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Transparency Gloves for Grabbing Hands? Politics and (Mis)Governance

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  • Gradstein, Mark
  • Blumkin, Tomer

Abstract

Employing the canonical political agency model, this Paper studies the incentives of the government to provide high-quality services by reducing corruption. Acting as a principal in a moral hazard framework, the public disciplines the incumbent by replacing him if the generated output is unsatisfactorily low. The implications of the model indicate the importance of transparency, of the media, and of political contestability for taming corruption. The existing empirical evidence is shown to broadly support these conclusions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gradstein, Mark & Blumkin, Tomer, 2002. "Transparency Gloves for Grabbing Hands? Politics and (Mis)Governance," CEPR Discussion Papers 3668, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3668
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Emma Galli & Ilde Rizzo & Carla Scaglioni, 2018. "Transparency and Performance in the Italian Large Municipalities," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2-3), pages 5-25.
    2. Kaufmann, Daniel & Bellver, Ana, 2005. "Transparenting Transparency: Intial Empirics and Policy Applications," MPRA Paper 8188, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. 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.
    4. Aleksandr Grigoryan & Knar Khachatryan, 2018. "Remittances and Emigration Intentions: Evidence from Armenia," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp626, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    5. Daniel Albalate del Sol, 2013. "The institutional, economic and social determinants of local government transparency," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 90-107, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political corruption; transparency; Democracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation

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