;Non-Significant
+;NonSignificant
-;Non-Significant
+;Non-Significant
Mixed results
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+;Significant
+; Significant
+; Significant
Mix Results
+:Significant
+;Significant
+;NonSignificant
NOTE: The studies contribute more than one observation to the sample because they include different
estimations with different data sets, different explanatory variables or different models
158

Table 2:
Incentives for the disclosure of public financial information and

moderator variables of empirical investigations
M oderator Variables
C ulture
Administrative EM.
Means employed
for the disclosure of
public financial
information (online vs.
hardcopy EMZ
Y ear of publication
EM3
M easurement of
variables EM 4
Table 3:
Independent Variable
TH EO RETICAL HIPOTHESIS IN PREVIOUS RESEARCH

INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
Financial
Hp There is a positive relation between financial condition
Condition (+) o f local governments and the disclosure o f public financial
information
H2: There is a positive relation between transfers and funds
Inter
governmental received from other public organizations and the disclosure o f
public financial information
transfers (+)
H}: There is a positive relation between political competition
Political
and the disclosure o f public financial information
Competition
j ) ___________
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
H4: There is a positive relation between the size o f local
Size (+)
public administration and the disclosure o f public financial
information
H5: There is a positive relation between municipal wealth
Municipa
1Wealth (+)
and the disclosure ofpublic financial information
\
/
Meta-analytic data on the relations between the variables considered and the
disclosure of public financial-economic information
K
Mean
Correlation
% Se2/ S r2
(r)
Financial Condition
80
0.098+
Inter-governmental
34
0.117+
Grants
Political Competition
36
0.026
79
Size
0.173+
Municipal Wealth
25
0.084+
*p <0.1 * * p < 0 .0 5 * * * p < 0 .0 1 + p < 0.001
Table 4:
47.27
30.10
68.26
17.92
63.47
Confidence Interval
(95%)
Min.
Max.
0.081
0.115
0.107
0.127
0.000
0.156
0.046
0.052
0.190
0.121
xVi
169.240+
112.953+
52.743**
440.910+
39.387**
Meta-analytic data on the relations between institutional financial condition

and the disclosure of public financial-economic information
K
FINANCIAL
CONDITION
Administrative Culture
64
Anglo-Saxon
Non Anglo-Saxon
16
Dissemination of Information
Paper
65
Digital
16
Year of Publication
1980-1999
39
41
2000-2013
Mean
Correlation
% Se2/ S r2
(r)
Confidence Interval
(95%)
Min.
Max.
x2k_,
0.099+
0.094*
55.97
28.36
0.080
0.054
0.118
0.135
114.354+
56.425+
0.096+
0.112**
51.85
33.18
0.077
0.065
0.114
0.159
125.363+
45.214+
0.079+
0.134+
57.54
42.99
0.101
0.163
67.781***
95.381+
0.058
0.105

Measurement of variables
Financial viability
11
0.068**
Ratio total debt
48
0.115+
Leverage
8
0.048
*p<0.1 **p < 0.05 *** p < 0.01 + p < 0 .0 0 1
Table 5:
49.14
78.76
72.61
0.124
0.135
0.105
22.383**
78.761**
11.018
Meta-analytic data on the relations between inter-governmental funds

received and the disclosure of public financial-economic information
K
Mean
% Se2/ Sr2
INTERCorrelation
GOVERNMENTAL
(r)
GRANTS
Anglo-Saxon
27
0.118+
25.49
Non Anglo-Saxon
7
0.071***
100
Paper
30
0.118+
28.44
Digital
7
0.071**
100
Year of Publication
1980-1999
17
0.002
29.00
2000-2013
16
0.125+
95.33
Current and capital
transfers
12
0.126+
89.15
Ratio inter
22
0.010
36.89
governmental receipts
*p < 0.1 **p < 0.05 ***p < 0.01 + p < 0.001
Table 6:
0.011
0.094
-0.009
159
xY,
Confidence Interval
(95%)
Min.
Max.
0.108
0.008
0.128
0.134
105.94+
4.840
0.108
0.008
0.128
0.134
105.490
4.803
-0.038
0.115
0.042
0.135
58.618+
16.783
0.116
0.136
-0.027
0.046
13.461
59.639+
Meta-analytic data on the relations between political competition within

local public administrations and the disclosure of public financial-economic
information
K
POLITICAL
COMPETITION
Anglo-Saxon
27
Non Anglo-Saxon
9
Paper
23
Digital
13
Year of Publication
1980-1999
19
2000-2013
17
Ratio
candidates
/
available position
9
Mean
Correlation
% Se2/
sr2
(r)
Confidence Interval
(95%)
Min.
Max.
xY,
-0.013
0.153+
100
100
-0.043
0.102
0.016
0.205
19.135
4.297
-0.009
0.118+
100
80.43
-0.153
0.092
0.135
0.166
17.666
16.164
-0.020
0.111 +
100
93.33
-0.052
0.069
0.012
0.155
11.363
18.214
0.054
87.30
0.006
0.143
10.309
160

Dichotomous variable
21
0.003
78.82
-0.028
Inverse of index____________ 3______ 0.130+________ [00_______ 0.069
*p< 0.1 **p <0.05 ***p <0.01 + p < 0.001
Table 7:
Meta-analytic data on the relations between the size of the local public
administration and the disclosure of public financial-economic information
Independent
K
Mean
% Se2/ S r2
Variable
Correlati
SIZE
on (r)
Anglo-Saxon
57
0.170+
25.63
14
Non Anglo-Saxon
18.34
0.027
Paper
58
0.133+
18.93
Digital
21
0.309+
33.09
Year of Publication
1980-1999
32
0.142+
18.15
2000-2013
47
0.215+
18.62
M easurem ent of variables
Registered
17
0.268+
28.22
inhabitants
Population logarithm
51
0.129+
18.41
Total revenue
8
0.357+
48.46
*p<0.1 **p < 0.05 ***p<0.01 + p < 0 .0 0 1
Table 8:
0.033
26.641
0.191______0.646
^
V 2
A k-1
Confidence
Interval (95%)
Min.
Max.
0.150
-0.019
0.189
0.052
222.370+
76.335+
0.114
0.275
0.153
0.342
306.389+
63.458**
0.119
0.189
0.164
0.229
176.275+
252.436+
0.234
0.302
60.239+
0.109
0.272
0.150
0.443
276.98+
16.507**
Meta-analytic data on the relations between municipal wealth and the

disclosure of public financial-economic information
K
Mean
MUNICIPAL
Correlation
WEALTH
(r)
Anglo-Saxon
23
0.081 +
Non Anglo-Saxon
4
0.086
Paper
19
0.052**
Digital
6
0.157+
Year of Publication
1980-1999
12
0.014
2000-2013
13
0.148+
M easurement of variables
Per
capita
citizens
22
0.082+
income
Own revenue per capita
6
0.011
*p <0.1 **p < 0.05 ***p < 0.01 + p < 0.001
% Se2/ S r2
Confidence Interval
(95%)
Min.
Max.
XV,
74.57
43.78
0.041
-0.013
0.120
0.185
30.842
9.137**
81.30
60.53
0.007
0.090
0.098
0.224
23.371
9.912*
84.54
97.50
-0.040
0.096
0.069
0.199
14.194
13.333
60.69
0.061
0.121
36.249**
100
-0.072
0.095
5.599
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Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-G overnment

Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 129 - 160, April 2015

Determining Factors of Transparency and

A bstract The im portance granted to inform ation transparency in

Keywords: accountability financial transparency

Correspondence Address: Laura Alcaide Munoz, Ph. D.. Assistant Professor,

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

intensity of relations between levels of disclosure of financial reports and the

Incentives to disclose public financial information: Determining

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

disclosure (Ingram and DeJong, 1987). Accordingly, the following hypothesis is

Of the environmental factors analysed, one featuring in most empirical studies is

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Previous research and moderators variables in Public Financial

Although prior research has analysed determinant factors for public

The implementation of New Public Management (NPM) models conforms to

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self -G overnment

Means employed for the disclosure of public financial information

The present research study addresses two different, heterogeneous scenarios, in

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Date of publication of research

Lex localis - J ournal of Local Self-G overnment

Impact of the unit of measure on determinant factors

Sample selection and literature search

Lex localis - J ournal of Local Self-Government

Lex localis - J ournal of Local Self-Government

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

Meta-analysis is a statistical technique to integrate the findings of previous studies

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Diverse reviews have attempted to reconcile the conflicting findings of previous

Lex localis - J ournal of Local Self -G overnment

Municipal financial condition as an incentive to information disclosure has been

Lex localis - J ournal of Local Self -G overnment

is a high degree of variability (heterogeneity), which in turn suggests the existence

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determ ining Factors o f Transparency

Political competition is another of the institutional incentives examined in the

Lex localis - J ournal of Local Self -G overnment

4.3.2 Environmental factors

Income level for the municipality

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-C.ovf.rnmfnt

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodrigue: Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

Discussion and Conclusions

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self -G overnment

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

greater influence on the disclosure of Anglo-Saxon countries, where government

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self -G overnment

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Lex localis - J ournal of Local Self -G overnment

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-Government

Heeks, R. (2005) E-Government as a Carrier of Context. Journal o f Public Policy, 25 (1),

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self-G overnment

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self -G overnment

L. Alcaide Munoz & M. P. Rodriguez Bolivar: Determining Factors o f Transparency

Lex localis - Journal of Local Self -G overnment