MEASURING BUDGET TRANSPARENCY OF THE MACEDONIAN MUNICIPALITIES - TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AT LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL
Abstract
The transparency strengthens the credibility of the government policies and improves fiscal discipline while at the same time enables a platform for enhanced citizens’ satisfaction of the public services; participation of thecitizens in the process of preparation of the public policies and ultimately increases the willingness to pay (more) for the public services. An effective local governments’ transparency is necessary for accountability. While thesetwo are not an end in itself are however pertinent means to support an effective and inclusive decision-making within the budgeting process. The legal and budgetary mechanism that enable contribution from the local communities/citizens are particularly important for certain local government decisions in order to increase the accessibility to the general public i.e. the citizens at large.This paper evaluates the budget transparency among the eighty one (81) local self-government units in Macedonia through an index measuring the degree and the method of disclosure of eight (8) budget process related documents. The objective of this paper is to analyze the transparency of the local self government units’ budget process and the availability of the “key†budget process documents; their accessibility and the methods of accessibility, in order to determine whether there has been an improvement or decline from 2014-2015 to 2017-2018.1 The research establishes a scoring tool combining the number of budget related documents made accessible and the source of availability however not considering the content quality or the efficiency of effectiveness of the budget execution.The scoring methodology used for determining the level of availability and transparency of the LSGU budget process in all municipalities in Macedonia covers scoring of the budget transparency both based on the level and manner (source) of availability of the basic process documents. For the purposes of this paper, local government budget transparency is measured by the number of available key budget documents disclosed and the medium/source where these are published, being scored on a scale from minimum 0 to maximum 16 indexscore points.The availability of the eight documents does not indicate outright budget process transparency nor do we suggest that in means absolute accountability of the authorities however it demonstrates a step towards increased citizens informed and active civic participation.References
Afonso, W.B. (2014), Fiscal Illusion in State and Local Finances: A Hindrance to Transparency, State and Local
Government Review, 46 (3), pp. 219–228
Bellver, Ana, and Daniel Kaufmann (2005) Transparenting Transparency: Initial Empirics and Policy Applications, World
Bank Policy Research Working Paper.
Bovens, M. (2007b). Analyzing and assessing accountability: A conceptual framework. European Law Journal, 13(4),
-468
Budget process in Macedonia: Recent developments and challenges, Nikolov, Marjan, Center for Economic Analyses,
Chandy, L., & Kharas, H. (2011). Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? The Practical Limits to International Development
Cooperation. Journal of International Development, 23(5), 739–751. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jid.1797
Davis, J.H., Schoorman, F.D. and Donaldson, L. (1997). Toward a Stewardship Theory of Management. The Academy
of Management Review, 22(1), 20-47.
Donaldson, L., & Davis, J. H. (1991). Stewardship theory or agency theory: CEO governance and shareholder returns,
Australian Journal of Management, 16(1), 49-64.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Agency theory: An assessment and review. The Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 57-
Fox, Jonathan. 2007. “The Uncertain Relationship between Transparency and Accountability.†Development in Practice
: 663–671.
Garvanlieva V, Petrovska AM, Nikolov, M, (2017), Governance, transparency and accountability at local government
level: budget transparency of Macedonian municipalities, CEA Journal of Economics, Vol 12, No 1
Garvanlieva V, Vlatko Andonov, Marjan Nikolov, (2012), Shadow Economy of Macedonia, CEA Journal of Economics,
Vol 7, No 2
Greiling, D., & Spraul K. (2010). Accountability and the challenges of information disclosure. Public Administration
Quarterly, 338-377
Grigorescu, A. (2003), International Organizations and Government Transparency: Linking the International and
Domestic Realms, International Studies Quarterly, 47 (4), pp. 643–667.
Guide to transparency in Government Budget Reports, What are Budget Reports Important and What should they
include, OBI
Guide to transparency in Government Budget Reports, Why are Budget Reports Important and What should they include,
OBI
Halachmi, A. (2004.) Performance measurement, accountability, and improved performance. Public Performance and
Management Review, 25(4), 370-374.
Hood, Christopher (2006) Transparency in historical perspective In: Hood, Christopher and Heald, David, (eds.)
Transparency: the Key to Better Governance?, Proceedings of the British Academy (135). Oxford University Press,
Oxford, UK, 3-23. ISBN 9780197263839
Irene S. Rubin, (2010), Sixth Edition, The Politics of Public Budgeting: Getting and Spending, Borrowing and Balancing
Jacobides, M., & Croson, D. C. (2001). Information policy and shaping the value of agency relationships. Academy of
Management Review, 36(2), 202-223
Khagram, Sanjeev, Paolo De Renzio, and Archon Fung, ed. 2013. Open Budgets: The Political Economy of
Transparency, Participation, and Accountability. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
Law on accounting of the budgets and the budget users, Official Gazette of RM (61/02,98/02, 81/05, 24/11,145/15,
/2017)
Law on budgets (clean text), Official Gazette of RM (no. 64/05, 04/08, 103/08,156/09, 95/10, 180/11 171/12 192/15, and
/16)
Law on free access to public information, Official Gazette of RM (13/2006, 86/2008, 6/10, 42/14, 148/15, 55/16)
Law on free access to public information, Official Gazette of RM (13/2006, 86/2008, 6/10, 42/14, 148/15, 55/16)
Law on local self-governance (Official Gazette of RM (no.5/02)
Law on Territorial Organization (Official Gazette of RM 55/2004, 12/05, 98/08, 149/14)
Lindstedt, Catharina, and Daniel Naurin. 2010. Transparency is not enough: Making Transparency Effective in Reducing
Corruption, International Political Science Review, 31: 301-322.
Nikolov, Trenovski, Dimovska (2015), Open and transparent budget process in Western Balkan Countries, CEA Journal
of Economics, Vol 10, No 1
Nikolov, M., (2009), Budget process in Macedonia: Recent developments and challenges, Center for Economic Analyses
OECD Best Practices for Budget Transparency, 2003
Pallas, C. L., & Urpelainen, J. (2011). NGO monitoring and the legitimacy of international cooperation: A strategic analysis.
The Review of International Organizations, 7(1), 1–32
Peixoto, Tiago. 2013. “The Uncertain Relationship between Open Data and Accountability: A Response to Yu and
Robinson’s ‘The New Ambiguity of Open Government.’ 60 UCLA Law Review Discourse 200
Poterba, J. M. and Von Hagen, J. (1999) ‘Introduction’, In J.M. Poterba and J. Von Hagen (Eds.), Fiscal Institutions and
Fiscal Performance. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 1–12
Przeworski, A. (2010). Democracy and the limits of self-government (9th ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sayogo, D. S. and Harrison, T. (2013) ‘Exploring the Socio-political Determinants of Open Budgets: A Cross-national
Perspective’, In R. J. Gil-Garcia (Ed.), pp. E-government Success Factors and Measures: Concepts, Theories,
Experiences, and Practical Recommendations. Hershey PA: IGI Global, pp. 142–170.
Schedler, A. (1999). Conceptualizing accountability. In A. Schedler, L. Diamond, & M. F. Plattner (Eds.), The self-restraining
state. Power and accountability in new democracies (pp. 13–28). London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Trenovski, B. (2014). Improvement of the transparency and accountability through a performance based budget.
Monitoring report on the transparency and accountability of the budget users, 6-7.
Trenovski, Nikolov, (2015), Cost – Benefit Analysis of performance based budgeting implementation, CEA Journal of
Economics, Vol 10, No 2
Trenovski, Nikolov, Garvanlieva, Mitevski, (2016), Fiscal transparency on local level – The case of the R. Macedonia,
CEA, 7th international conference International Dialogue East West Economics, Megjunaroden centar za slavjanska
prosveta
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific What is Good Governance?
Van Slyke, D. M. (2006). Agents or Stewards: Using theory to understand the government-nonprofit social service contracting
relationship. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17, 157-187.
Van Slyke, D. M. (2006). Agents or Stewards: Using theory to understand the government-nonprofit social service contracting
relationship. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17, 157-187.
Yu, Harlan, and David G. Robinson. 2012. “The New Ambiguity of ‘Open Government’.†59 UCLA Law Review Discourse.
