Factors Influential on the Levels of Brazilian Municipal Transparency

Many companies are seeking to balance between the use of information transparency to attract new customers by presenting themselves as open companies and the associated risk of losing customers, as disclosing certain information could trigger negative sentiments. Being transparent with certain information can make the potential buying process seem more incomprehensible to the customer. Most studies focus on different aspects of information disclosure in the case of product or price transparency. The impact of information transparency on data use and handling as well as the relevance of customers’ privacy concerns have often been disregarded. This study addresses the research questions of (1) how customers respond to a higher level of information transparency in the context of a service provider’s data use and handling in terms of purchase intention and willingness to pay and (2) the extent to which customer trust in a service provider has a significant mediating influence, and the associated privacy concerns a moderating influence, on the relationship between the level of information transparency of data use and handling and the customers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay. We base our study on the information processing model and privacy calculus theory and manipulate service providers’ communication on information transparency regarding data use and handling in online product presentations. In an online experiment (N = 142), it was found that an increase in information transparency triggers a decrease in the customers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay. Moreover, customers with high levels of privacy concerns seem to evaluate their purchase intention more critically when there was a low level of transparency, whereas, with a high level of transparency, customers with high and low privacy concerns hardly showed any difference. The results suggest that companies should communicate less about data use- and handling-related information when presenting products online.

Anecdotal and empirical evidence points to a decline of citizen trust in government in the U.S. Distrust of government related to fiscal matters often occurs because information about accountability is not communicated. This study examines factors that may influence citizen perceptions of their local government's fiscal accountability. We focus specifically on seven local governments in the Hampton Roads, Virginia region of the U.S. We measure citizens’ perception of local government finances using survey responses to five questions related to responsible spending, financial reporting, and educating and informing citizens of government finances. Our study examines the relationship of levels of transparency, information accessibility, and participation opportunities to citizens’ perceptions of government's fiscal accountability. We expect that residents in cities with high levels of transparency and information accessibility and participatory processes will perceive their local government's fiscal accountability more positively. However, our results do not support these expectations since the level of perceived fiscal accountability is non-variant across the cities irrespective of the varying levels of transparency, information accessibility, and participation opportunities. These findings suggest there may be different values associated with a range of administrative activities thought to be critical antecedents for informing and engaging citizens to enhance perceptions of accountability.

We performed a human-in-the-loop study to explore the role of transparency in engendering trust and reliance within highly automated systems. Specifically, we examined how transparency impacts trust in and reliance upon the Autonomous Constrained Flight Planner (ACFP), a critical automated system being developed as part of NASA's Reduced Crew Operations (RCO) Concept. The ACFP is designed to provide an enhanced ground operator, termed a super dispatcher, with recommended diversions for aircraft when their primary destinations are unavailable. In the current study, 12 commercial transport rated pilots who played the role of super dispatchers were given six time-pressured “all land” scenarios where they needed to use the ACFP to determine diversions for multiple aircraft. Two factors were manipulated. The primary factor was level of transparency. In low transparency scenarios the pilots were given a recommended airport and runway, plus basic information about the weather conditions, the aircraft types, and the airport and runway characteristics at that and other airports. In moderate transparency scenarios the pilots were also given a risk evaluation for the recommended airport, and for the other airports if they requested it. In the high transparency scenario additional information including the reasoning for the risk evaluations was made available to the pilots. The secondary factor was level of risk, either high or low. For high-risk aircraft, all potential diversions were rated as highly risky, with the ACFP giving the best option for a bad situation. For low-risk aircraft the ACFP found only low-risk options for the pilot. Both subjective and objective measures were collected, including rated trust, whether the pilots checked the validity of the automation recommendation, and whether the pilots eventually flew to the recommended diversion airport. Key results show that: 1) Pilots' trust increased with higher levels of transparency, 2) Pilots were more likely to verify ACFP's recommendations with low levels of transparency and when risk was high, 3) Pilots were more likely to explore other options from the ACFP in low transparency conditions and when risk was high, and 4) Pilots' decision to accept or reject ACFP's recommendations increased as a function of the transparency in the explanation. The finding that higher levels of transparency was coupled with higher levels of trust, a lower need to verify other options, and higher levels of agreement with ACFP recommendations, confirms the importance of transparency in aiding reliance on automated recommendations. Additional analyses of qualitative data gathered from subjects through surveys and during debriefing interviews also provided the basis for new design recommendations for the ACFP.

Context. The problem of a neural network model synthesis for industrial processes with the definition of an optimal topology characterized by a high level of logical transparency and acceptable accuracy is considered. The object of research is the process of neural network modeling of industrial processes using an indicator system to simplify and select the topology of neuromodels..
 Objective of the work is consists in synthesis a neural network model of industrial processes with a high level of logical transparency and acceptable accuracy based on the use of the system.
 Method. A method is proposed to use artificial neural networks of feedforward propagation for modeling industrial processes. After evaluating the overall level of complexity of the modeling problem based on the indicator system, it was decided to build a neuromodel based on historical data. Using the characteristics of the input data of the problem, the most optimal structure of the neural network was calculated for further modeling of the system. A high level of logical transparency of neuromodels significantly expands their practical use and reduces the resource intensity of industrial processes.
 Results. Neuromodels of industrial processes are obtained based on historical data. The use of an indicator system made it possible to significantly increase the level of logical transparency of models, while maintaining a high level of accuracy. Constructed neuromodels reduce the resource intensity of industrial processes by increasing the level of preliminary modeling.
 Conclusions. The conducted experiments confirmed the operability of the proposed mathematical software and allow us to recommend it for use in practice in modeling industrial processes. Prospects for further research may lie in the neuroevolutionary synthesis of more complex topologies of artificial neural networks for performing multi-criteria optimization.

Context. The problem of synthesis a neural network model of operational processes with the determination of the optimal topology, which is characterized by a high level of logical transparency and acceptable accuracy, is considered. The object of the study is the process of neural network modeling of operational processes using an indicator system to simplify the selection of the topology of neuromodels. 
 Objective of the work is to synthesis a neural network model of operational processes with a high level of logical transparency and acceptable accuracy based on the use of an indicator system. 
 Method. It is proposed to use a system of indicators to determine the topological features of ANN, which is the basis for modeling operational processes. The assessment of the level of complexity of the task obtained on the basis of information about the input data and the values of the criteria for assessing the specificity of the task allows to categorize the task to one of the types of complexity in order to determine the approach to the synthesis of a neuromodel. Complexity category OS allows, based on analytical data about the selection of input data, to obtain the exact number of neurons in the hidden layer for the synthesis of a neuromodel with a high level of logical transparency, which significantly expands their practical use and reduces the cost of subsequent operational processes. 
 Results. The obtained neuromodels of operational processes based on historical data. The use of the indicator system made it possible to significantly increase the level of logical transparency of the models, while maintaining high accuracy. Synthesized neuromodels reduce the resource intensity of operational processes by increasing the level of previous modeling. 
 Conclusions. The conducted experiments confirmed the operability of the proposed mathematical software and allow to recommend it for use in practice when modeling operational processes. The prospects for further research may consist in the use of more complex methods of feature selection to fix the group relationships of information features for the construction of more complex models

BackgroundTransparency is increasingly called for in health care, especially, when it comes to patients’ access to their electronic health records. In Sweden, the e-service Journalen is a national patient accessible electronic health record (PAEHR), accessible online via the national patient portal. User characteristics and perceived benefits of using a PAEHR influence behavioral intention for use and adoption, but poor usability that increases the effort expectancy can have a negative impact. It is, therefore, of interest to explore how users of the PAEHR Journalen perceive its usability and usefulness.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore how the users of the Swedish PAEHR experience the usability of the system and to identify differences in these experiences based on the level of transparency of the region.MethodsA survey study was conducted to elicit opinions and experiences of patients using Journalen. The data were collected from June to October 2016. The questionnaire included questions regarding the usability of the system from the System Usability Scale (SUS). The SUS analysis was the focus of this paper. Analysis was performed on different levels: nationally looking at the whole data set and breaking it down by focusing on 2 different regions to explore differences in experienced usability based on the level of transparency.ResultsDuring the survey period, 423,141 users logged into Journalen, of which 2587 unique users completed the survey (response rate 0.61%). The total mean score for all respondents to the SUS items was 79.81 (SD 14.25), which corresponds to a system with good usability. To further explore whether the level of transparency in a region would affect the user’s experience of the usability of the system, we analyzed the 2 regions with the most respondents: Region Uppsala (the first to launch, with a high level of transparency), and Region Skåne (an early implementer, with a low level of transparency at the time of the survey). Of the participants who responded to at least 1 SUS statement, 520 stated that they had received care in Region Skåne, whereas 331 participants had received care in Region Uppsala. Uppsala’s mean SUS score was 80.71 (SD 13.41), compared with Skåne’s mean of 79.37 (SD 13.78).ConclusionsThe Swedish national PAEHR Journalen has a reasonably good usability (mean SUS score 79.81, SD 14.25); however, further research into more specific usability areas are needed to ensure usefulness and ease of use in the future. A somewhat higher SUS score for the region with high transparency compared with the region with low transparency could indicate a relationship between the perceived usability of a PAEHR and the level of transparency offered, but further research on the relationship between transparency and usability is required.

The research aims to demonstrate the impact of applying this measurement in improving the transparency of financial reporting and its application in Iraqi companies. A high level of transparency in the financial statements has been shown. It has been concluded that the level of transparency of the financial statements when choosing the fair value measurement is higher than the level of transparency when choosing the historical cost measurement, which helps in comparing the financial statements of the different economic units, and that the basis of comparison between it and the measurement based on Historical cost is to achieve the required amount of appropriateness characteristic and honest representation.

Regarding Norway’s whaling, it was discovered that the Government has achieved quite a high level of transparency. However, in some areas, for instance training of whalers, there is still need for a higher level of transparency. Moreover, a higher overall level of transparency would be reached if all the information available in Norwegian, were also available in English.

Transparency in public finances is one of the main features of a mature democratic society, as well as one of the main tools for reducing corruption in the country. The level of transparency in the formation and use of budget funds at the state and local levels affects the effectiveness of financial policy in the country. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to determine the current state of transparency in the formation of the state budget of Ukraine. The article conducted a comprehensive study of the level of transparency of public finances at the macro level. The dynamics of changes in the qualitative level of transparency of legislative and executive bodies during the period of Ukraine's participation in the international organization of monitoring the publicity of the government before the public is analyzed. In particular, the authors analyzed the dynamics of the budget openness index in comparison with other countries and the integrated assessment of budget transparency for the period from 2008 to 2019. In addition, the level of public participation in budget formation at different stages of the budget process was studied. There is a positive trend of improving the level of openness of public authorities in Ukraine in the formation and use of public finances. This, in turn, is part of a global trend. The article presents a description of the main documents that serve as indicators of informing the public about the state of the budget, the level of its implementation, the formation of the budget for future periods and the budget process in general. It is determined that the system of transparent and accessible public accountability for the formation and use of public finances has not been formed yet. The results of the study can be the basis for developing measures to increase the level of transparency of public authorities in Ukraine. According to the study, a high level of transparency becomes the basis for public support for the government, provided that the government does not abuse its powers, or conversely becomes an incentive for active public participation in political and economic life to improve or change government. According to the results of the research, a system of measures of priority importance is proposed.

A Transparent game is a game-theoretic setting that takes action visibility into account. In each round, depending on the relative timing of their actions, players have a certain probability to see their partner’s choice before making their own decision. This probability is determined by the level of transparency. At the two extremes, a game with zero transparency is equivalent to the classical simultaneous game, and a game with maximal transparency corresponds to a sequential game. Despite the prevalence of intermediate transparency in many everyday interactions such scenarios have not been sufficiently studied. Here we consider a transparent iterated Prisoner’s dilemma (iPD) and use evolutionary simulations to investigate how and why the success of various strategies changes with the level of transparency. We demonstrate that non-zero transparency greatly reduces the set of successful memory-one strategies compared to the simultaneous iPD. For low and moderate transparency the classical “Win - Stay, Lose - Shift” (WSLS) strategy is the only evolutionary successful strategy. For high transparency all strategies are evolutionary unstable in the sense that they can be easily counteracted, and, finally, for maximal transparency a novel “Leader-Follower” strategy outperforms WSLS. Our results provide a partial explanation for the fact that the strategies proposed for the simultaneous iPD are rarely observed in nature, where high levels of transparency are common.

try and firm characteristics, that having founder and heir ownership does indeed increase the level of opacity in public companies. But does having more (or less) transparency help or hurt share holders and firm performance (measured, in this study, by Tobin's q?the market value of firm assets divided by the book value of those assets)? As it turned out, Anderson and his colleagues found that in founder- or heir-controlled firms, higher levels of transparency were associated with more positive performance. To further test this relationship, Anderson and colleagues created a subsample of only the most highly visible and transparent firms. Once again, founder and heir ownership was associated with higher levels of performance in these very transparent firms. At the other end of the spectrum, another subsample was created?consisting of the least transparent firms. This time, the results revealed that founder and heir ownership had a negative impact on performance. Put simply, outside investors seemed to value founder- or heir-controlled firms only when a high level of transparency existed. In essence, founder and heir ownership may indeed provide an additional monitoring mechanism over management?but that is only valued when out siders can see what is going on. When the view is cloudy, the behavior of founders and heirs appears to be more suspect and open to question. Next, Anderson and his colleagues examined the impact of three different types of CEO (i.e., is the CEO the founder, an heir, or a professional manager?). Within heir-controlled firms, CEOs were split almost equally between heirs (51%) and professional managers (49%). However, in founder-controlled firms, the founder-as-CEO was dominant (81%), trailed by heir-CEOs (1.9%) and professional manager-CEOs (17%). So how does the type of CEO and level of transparency relate to firm performance? Interestingly, having a founder as CEO neither added much value in transparent firms nor detracted much in more opaque firms. Transparency (or the lack thereof) apparently doesn't have much impact on firm performance when a founder-CEO is in charge. Such was not the case when a professional manager sat in the CEO's chair. Anderson and his colleagues found that having professional manag ers in the CEO role was positively associated with performance in more transparent founder-con trolled and heir-controlled firms. But as firm opac ity increased, having a professional manager as CEO became negatively associated with perfor mance. Overall, when firm transparency was high, having a professional manager as CEO (versus other types) seemed to be the best way to go in terms of performance?regardless of whether the firm was founder or heir controlled. Anderson and his colleagues have cast new light on questions about firm transparency. In deed, their work reveals that despite stringent disclosure requirements for publicly traded com panies, firms nevertheless vary greatly in the de gree of transparency and information dissemina tion they provide. Moreover, their core findings point to a positive link between transparency and performance. That said, the motivation of founders and heirs in less transparent and weaker performing firms remains murky. Anderson and colleagues theorize that founders and heirs use opacity as a cloak to extract firm resources for their private benefit. Regardless, there's no ques tion that the market is skeptical of firms with higher levels of opacity?and the dirty laundry they may be hiding.

The water quality in Awang Bay, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, is considered to be polluted due to human activities. This research aims to evaluate the water quality in Teluk Awang based on the physicochemical properties of water and zooplankton as bioindicators. Sampling was conducted at three beach locations: Awang, Ujung Kelor, and Ekas. The physicochemical water quality parameters measured included water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity, and transparency. Additionally, environmental factors were observed based on the naturalness and hemeroby index. The result of the identification and counting of the abundance of each zooplankton can then be used to analyze including taxa richness, total density, the diversity index of Shannon-Wiener (HSW), Margalef diversity index, Simpson diversity index, evenness index (E), and dominance index (C). The resulting research indicated that the physicochemical water qualities have met government quality standards for marine biota needs, except for the level of transparency at Ekas Station 3. Ekas Beach has the highest level of transparency, diversity, taxa richness, and total abundance of zooplankton, indicating the best water quality. Ujung Kelor Beach, which has the highest level of naturalness and the highest DO concentration, has moderate zooplankton diversity, indicating that the water quality is in the medium category. Meanwhile, Awang Beach, which had the highest human activity and the worst water quality, was characterized by low levels of transparency and DO, low diversity, taxa richness, and an abundance of zooplankton. Therefore, diversity, taxa richness, and abundance of zooplankton can be used as a bioindicator for changes in water quality.

This article examines the challenges and prospects of ensuring information transparency in the context of digitalization of education and the economy. The paper explores key aspects of information transparency, its significance, and impact on the development of the educational sector and digital economy in modern conditions. The benefits of transparency in online education are analyzed, particularly in the development of learning materials, student assessment, and determination of teacher qualifications. Research demonstrating the positive impact of transparency on increasing student trust in the quality of online courses and ensuring fair treatment of all participants in the educational process is considered. Special attention is paid to issues of academic integrity in the digital age. Challenges related to preventing plagiarism, copyright infringement, and other violations of academic ethics are discussed. A comprehensive approach is proposed, combining technological solutions, educational measures, and clear procedures to ensure transparency and academic integrity in the digital educational environment. Problems of confidentiality and protection of student data as a key aspect of information transparency in education are examined. Challenges associated with balancing the need for transparency in educational processes and protecting students' personal data are analyzed. The importance of developing clear privacy policies, implementing data protection technologies, and raising awareness among all participants in the educational process about potential risks and security measures is emphasized. In the context of the digital economy, the advantages and challenges of ensuring transparency in the creation, dissemination, and use of open educational resources are considered. Necessary procedures for peer review, evaluation, and attribution of authorship to improve the quality and trust in open educational materials are discussed. Challenges related to data bias that can lead to inaccurate or false conclusions and decisions are analyzed. Sources and consequences of data bias, such as lack of representativeness, inaccuracies in data collection, and algorithmic biases, are examined. Approaches to detecting and minimizing bias are proposed, and the importance of transparency in data processing methods is emphasized. Significant attention is given to the role of digital literacy in ensuring information transparency. Aspects of user perception and interpretation of data, as well as information providers' understanding of audience needs and expectations, are considered. The need for continuous learning and skill enhancement to bridge the digital divide and ensure effective use of transparent information is emphasized. The article also analyzes successful initiatives in ensuring information transparency in various fields, including public administration, the corporate sector, and education. Success factors such as political will, active civil society participation, and the use of innovative technologies are examined. The work emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach to ensuring information transparency that would consider issues of security, confidentiality, and data protection. The need to develop effective technological solutions and policies that would ensure proper data protection in combination with a high level of transparency is emphasized. The conclusions state that information transparency is an integral component of the effective functioning of educational processes and the digital economy. It contributes to improving quality, accountability, trust, and innovation, while requiring a balanced approach and consideration of security and privacy issues. Ensuring an appropriate level of transparency requires close cooperation among all stakeholders, implementation of advanced technological solutions, and improvement of the regulatory framework.

The purpose of this systematic review was to determine the extent of theoretical transparency in library and information science (LIS) scholarship. Many studies have looked at theorising and the use of theory in LIS. Unlike previous studies this research provides insights into transparency in the use of theoretical frameworks in the LIS field. Transparency is essential because different researchers employ the terms theory, theoretical framework, and conceptual framework in various ways.The transparent use of theory and the resultant theoretical framework enables other researchers to assess whether the theory is appropriate, consistent, and coherent with the empirical evidence. This systematic search followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for reporting on systematic reviews supported by ADIMA®. A total number of 138 out of 2029 articles from 12 LIS-focused journals were analysed in March 2023. Most of the articles (88.6%) specified the framework they used. There was a high level of transparency in relation to the suitability of the theory to address the research problem. The degree of openness about the aim to utilise a theoretical or conceptual framework was moderate to high. The articles had a low or minimal level of transparency when it came to justifying why a certain theory was chosen for the study. Theory dropping was not apparent in the articles. The results from the articles demonstrate that LIS scholars appreciate that a theoretical framework or conceptual framework must be used in research. To ensure that readers understand the rationale behind the theories chosen for a study, it is necessary to be open about the reasons behind the selection of a particular theory. The explanation of how the theory contributed to explaining the phenomenon of interest is also essential. This article might help scholars get beyond theoretical obstacles related to the transparent use of a theoretical framework and produce theoretically sound research. It also opens discourse on “best practice” in the use of analytical tools forresearchin the advancement of knowledge.

We introduce a model of price competition with endogenous market transparency, where it is costly for consumers to get informed about the announced prices. We show that there is symmetric mixed strategy equilibrium with a monotonic relationship between the degree of transparency and intensity of competition. Interestingly, we find that there are multiple equilibria with zero, low and high levels of market transparency with the high level of market transparency being the stable equilibrium. Once comparing the stable equilibrium with the welfare maximizing one we find that the private market solution entails excessive investments in information acquisition. That is, at high levels of transparency the gain of consumers from increased transparency is smaller than the loss in the firms’ profits leading to decrease in total welfare.