IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceps/v89y2023ics0038012123001908.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A new index of transparency: Evidence for the Italian municipalities

Author

Listed:
  • Alaimo, Leonardo Salvatore
  • Galli, Emma
  • Rizzo, Ilde
  • Scaglioni, Carla

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on transparency measurement defining and constructing a new synthetic indicator (Italian Transparency Index - ITI) through the adoption of a methodology suitable for the treatment of system of ordinal indicators, the partially ordered set (poset). With respect to the existing measures of transparency proposed in the literature, the ITI has the advantage to identify precisely all the different and specific transparency profiles. This methodology is applied to the fulfillment of the Italian regulation on transparency by the Municipalities focusing on two dimensions of the public action, i.e. integrity and efficiency and adopts a two steps procedure. Firstly, we construct a synthetic index for each of the two above-mentioned transparency dimensions. Secondly, we define a synthetic measure of transparency starting from the two previous indicators. Thus, we focus on the synthesis of basic indicators, in order to aggregate their values for each statistical units of a sample of Italian Municipalities. The ITI can be a useful tool for policymakers to monitor the state of transparency within and across the administrative units and to design more informed and targeted policies with likely positive implications in terms of effectiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Alaimo, Leonardo Salvatore & Galli, Emma & Rizzo, Ilde & Scaglioni, Carla, 2023. "A new index of transparency: Evidence for the Italian municipalities," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:89:y:2023:i:c:s0038012123001908
    DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2023.101678
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012123001908
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.seps.2023.101678?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Emma Galli & Ilde Rizzo & Carla Scaglioni, 2020. "Is transparency spatially determined? An empirical test for Italian municipalities," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(58), pages 6372-6385, December.
    2. Andrew Williams, 2014. "A Global Index of Information and Political Transparency," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 14-07, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    3. Luís Aguiar‐Conraria & Pedro C. Magalhães & Francisco J. Veiga, 2019. "Transparency, Policy Outcomes, and Incumbent Support," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 357-380, August.
    4. Stefania M. L. Rimoldi & Alberto Arcagni & Marco Fattore & Laura Terzera, 2022. "Social and Material Vulnerability of the Italian Municipalities: Comparing Alternative Approaches," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 523-540, June.
    5. Annamaria Nifo & Gaetano Vecchione, 2014. "Do Institutions Play a Role in Skilled Migration? The Case of Italy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(10), pages 1628-1649, October.
    6. Nuno Ferreira da Cruz & António F. Tavares & Rui Cunha Marques & Susana Jorge & Luís de Sousa, 2016. "Measuring Local Government Transparency," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 866-893, July.
    7. Daniel Albalate, 2012. "“The Institutional, Economic and Social Determinants of Local Government Transparency”," IREA Working Papers 201210, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised May 2012.
    8. Enrico Casadio Tarabusi & Giulio Guarini, 2013. "An Unbalance Adjustment Method for Development Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(1), pages 19-45, May.
    9. Maria Cucciniello & Greta Nasi, 2014. "Transparency for Trust in Government: How Effective is Formal Transparency?," International Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(13), pages 911-921, November.
    10. James E. Alt & David Dreyer Lassen & Shanna Rose, 2006. "The Causes of Fiscal Transparency: Evidence from the American States," EPRU Working Paper Series 06-02, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    11. Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Alberto Arcagni & Marco Fattore & Filomena Maggino, 2021. "Synthesis of Multi-indicator System Over Time: A Poset-based Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 77-99, August.
    12. Kenneth Bollen, 1984. "Multiple indicators: Internal consistency or no necessary relationship?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 377-385, August.
    13. Emma Galli & Ilde Rizzo & Carla Scaglioni, 2017. "Transparency, quality of institutions and performance in the Italian Municipalities," Working Papers Department of Economics 2017/11, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    14. Filomena Maggino & Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo, 2022. "Measuring Complex Socio-economic Phenomena. Conceptual and Methodological Issues," Natural Resource Management and Policy, in: Sara Valaguzza & Mark Alan Hughes (ed.), Interdisciplinary Approaches to Climate Change for Sustainable Growth, chapter 0, pages 43-59, Springer.
    15. António Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2005. "Public sector efficiency: An international comparison," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 321-347, June.
    16. Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Andrea Ciacci & Enrico Ivaldi, 2021. "Measuring Sustainable Development by Non-aggregative Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 101-122, August.
    17. Marco Fattore, 2016. "Partially Ordered Sets and the Measurement of Multidimensional Ordinal Deprivation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 835-858, September.
    18. Rachel Glennerster & Yongseok Shin, 2008. "Does Transparency Pay?," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 55(1), pages 183-209, April.
    19. James E. Alt & David Dreyer Lassen & Shanna Rose, 2006. "The Causes of Fiscal Transparency: Evidence from the U.S. States," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 53(si), pages 1-2.
    20. Filomena Maggino & Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo, 2021. "Complexity and wellbeing: measurement and analysis," Chapters, in: Luigino Bruni & Alessandra Smerilli & Dalila De Rosa (ed.), A Modern Guide to the Economics of Happiness, chapter 7, pages 113-128, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Alberto Arcagni & Marco Fattore & Filomena Maggino & Valeria Quondamstefano, 2022. "Measuring Equitable and Sustainable Well-Being in Italian Regions: The Non-aggregative Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 711-733, June.
    22. Leonardo S. Alaimo & Filomena Maggino, 2020. "Sustainable Development Goals Indicators at Territorial Level: Conceptual and Methodological Issues—The Italian Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 383-419, January.
    23. Fattore, Marco & Alaimo, Leonardo Salvatore, 2023. "A partial order toolbox for building synthetic indicators of sustainability with ordinal data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    24. Roumeen Islam, 2006. "Does More Transparency Go Along With Better Governance?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 121-167, July.
    25. Flavio Comim, 2021. "A Poset-Generalizability Method for Human Development Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 1179-1198, December.
    26. Kaufmann, Daniel & Bellver, Ana, 2005. "Transparenting Transparency: Intial Empirics and Policy Applications," MPRA Paper 8188, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    27. Antonio Afonso & Carla Scaglioni, 2006. "An Assessment of Telecommunications Regulation Performance in the European Union," Working Papers Department of Economics 2006/07, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, Universidade de Lisboa.
    28. Oates, Wallace E., 2008. "On the Evolution of Fiscal Federalism: Theory and Institutions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 61(2), pages 313-334, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lu, Hao & Fan, Yiwei & Jiao, Liudan & Wu, Ya, 2024. "Assessment and spatial effect of urban agglomeration business environments: A case study of two urban agglomerations in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fattore, Marco & Alaimo, Leonardo Salvatore, 2023. "A partial order toolbox for building synthetic indicators of sustainability with ordinal data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Ilyes Boumahdi & Nouzha Zaoujal, 2023. "Regional Well-Being Disparities in Morocco and its OECD Partners," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 183-211, June.
    3. Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Francesco Amato & Filomena Maggino & Alfonso Piscitelli & Emiliano Seri, 2023. "A Comparison of Migrant Integration Policies via Mixture of Matrix-Normals," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 473-494, January.
    4. Montes, Gabriel Caldas & Bastos, Júlio Cesar Albuquerque & de Oliveira, Ana Jordânia, 2019. "Fiscal transparency, government effectiveness and government spending efficiency: Some international evidence based on panel data approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 211-225.
    5. Cantone, Giulio Giacomo & Tomaselli, Venera, 2024. "On the Coherence of Composite Indexes: Multiversal Model and Specification Analysis for an Index of Well-Being," MetaArXiv d5y26, Center for Open Science.
    6. David Bartram & Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Eileen Avery & Anthony Bardo & Enrico Di Bella & Martin Binder & Ferdi Botha & Sandra Fachelli & Andrea Gatto & Jintao Lu & Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn & Angeles S, 2024. "Towards the Next Fifty Years of Social Indicators Research: Some Guidance for Authors," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 1-17, August.
    7. Laurence Van Lent, 2012. "Discussion of The Influence of Elections on the Accounting Choices of Governmental Entities," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 477-494, May.
    8. Sumanjeet, 2015. "Institutions, Transparency, and Economic Growth," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 188-210, November.
    9. Wehner, Joachim & de Renzio, Paolo, 2013. "Citizens, Legislators, and Executive Disclosure: The Political Determinants of Fiscal Transparency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 96-108.
    10. Giuseppe Albanese & Emma Galli & Ilde Rizzo & Carla Scaglioni, 2021. "Transparency, civic capital and political accountability: A virtuous relation?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 155-169, May.
    11. Williams, Andrew, 2015. "A global index of information transparency and accountability," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 804-824.
    12. Alfonso Piscitelli & Angela Maria D’Uggento, 2022. "Do young people really engage in sustainable behaviors in their lifestyles?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1467-1485, October.
    13. Alaimo, Leonardo Salvatore & Fiore, Mariantonietta & Galati, Antonino, 2022. "Measuring consumers’ level of satisfaction for online food shopping during COVID-19 in Italy using POSETs," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    14. Cruz Romero, Roberto, 2024. "Public Participation and Transparency: Does Open Governance Promote Inclusion and Accountability?," OSF Preprints rtmbf, Center for Open Science.
    15. Giuseppe Albanese & Emma Galli & Ilde Rizzo & Carla Scaglioni, 2019. "Building the Glass House: Transparency and Civic Capital across Italian municipalities," Working papers 84, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    16. Paulo Reis Mourao & Mihaela Bronić & Branko Stanić, 2020. "Discussing the determinants of online budget transparency based on a spatial regression analysis of Croatian cities and municipalities: Do good neighbours make you better?," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 268-287, September.
    17. Alt, James & Lassen, David Dreyer & Wehner, Joachim, 2014. "It isn't just about Greece: domestic politics, transparency and fiscal gimmickry in Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57639, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Alex Hathaway & Carolyn Bourdeaux & Emily Franklin, 2019. "Fiscal Transparency and Accountability," Center for State and Local Finance Working Paper Series cslf1912, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    19. Lekniūtė, Zina & Beetsma, Roel & Ponds, Eduard, 2019. "U.S. municipal yields and unfunded state pension liabilities," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 15-32.
    20. Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Alberto Arcagni & Marco Fattore & Filomena Maggino, 2021. "Synthesis of Multi-indicator System Over Time: A Poset-based Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 77-99, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceps:v:89:y:2023:i:c:s0038012123001908. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/seps .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.