How does open government affect local business' perception of the environment?

The concept of open government has been receiving great attention in recent years. The scholarly debate on open government varies from the politics of open government to technologies of open government data (Yu and Robinson... [ view full abstract ]

The concept of open government has been receiving great attention in recent years. The scholarly debate on open government varies from the politics of open government to technologies of open government data (Yu and Robinson 2012). A broader view of open government goes beyond the openness in information (transparency) to the openness in decision making process (participation) (Meijer et al. 2012). It was evident in President Obama’s Open Government Directive, which emphasizes transparency, public engagement and collaboration (Whitehouse 2009; McDermott 2010). While numerous literature can be found on open government, the focus is often one or another. Empirical studies to analyze the effect of open government coupling the various components are still a handful, especially regarding the impact on the business sector.

The paper intends to explore the impact of open government on local business. In particular, we examine open government from the transparency, participation and collaboration perspectives and assess their impact on the business’ perception of the local government and business environment. We propose that open government will improve business’ perception of the local business environment because of increased communication and trust. Firms that are better informed about policies or more involved in government activities tend to be more understandable and have a more positive view of the city’s business environment.

The relationships are tested against survey data collected from 2500 private firms in China in 2013. China is selected for this study because the country has aggressively pursued to increase GDP growth in the past two decades. Government officials’ performance is often evaluated according to the local economic growth (World Bank 2008). It is therefore more meaningful to investigate how local government in China acts to promote economic prosperity. In addition, the large disparity in regional development in China provides ample variation for the research purpose.

References
McDermott, Patrice (2010). Building open government. Government Information Quarterly 27: 401-413.
Merjer, Albert J., Deirdre Curtin and Maarten Hillebrandt (2012). Open government: Connecting vision and voice. International Review of Administrative Sciences 78(1): 10-29.
White House. (2009). Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government. Available: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-1777.pdf
Yu, Harlan and David G. Robinson (2012). The New Ambiguity of “Open Government”. UCLA Law Review Discourse 59: 178-208.