engleski

The determinants of budget transparency of Croatian municipalities

This doctoral dissertation classifies the existing theoretical approaches in the analysis of budget transparency – theories based on information asymmetry and theories of social responsibility – and empirically examines determinants of the online budget transparency of Croatian municipalities. The empirical part uses a unique panel database from 2014-18 and the dependent variable Open Local Budget Index (OLBI), which shows the annual availability of key budget documents on municipal official websites. A total of six hypotheses were tested to produce the optimal combination of policy instruments (determinants) that increase local budget transparency. Robust empirical analysis is based on Poisson, logistic and spatial regression. The results show that to strengthen municipal budgetary transparency and political accountability, it is crucial to enhance the following instruments: residents' income per capita, municipal fiscal capacity per capita, political competition, women's representation in local politics, and politicians' education. Spatial analysis proved the existence of positive spatial spillovers, showing that the wider environment of the municipality (neighbors) affects the level of budget transparency of the observed municipality. The implications of these results for the next steps at all levels of government and the general public are also outlined, focusing in particular on the possible application of the results of this research to the inevitable reform of the territorial and fiscal organization of the Republic of Croatia.

transparency theories ; budget transparency determinants ; Poisson regression ; logistic regression ; spatial regression ; Croatian municipalities

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