When does government transparency lead to voice behavior? An experimental study

While the link between transparency and accountability has long been assumed in public management, there have been few empirical assessments of this relationship. This study addresses this gap in the literature, assessing how... [ view full abstract ]

While the link between transparency and accountability has long been assumed in public management, there have been few empirical assessments of this relationship. This study addresses this gap in the literature, assessing how transparency affects a ‘soft-form’ of accountability – voice (Fox 2007). We test this relationship using a series of experiments. These experiments focus upon two conditions that are relevant to understanding the effects of transparency: the completeness of the message and the particular form of transparency. Through various combinations of these three conditions, we are able to offer some much needed empirical insight into the conditions under which transparency tends to be most effective at fostering voice, as well as the conditions under which it is least effective. In turn, these findings will help to inform our use of transparency as a tool for enhancing government accountability.
For our research design, we will randomly assign respondents to one of the treatment groups in the 2X2 factorial in the table below. We intend to recruit a total of 800 respondents, meaning that each treatment group will be assigned 200 respondents. Respondents within each of the treatment groups will be exposed to information dealing with a hypothetical initiative to reduce emergency medical service respondents due to austerity measures. Each of the treatment groups is meant to provide greater insight into how combinations of characteristics of government transparency affect citizens’ use of voice. In this study, we include two measures of voice – first, we examine respondents’ intention to exercise voice and, second, we draw upon a novel and more objective measure meant to simulate respondents’ intention to support an online petition.

Form of Transparency
Decision-Making Transparency Policy Outcome Transparency

Full Transparency 200 200

Partial Transparency 200 200