Exploring the Effects of the Adoption of the Open Government Partnership: A Cross-Country Panel Data Analysis

Abstract

Over the past decade, scholars have paid attention to the importance of open government, which aims to make public administration more transparent, democratic, and effective by using information and communication technologies. However, there is a lack of empirical research that examines the effects of open government. Therefore, this study intends to rigorously test the democratic and administrative effects of open government, focusing on a global initiative known as the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Specifically, this study examines whether OGP adoption in national governments has reduced government corruption and improved government effectiveness across countries. For this purpose, this study collected longitudinal data from the Center for Systemic Peace, the United Nations, and the World Bank. Then, it employed a panel data analysis based on a fixed effects model. As a result, there was no direct effect of OGP adoption on government corruption and government effectiveness, respectively. However, legal and economic factors were likely to moderate the effects of OGP adoption on curbing government corruption and enhancing government effectiveness. This study can make a theoretical and practical contribution to open government, e-government, and collaborative governance.

Keywords:

• Corruption
• e-government
• information and communication technology
• open government
• open government partnership

Notes

1 The Open Budget Index was developed and published by International Budget Partnership and ranges from 0 to 100.

2 The United Nations E-government Survey published its data in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. This study assumes that data values are consistent in unpublished years. For example, it is assumed that values in 2008 when the Survey was published are the same as those in 2009 when the Survey was not published. In particular, data on the Telecommunication Index were taken from the United Nations E-government Survey.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chul Hyun Park

Chul Hyun Park is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. He received a PhD in Public Administration and Policy from Arizona State University and a Master of Public Policy from Georgia State University. His research interests include open government, e-government, collaborative governance, and program evaluation. Currently, he focuses on how nonstate actors collaborate with public organizations to address complex social problems, using information, communication, and computational technologies.

Koomin Kim

Koomin Kim is an Assistant Professor at Geumgang University. His research has been focusing on policy innovation and diffusion, comparative policy, state and local budgeting and financial management, policy process theories, global and US tax policy and open government. He received a PhD in Public Administration from Florida State University and a Master of Public Administration from Arizona State University.