The relevance of budget transparency for development

Abstract

This study aims to highlight the relevance of budget transparency in improving human development and fill the gap in the literature, which has traditionally considered the concept of development in economic terms. Here, development refers to levels of knowledge, the possibility of enjoying a long and healthy life and having a decent standard of living. Improving human development is the main point of interest in the assessment of public policy outcomes and this study is focussed on one specific policy, namely, budget transparency. By using a pool of 110 countries for the years 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2017, the empirical results demonstrate a positive effect of the open budget index on the human development index, suggesting that budget transparency is a good way to improve levels of human development. These findings are essential not only for academic debate but also for practitioners because they show transparency as a relevant tool to improve human development. Points for practitioners Budget transparency is a relevant tool to improve human development. Transparency may improve the quality of life through a better quality of governance. The central roles played by transparency and participation coupled with accountability have been confirmed. The complexity of the concept of human development involves, among other things, disclosing information regarding the public policies. Examining budgets, guaranteeing their transparency as well as the transparency of the budgeting process, is highly recommended to improve human development.