The Causes of Fiscal Transparency: Evidence from the American States

Abstract

Please do not quote without permission of the authors. Abstract: We use unique panel data on the evolution of transparent budget procedures in the American states over the past three decades to explore the political and economic determinants of fiscal transparency. Our preliminary results suggest that more equal political competition and power sharing are associated with both greater levels of fiscal transparency and increases in fiscal transparency during the sample period. Political polarization is associated with lower transparency, and past fiscal conditions also appear to affect the level of transparency. 1.