Transparency (Ease of monitoring accountability)

Transparency is an area of ongoing research by the Doing Business team. The transparency laws of a country, and the incentives they create, may reflect the type of interactions that entrepreneurs face when dealing with the public sector. The World Bank Enterprise Surveys show that corruption appears among the main constraints to business growth in most African countries, in many Middle Eastern and South Asian countries, and in some Central American countries. Promoting transparency within the public sector is a mechanism aimed at preventing corruption. The underlying logic is that the possibility of monitoring the public sector would reduce the incentives to engage in corrupt practices. This would then result in better public sector output, improved interactions with the public, and a better business environment.

There is a broad spectrum of transparency and anti-corruption regulations. The Doing Business team is focusing on regulations requiring high level public officials to disclose their assets, liabilities and business interests. It also examines regulations governing business relations between high level officials and the private and public sectors. This focus allows to measure whether the existing legal framework helps or hinders the ability to monitor, for instance, if the actions of government officials could be dictated by their private interests.

The research aims to produce an in-depth review of the scope and content of disclosure requirements, the availability of disclosures to the public, and the enforcement mechanisms of these laws. It will also analyze alternative regimes such as placing restrictions on holding certain interests or participating in businesses.

Data collection process

Legal Framework

The text of all relevant laws and regulations are collected for each of the 180 countries covered by Doing Business. These generally include constitutions; parliamentary standing orders; anti-corruption, integrity, or ethics laws; and conflict of interest regulations. The team also contacts relevant government agencies to obtain or confirm information. As with existing Doing Business topics, local partners are relied upon for verification of research findings.

The variables are generated from the comparative study of the different laws. Behind the data in each of the variables measured, there is a legal provision or a confirmation that there is no relevant legislation by government officials or legal experts. The team is developing this project in consultation with scholars at Dartmouth College, Harvard University and Nice University.

Access Experiment

For those countries in which the publication of disclosures is mandated by law, the files of five randomly selected members of parliament are requested. The team is documenting the process of obtaining these disclosures in a time-and-motion study comparable to other existing Doing Business indicators.

What remains to be done?

We are currently analyzing the data that has been collected so far, with a first research paper expected in April 2008. These preliminary findings will undergo a peer review process. Based on this analysis and the peer review process, additional areas of research may be identified for the future.

The team is also working on the construction of a new set of indicators with the collected data. With detailed information for each country and comparability across 180 countries, these indicators will enrich ongoing discussions on transparency by providing a rigorous legal-based perspective and adding valuable data to existing initiatives. As with other Doing Business indicators, the ease of monitoring accountability will be a useful and actionable tool for government reformers, as well as a helpful source of information for academics, practitioners, and the general audience.