DOES TRANSPARENCY LEAD TO COPRODUCTION?

Gregory A. Porumbescu, Nicola Belle, Maria Cucciniello and Greta Nasi

No 6, TAD 14 The disciplines and the study of Public Administration: Transatlantic perspectives in the margin of the 14th Administration and Public Management International Conference, Bucharest, June 6-18 2018 from Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract: Theory linking transparency to good governance predicts that greater disclosure will render public organizations more responsive by encouraging citizens to engage in processes that govern the delivery of public services. Yet, increasingly, empirical research indicates our theoretical understanding of this relationship is limited. We reason this is because extant theory overlooks mechanisms responsible for link transparency to citizen engagement. Accordingly, we predict that effects of transparency on citizen engagement depend on whether content is presented in ways that are conducive to citizen understanding. Specifically, we hypothesize that negatively framed information resonates more with citizens, thus contributing to greater understanding and, subsequently, engagement. We estimate the indirect effect of transparency on citizen engagement using a parallel encouragement experimental design and representative sample of US citizens (n=836). Counter to predictions, participants understood positively framed information better than negatively framed information. Further, understanding has a strong effect on engagement. Finally, we identify an indirect effect (via understanding) and no direct effects of transparency, ruling out alternative causal mechanisms.

Keywords: Transparency; Citizen engagement in coproduction; Good governance; Public services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2019-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
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