A Disclosure Approach to Government Transparency: Implications for Accountability and Standard-Setting

Abstract

This paper argues that disclosure theory can provide novel and counterintuitive insights to scholarly debates on the relation between transparency, accountability, and accounting standard-setting. Through a brief summary of the main tenets of the theory, it will be recalled that whenever information systems are costly or unable to provide precise signals to governments, a lack of transparency is likely to ensue that is not attributable to public officials’ opportunistic motives. As a result, in these circumstances accountability is best served by transparency on the motives that prevent full disclosure. The arguments are illustrated through the example of the rules underlying the reporting of income tax revenues.