Analysis of the implementation of information disclosure ordinances in Japan: the effect on the income of mayors and chief executives in local governments

Eiji Yamamura () and Ryo Ishida

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper attempts to investigate how information transparency affects human behavior. Thus, we empirically examine the influence of information disclosure ordinances on the income of mayors and chief executives in local governments in Japan. For the estimation, we use panel data of local governments covering 1999–2010, during which time many local governments implemented such ordinances. The key finding is that the income of mayors and chief executives in local governments decreased after the implementation of the ordinances. Furthermore, as the years passed, the income declined further. Hence, information disclosure regarding local government reduces the income of top officials and its influence becomes greater over time. Although the income of mayors and chiefs executives is open information without the need for an ordinance, it provided transparency regarding their work performance. Furthermore, the effect of the ordinance did not depend on the mayors or chief executives’ income level in 1999. Therefore, the reduction of income is mainly due to the government’s accountability rather than citizens’ inequality aversion.

Keywords: Information disclosure ordinance; Japan; Local governments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 H79 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-12-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/83337/1/MPRA_paper_83337.pdf original version (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:83337

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany Ludwigstraße 33, D-80539 Munich, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joachim Winter ().