Transparency Laws Research Articles

The Request for Postponement of the Blashphemy Case Criminal Charge Reading by Police and Prosecutors

This research aims to evaluate the police's request to postpone the criminal charge reading of the blasphemy case at the North Jakarta District Court, which was not based on Indonesia's positive law. The request to postpone a trial by the police without a legal basis could be considered a form of police intervention against the trial process, which has legal criminal consequences based on Article 3 Paragraph 2 and 3 of Law Number 48 of 2009 concerning Judicial Power. Meanwhile, the request for a two-week trial postponement by the public prosecutors due to their inability to complete the criminal indictment, as well as considering the request from the police, has created an impression that the public prosecutors have complied with the request of the police. It also injured public trust that demanded a fair and transparent law enforcement process.

Transparent information and access to citizen participation on municipal websites

This study analyses the information and tools for citizen participation on the institutional websites of local bodies to improve participation in the management of local resources in a context following the introduction of Spain’s Transparency Law. The method is based on applying 14 indicators to analyse the institutional websites of 605 municipalities that have over 10,000 residents, located in 9 autonomous communities of the Spanish state. The main results show how the institutional information offered on the websites of the councils analysed does not follow journalistic criteria in terms of accountability, meaning that citizens’ decisions regarding their local governments cannot be based on precise, reliable information. In this regard, in this study we have confirmed that council websites publish very little information on the activity of the opposition or on the plenary sessions, debates and agreements, but do publish information on the activity of the government. Furthermore, they do not make use of web resources for citizen participation, which impedes the transparent, collaborative management of political processes between leaders and citizens. Nonetheless, the results show how political and technical managers are not averse to change if they have access to guidance and incentives to improve the management of information and participation on municipal websites.

Promoting Online Transparency to Help Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: An Empirical Study of Local Governments in Latin America

Although transparency on the sustainability of public services is an issue of urgent interest to both governments and academics, previous research in this area has mainly focused on developed European countries, and has paid insufficient attention to areas that are still developing, such as many Latin American countries. The aim of this study is to identify factors that promote transparency on sustainability by local governments in Latin America, in the view that greater transparency will help them meet the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Therefore, using content analysis and following the GRI guidelines, we analyze the economic, social and environmental information published on the websites of 200 large local governments in 18 Latin American countries. In addition, using linear regression and calculating the corresponding Spearman coefficients, we analyze the influence of idiosyncratic and systemic variables on the volume of information disclosed. Our findings show that certain factors—population size, education level, unemployment, the quality of legislation and political corruption—affect transparency on sustainability. The conclusions drawn from this analysis enable us to identify useful measures for enhancing transparency on sustainability, including the reform of transparency laws and the analysis and disclosure of citizens’ information demands.

The Austrian Pay Transparency Law and the Gender Wage Gap

In Austria, a gender pay transparency law was introduced in 2011, requiring companies with more than 1,000 employees to publish a pay report every other year. Firms with 500, 250, and 150 employees were subject to this requirement at later years. We estimate the impact of the law on men’s wages, women’s wages, and the gender pay gap using administrative data. The results from a regression discontinuity design suggest that the wage transparency law did not change wages or the gender wage gap. In larger firms, the wage of newly hired women increased more due to the reform than of newly hired men, suggesting that the gender wage gap decreased among newly hired workers. Our estimates of the effect of the law on employment growth or turnover are small, and statistically insignificant. For larger firms, we estimate that the transparency law led to a lower share of women in treated firms. These results are robust to several additional specifications.

The Austrian Pay Transparency Law and the Gender Wage Gap

In Austria, a gender pay transparency law was introduced in 2011, requiring companies with more than 1,000 employees to publish a pay report every other year. Firms with 500, 250, and 150 employees were subject to this requirement at later years. We estimate the impact of the law on men’s wages, women’s wages, and the gender pay gap using administrative data. The results from a regression discontinuity design suggest that the wage transparency law did not change wages or the gender wage gap. In larger firms, the wage of newly hired women increased more due to the reform than of newly hired men, suggesting that the gender wage gap decreased among newly hired workers. Our estimates of the effect of the law on employment growth or turnover are small, and statistically insignificant. For larger firms, we estimate that the transparency law led to a lower share of women in treated firms. These results are robust to several additional specifications.

Need for Competition and Regulatory Reform in Developing Countries: Case of Indian Competition Law Enforcement

There is no doubt that a robust competition policy and its proper enforcement through transparent competition law contributes to the growth and economic development by way of offering choices to the stakeholders, reduced prices due to reduced costs of production or otherwise (say innovation). Despite the aforesaid principle, we find that the Governments lack in promoting sustainable economic growth through competition reforms; this is more so true for the developing countries which have many more other things on the agenda (like tackling the challenges of malnutrition, poverty, unemployment, health and others) than competition. On this aspect, it is important to note that the developing countries did not realize the role an effective competition policy may play in a strong economy. While developed countries like Australia and UK have been able to map the inter-relationship between the competition law enforcement and economic / social benefits to the stakeholders, for developing countries this exercise has not been easy to carry out. There are several reasons for that, some of them include capacity building issues, institutional reforms, roles to be played by various stakeholders. India is watched by all developing countries and especially on the competition law and policy front. The Hon’ble Finance Minister in one of the ICN conferences highlighted the need for a clear competition and regulatory reform. Citing an example of telecom sector, it was pointed out “If two telecom majors are to amalgamate, will there be common turf areas between the telecom regulator and market regulator CCI. Therefore, how do you built the jurisdiction of the two. Obviously jurisdiction in this area is emerging.” While competition and regulatory reform have been on the agenda of the Government which is evident from the reports like National Competition Policy 2011 and Financial Sector Reforms Commission (FSLRC) Report, the action on these have not been yet prioritized. There is indeed a need to convince the Government both at the central and the state level towards the importance of competition and regulatory reforms in public policy discourses and also the need for competition impact assessment. The present paper focuses upon the aforesaid issues and challenges.

Targeted Transparency as Regulation

Traditional government transparency tools are coming under increasing criticism. Laws like the Freedom of Information Act, once thought to revolutionize democracy by opening up government for all to see, have proven to be relatively rough tools (at best) in accomplishing accountability. While the democratic ideals are still celebrated, the increasing costs of broad open-the-government style laws—both monetary and nonmonetary—have not gone unnoticed. Meanwhile, in the regulatory landscape for private companies, targeted disclosure requirements have become increasingly popular methods of encouraging all manner of socially beneficial behavior, be it curbing pollution, making safer consumer products, or ensuring anti-discrimination. Across a wide variety of sectors, companies and businesses now must disclose to the public specific data regarding business finances, environmental risks, safety hazards, and much more. This Article is the first to apply the regulatory disclosure literature to gain insights on government transparency laws, revealing opportunities for designing transparency requirements to more closely hew to accountability goals. We categorize these laws “targeted transparency as regulation” because though they concern government transparency and not private disclosure, they operate to “regulate” government actions for specific and measurable accountability goals by incentivizing beneficial, ethical, reasoned conduct by agency officials. Further, our experience with disclosure law provides insights on how to design targeted transparency as regulation requirements, including their promises and limits. While no panacea, targeted transparency as regulation has the potential to play a pivotal role in the next generation of government accountability laws and to provide a partial answer to the critics of broad-based open-the-government style oversight.

Exploring the Heterogeneous Effects of State Price Transparency Laws on Charge Prices, Negotiated Prices, and Operating Costs

To limit the dramatic growth of U.S. health care expenditures, some states have mandated that medical providers publicly report their charge prices. Our study evaluates the heterogeneous effects of this price transparency policy. We use a comprehensive database that covers more than 2,000 hospitals nationwide from 1996 to 2017. We employ a flexible generalized synthetic control method that allows for heterogeneous treatment effects. We find that the price transparency policy not only reduced charge prices by 3.9% (which corresponds to savings of $1,164 per hospital stay) but also diminished negotiated prices by 15.9% and hospital costs by 4.7%. Our estimation results show that the effects on charge prices do not last as long as the impacts on negotiated prices and costs. We also find large heterogeneous responses across hospitals that depend on: (1) hospitals’ past charge prices prior to adopting the price transparency law, that is, high-price hospitals reduce charge and negotiated prices, while low-price hospitals increase charges; (2) hospital characteristics such as ownership, case mix, and payer mix; and (3) hospital size and market competition. We also conduct counterfactuals to predict price changes of non-treated states and find large reductions in negotiated prices.

Does Pay Transparency Affect the Gender Wage Gap? Evidence From Austria

We study the 2011 Austrian Pay Transparency Law, which requires firms above a size threshold to publish internal reports on the gender pay gap. Using an event-study design, we show that the policy had no discernible effects on male and female wages, thus leaving the gender wage gap unchanged. The effects are precisely estimated and we rule out that the policy narrowed the gender wage gap by more than 0.4 p.p.. Moreover, we do not find evidence for wage compression within establishments. We discuss several possible reasons why the reform did not reduce the gender wage gap.

Pay Transparency Under Subjective Performance Evaluation

This paper studies how pay transparency affects organizations that reward employees based on their efforts (i.e., using “subjective performance evaluation”). First, we show that transparency triggers social comparisons that require the organization to pay its employees an “envy premium”. This premium reduces the value of the employment relationship to the organization, and thus its incentive to pay subjective bonuses to the hard-working employees. To restore credibility of its incentive system, a transparent organization must therefore reduce the weight of bonuses, and increase the weight of fixed salaries, in the employees’ compensation, relative to organizations that operate in a more conventional “pay secrecy” regime. Second, we show that transparency enables the employees to collectively sanction the organization for reneging on subjective incentives. Collective enforcement allows the transparent organization to use strong employment relationships to “cross-subsidize” weak ones, achieving a more balanced allocation of effort than under pay secrecy. We discuss testable implications of our model for compensation design, the choice between transparency and secrecy regimes, and organizational responses to pay transparency laws.

Access to Environmental Information in the EU: A Great Policy No‐One Needs?

AbstractIt is commonly argued that public institutions resist the advance of transparency, while civil society organisations (CSOs) are expected to advocate for more generous transparency laws that allow them to better participate in decision‐making. Remarkably, the way in which transparency developed in the Environment Council at least partially contradicts both claims. Here, the Council oversaw a steady expansion in the formal transparency policy framework, without notable resistance from the Council or its members. Yet from the outset, CSOs hardly made use of their transparency rights to obtain access. This article seeks an explanation for this apparently anomalous development in informal norms. Applying a qualitative case‐study analysis of multiple data sources, it demonstrates how informal norms develop alongside the formal access regime, implicating external actors, serving diverse and at times contradictory objectives, and showing a dynamic character over time. The findings highlight the indispensability of informality for understanding formal transparency policies.

Transparency and Quality of Information on Local Administration Websites. Study of the Spanish Case

This article analyses the information and content of Spanish local administration websites following the application of the Law of Transparency. The aim is to analyze in depth issues related to the information available on political representatives, the management of economic resources, information on the municipality and the tools citizens have at their disposal for their participation. The quantitative method analyses the transparency of the city councils individually from a table of widely compared 52 variables (indicators), validating their compliance or not with each during the period February to November 2018. The sample analyzed in this study consists of 605 Spanish municipalities. Although within academic literature debate already exists that focuses primarily on theoretical abstractions, this study allows us to empirically determine whether after the national approval of transparency regulation there really has been an improvement in public information for citizens to be able to hold their local governments accountable. The results indicate that, based on regional and national transparency policies, the situation is better than in the years prior to the law, although there is still much room for improvement, especially in issues related to information regarding the management of economic resources such as budgets, salaries, hiring and subsidies.

Transferências e receitas do sistema único de saúde durante a covid-19 nos municípios de Pernambuco

As tecnologias da informação e comunicação - TICs, com o uso da internet tem transformado as relações sociais e o desenvolvimento da sociedade. Essas mudanças refletem na gestão pública que também tem procurado inovar, mudando a relação entre governo, Estado e sociedade. Os gestores públicos precisam desenvolver uma gestão participativa, descentralizada e transparente, disponibilizando o conhecimento de dados abertos no intuito de ampliar a inclusão e controle social. O objetivo geral deste estudo foi avaliar se as informações dos portais da transparência de 32 municípios pernambucanos estão em conformidade com a lei da transparência (LC 131/2009), no que se refere transferências e receitas do SUS para o enfrentamento ao coronavírus COVID-19. Através da pesquisa descritiva foi feito levantamento das informações, disponibilizadas pelos portais da transparência das prefeituras avaliadas e do portal do Fundo Nacional de Saúde. A análise dos dados demonstra que os gestores de alguns municípios não estão cumprindo as atribuições previstas legalmente para uma gestão responsável e transparente, dificultando a ccountability social.

Does the Freedom of Information Act Foil the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Intent to Keep Investigations Confidential?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a long-standing policy to keep formal investigations confidential. In this study, we examine the extent to which compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides investors with information about ongoing SEC investigations. We exploit a unique empirical setting whereby the SEC denies FOIA requests because of ongoing enforcement proceedings (hereafter, exemption denials). We find that exemption denials predict a substantial number of ongoing and future SEC investigations. Exemption denials are also associated with significant negative future abnormal returns, which is consistent with exemption denials providing a noisy public signal that allows certain sophisticated investors to earn future abnormal returns. Overall, our findings suggest that information transparency laws such as FOIA have the potential to limit the SEC’s ability to maintain effective and confidential investigations. This paper was accepted by Brian Bushee, accounting.

Corporate social responsibility and protection of workers’ human rights: the case of Germany

The following Article analyzes recent developments of German law regarding CSR and the protection of human rights in the production sites of foreign subsidiaries and suppliers of German companies. It gives a brief overview on the National Action Plan of the Federal Government, adopted in 2016, analyzes possibilities of a direct enforcement of human rights violations before German courts and gives a survey on some relevant instruments German law uses to promote the respect of human rights by German companies (e.g. CSR transparency and public procurement law). Finally, the current debate on the adoption of a “Supply Chains Act” is briefly assessed. The author argues that the CSR debate in Germany has reached a crossroad with the Federal Government’s initiative for a “Supply Chains Act” since such Act would probably establish a supply chain due diligence and also a delictual liability of German companies for human rights violations caused by a non-compliance with its statutory duties to control its supply chain. However, the outcome of this ongoing debate still is unclear.

Theories of Corruption “Public Choice-Extractive Theory” as Alternative for Combating Corruption

Corruption is a recurrent decimal in Nigeria's upstream petroleum sector due to weak enforcement of anti-corruption and transparency laws. This sector is considered corrupt due to the rampant mismanagement of petroleum resources. The article analyses rent-seeking, public choice and extractive theories of corruption among others due to their impacts in combating corruption. It also queries other anti-corruption models that are relevant to this study to promote transparency and to strengthen national anti-corruption laws for combating corruption in the Nigeria's upstream petroleum sector. The study is a doctrinal legal research that adopts a point-by-point comparative approach with library research method. The study proposed a hybrid theory of corruption titled “Public Choice-Extractive Theory of Corruption” as an alternative perspective that will effectively combat corruption in the sector. In conclusion, the study finds that corruption strives on the weak enforcement of anti-corruption laws and lack of political will in providing effective regulatory intervention. The study recommends among other reforms, soft law approach and strict enforcement of anti-corruption laws for transparency in the upstream petroleum sector in Nigeria.

Aplicación móvil para el seguimiento de solicitudes de acceso a la información

Currently, the use of mobile applications is of utmost importance, since it allows the availability of information at all times. The mobile application described in this article was made to follow up on the Requests for Access to Information and is part of a web system, with which an internal control of the Requests for Access to Information that are sent to the Dependencies, Entities, Auxiliary Bodies and Trusts of the State Public Administration. The application will attend to the requests and thus, the times of attention to them are met within the terms established by the Law of Transparency and Access to Public Information for the State of Oaxaca (LGTAIPO). The mobile application allows the monitoring of information requests received, shows the status in which they are through a colored traffic light, meetings can be scheduled, allows the registration of the user's profile, and, has an internal chat so that dependencies can communicate with each other and send notifications. The development methodology used for this project was Extreme Programming using the Dart programming language.

Sistema web de solicitudes de acceso a la información

The Secretariat of the Comptroller and Government Transparency of the State of Oaxaca (SCTGEO) has an objective with the development of the project called Web System of Requests for Access to Information. This objective is to contribute to internal control of the Requests for Access to Information that are sent to the dependencies, entities, auxiliary bodies, and, escrows that integrate State Public Administration. It also follows up that the Requests are attended to and are fulfilled within the terms established by the Law of Transparency and Access to Public Information for the State of Oaxaca (LGTAIPO). The web system has the following functionalities: a history of requests and responses, it allows the use of different response formats; it generates reports based on a period defined by the user; it allows you to schedule meetings, and it follows up if necessary. In addition, it has a Request, Dependencies module and an internal chat so that they can communicate with each other. The web system was based on the agile development model using Extreme Programming (XP) and the MySql database manager was used.

Availability and Variability of Consumer Prices for Lumbar Discectomy Across US Hospitals in 2018.

To determine the availability and variability of consumer pricing data for an elective lumbar discectomy in the USA. Hospital representatives were contacted via telephone, hospital websites, and state price-transparency websites. A total of 153 hospitals were contacted via telephone calls under the guise of a patient requesting a self-pay price for elective lumbar discectomy. The same hospitals were then researched for price comparison between those requested by phone and those listed on hospital websites after installment of the price transparency law by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on 1 January 2019. Complete and partial prices were recorded for both datasets when available. Hospitals were grouped based on profit status, teaching status, and geographical region. Statistical analysis compared rates of price availability and mean prices between hospital groups and between datasets. Thirty-four (23.0%) of 148 hospitals included in the final analysis were able to provide complete price information via telephone. An additional 70 (47.3%) were able to provide a partial price. A total of four (2.7%) institutions provided a complete price and an additional 65 (43.9%) provided a partial price via website. The mean complete price for microdiscectomy when provided was $27,342.36 (n = 34). When compared to government and non-profit hospitals combined, private hospitals had significantly lower partial-prices. A patient seeking to undergo a common surgical procedure in the USA will likely be met with difficulty and few options if motivated by price. A high degree of variability exists among US hospitals in 2018 with regards to availability and comprehensiveness of pricing information.

Electronic Traffic Law Enforcement: Is it Able to Reduce Traffic Violations?

The practice of law enforcement on traffic violations committed by law enforcement officers is currently not enough to satisfy the expectations of the community. Problems often occur in current law enforcement practices, including vulnerability to corruption and convoluted bureaucracy in dealing with the process of law enforcement, especially for traffic violations. The practice of law enforcement itself cannot only be shackled in the current legal rigidity, in this condition a legal breakthrough or legal progression is needed, so that our law can adjust to the times and demands of society. The E-TLE (Electronic Traffic Law Enforcement) system created by the Semarang Traffic Police Unit is a breakthrough in law in law enforcement practices that are applied to traffic violations in the City of Semarang in order to bring a fast, precise, clean and transparent law enforcement system. In this context, progressive legal theory is used to create a breakthrough in progressive law enforcement in the E-TLE Satlantas Polrestabes Semarang system against traffic violations in the city of Semarang.