Suchergebnisse

Online proračunska transparentnost lokalnih jedinica (OLBT) prepoznata je kao važna značajka dobrog upravljanja. U skladu s tim, OLBT se u ovom radu mjeri u svih 128 gradova i na uzorku od 100 općina u Hrvatskoj koristeći nekoliko ključnih lokalnih proračunskih dokumenata objavljenih na web stranicama lokalnih jedinica. Koristeći Poissonov panel model s fiksnim učinkom u razdoblju 2013. – 2017., pokazalo se da osim dohotka stanovnika i fiskalnog kapaciteta lokalnih jedinica, razinu OLBT-a određuju politička ideologija i politička konkurencija. Ovaj rad pridonosi rastućoj literaturi o proračunskoj transparentnosti utvrđivanjem važnosti političkih faktora kao odrednica OLBT-a u bivšoj socijalističkoj, fiskalno centraliziranoj, članici EU-a i otkriva zanimljivu tvrdoglavost građana koji dosljedno glasaju za netransparentne političare. Glavni nalaz je da su politički faktori (politička ideologija i politička konkurencija) važni kao odrednice OLBT-a, što u lokalnim jedinicama rezultira suboptimalnom ravnotežom s niskim razinama OLBT-a. Lokalni političar na vlasti zaključuje da OLBT nije od posebne važnost da bi mu izborna jedinica zamjerila netransparentnost. U takvom je okruženju navedeni zaključak valjan, jer ovaj rad dokazuje da birači, koji su tvrdoglavi u svojim glasačkim obrascima, odbijaju promijeniti lokalnog političara na vlasti iako je netransparentan. ; Online local budget transparency (OLBT) has been recognized as an important feature of good governance. Accordingly, in this paper, OLBT is measured in all 128 cities and a sample of 100 municipalities in Croatia using several key local budget documents published on local government websites. Using a fixed effect Poisson panel model covering the 2013-2017 period, it is shown that along with residents' income and fiscal capacity of local governments, political ideology and political competition determine the level of OLBT. This paper contributes to the growing body of budget transparency literature by establishing the importance of political factors as determinants of OLBT in this former socialist, fiscally centralized EU member state and reveals the curious stubbornness of the citizens who consistently vote for non-transparent politicians. The main finding is that political factors (political ideology and political competition) matters in determining OLBT, resulting in suboptimal equilibrium of local governments with low levels of OLBT. The local incumbent concludes that OLBT is not a high priority and that his/her constituency will not hold it against him/her. In this environment such a conclusion stands owing to the fact that voters who are stubborn in their voting patterns refuse to change the incumbent who created nontransparency.

This paper investigates the budget transparency of Croatian local governments, i.e., the relationship between the open local budget index (OLBI) and a set of economic, political and socio- -cultural variables. It uses a unique panel database of all 128 cities and 428 municipalities in 2015 and 2016. To examine the differences among the samples and years and to determine whether the different samples have different driving forces, a regression analysis based on a Poisson distribution is used. In the total (cities and municipalities) and city samples, average income per capita (p.c.) is the most important determinant of the OLBI, which confirms Ferejohn's principal-agent model. At the municipality level, the findings indicate that political variables (ideology and political competition) are the factors that play the most important role, which is in line with the principal-agent and legitimacy theories. Findings point out to the necessity of reconsidering the number of local governments, particularly smaller ones lacking the capacity for maintaining basic budget transparency standards and to motivate citizens to demand and local governments to offer more budget transparency. ; Rad istražuje transparentnost proračuna hrvatskih lokalnih jedinica, odnosno odnos između indeksa otvorenosti lokalnih proračuna (OLBI) te ekonomskih, političkih i sociokulturnih varijabli. Primjenom regresijske analize utemeljene na Poissonovoj distribuciji, na jedinstvenoj bazi podataka svih 128 gradova i 428 općina za 2015. i 2016. istražuju se razlike među uzorcima i godinama te utvrđuje značenje različitih varijabli za različite uzorke. U ukupnom uzorku (općine i gradovi) i na razini gradova najvažnija je odrednica OLBI-ja prosječni dohodak po stanovniku, čime se potvrđuje Ferejohnov model principala i agenta. Na razini općina najvažnije su političke varijable (ideologija i politička konkurencija), što je u skladu s teorijom principala i agenta te teorijom legitimnosti. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da je nužno preispitivanje broja lokalnih jedinica, posebice onih manjih, koje ne mogu održavati minimalne standarde proračunske transparentnosti, uz istodobno motiviranje građana da zahtijevaju i lokalnih jedinica da nude više proračunske transparentnosti.

Taxpayers want to pay as little in taxes as possible to fund an adequate level of public goods and services in their local government, and so they need to keep their local incumbents accountable. Online local budget transparency (OLBT) facilitates this accountability, as it enables citizens to find information online about their local budgets that is timely, accurate, comprehensive and understandable. The aim of this article is to identify the most important determinants of OLBT for all 556 Croatian cities and municipalities from 2014 to 2017. Using a dynamic spatial lag Durbin model, the analysis explores the direct and indirect effects of potential determinants on OLBT. The main contribution is the pioneering use of a dynamic spatial lag Durbin model for researching local budget transparency determinants in a Central and Eastern European democracy. The results show that neighbours have an influence on OLBT but that direct effects dominate; that is, the major OLBT determinants come from within each city/municipality. Particularly important determinants are residents' income, the local government's wealth, the number of public employees in the city/municipality and the population size.

This article analyses the determinants of the voluntary online local budget transparency (OLBT) of Croatian local governments. Budget transparency is one of preconditions for enabling citizens' participation and improving public sector outcomes; however, the previous empirical results are ambiguous and inconclusive, with particular gaps for ex-socialist, fiscally centralized countries. To contribute to the existing literature, this article uses the principal-agent and legitimacy theories and non-linear panel data models for the 2015-2017 period to analyse 128 cities and 428 municipalities in Croatia. The findings show that local governments with higher residents' per capita income, population, Internet access, and administrative and fi scal capacity voluntarily publish more budget documents online. Policy recommendations point to the urge for the reform of the country's territorial and fi scal organisation, the promotion of budget transparency in less developed cities/ municipalities and for education of citizens about budgets. The main study limitation is the absence of a qualitative analysis of observed documents.

This article analyses the determinants of the voluntary online local budget transparency (OLBT) of Croatian local governments. Budget transparency is one of preconditions for enabling citizens' participation and improving public sector outcomes; however, the previous empirical results are ambiguous and inconclusive, with particular gaps for ex-socialist, fiscally centralized countries. To contribute to the existing literature, this article uses the principal-agent and legitimacy theories and non-linear panel data models for the 2015-2017 period to analyse 128 cities and 428 municipalities in Croatia. The findings show that local governments with higher residents' per capita income, population, Internet access, and administrative and fi scal capacity voluntarily publish more budget documents online. Policy recommendations point to the urge for the reform of the country's territorial and fi scal organisation, the promotion of budget transparency in less developed cities/ municipalities and for education of citizens about budgets. The main study limitation is the absence of a qualitative analysis of observed documents. ; Rad analizira odrednice dobrovoljne transparentnosti proračuna lokalnih jedinica (OLBT) u Hrvatskoj. Premda proračunska transparentnost predstavlja preduvjet participaciji građana i poboljšavanja ishoda u javnom sektoru, rezultati istraživanja su nejasni i neuvjerljivi, gotovo nepostojeći za post-socijalističke, fiskalno centralizirane države. Doprinos rada je primjena modela agenta i principala te teorije legitimnosti na primjeru jedne takve zemlje. Primjenom nelinearne panel analize na uzorku od 128 gradova i 428 općina u razdoblju od 2015. do 2017. godine utvrđeno je da lokalne jedinice s većim dohotkom po stanovniku, brojem stanovnika, boljim pristupom internetu, većim administrativnim i fi skalnim kapacitetom dobrovoljno objavljuju više proračunskih dokumenata. Preporuke ukazuju na potrebu reforme teritorijalnog i fiskalnog ustroja države, promicanja dobrih praksi proračunske transparentnosti u manje razvijenim gradovima i općinama te educiranja građana o proračunu. Glavno o graničenje istraživanja jest odsustvo kvalitativne analize dokumenata.

As a part of the public governance, transparency started to come forward during the New Public Management reforms, mostly for the evaluation of public sector efficiency. This article focuses on online local budget transparency (OLBT) in two neighbouring countries – Croatia and Slovenia. The article is pioneering in a comparative study of the determinants of budget transparency in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, based on a unique database and measure of transparency. The article tests the determinants of OLBT that reflect the accountability of local authorities and a cornerstone for public participation in the budget process. The following methodology was applied: using a data set of 768 Slovenian and Croatian local governments over the 2015–2017 period and testing it against several financial and socio-economic variables, and a random effects panel logistic regression, separately for Croatia, Slovenia, and a pooled sample. The results indicate that greater size of the population, higher administrative capacity and lower unemployment rate in individual local governments significantly contribute to higher levels of OLBT. This study demonstrates the possibility of developing a standardised measure of local budget transparency and using it to investigate the reasons for different levels of transparency in the two – and potentially other – CEE countries. The results of this and similar studies can serve as a basis for establishing cohesive local budget transparency policies for different countries and creating a combination of policy instruments to enhance transparency.