Description
In recent years, the term 'transparency' has emerged as one of the most popular and keenly-touted concepts around. In the economic-political debate, the principle of transparency is often advocated as a prerequisite for accountability, legitimacy, policy efficiency, and good governance, as well as a universal remedy against corruption, corporate and political scandals, financial crises, and a host of other problems.But transparency is more than a mere catch-phrase. Increased transparency is a bearing ideal behind regulatory reform in many areas, including financial reporting and banking regulation. Individual governments as well as multilateral bodies have launched broad-based initiatives to enhance transparency in both economic and other policy domains. Parallel to these developments, the concept of transparency has seeped its way into academic research in a wide range of social science disciplines, including the economic sciences.This increased importance of transparency in economics and business studies has called for a reference work that surveys existing research on transparency and explores its meaning and significance in different areas. The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency is such a reference. Comprised of authoritative yet accessible contributions by leading scholars, this Handbook addresses questions such as: What is transparency? What is the rationale for transparency? What are the determinants and the effects of transparency? And is transparency always beneficial, or can it also be detrimental (if so, when)?The chapters are presented in three sections that correspond to three broad themes. The first section addresses transparency in different areas of economic policy. The second section covers institutional transparency and explores the role of transparency in market integration and regulation. Finally, the third section focuses on corporate transparency. Taken together, this volume offers an up-to-date account of existing work on and approaches to transparency in economic research, discusses open questions, and provides guidance for future research, all from a blend of disciplinary perspectives.
Table of Contents
PART 1: INTRODUCTION1. The Multi-Faceted Concept of TransparencyJens Forssbæck and Lars OxelheimPART 2: POLICY TRANSPARENCY2. Constitutional TransparencyRichard J. Sweeney3. Monetary Policy TransparencyPetra M. Geraats4. Fiscal Policy TransparencyIain Begg5. Transparent and Unique Sovereign Default Risk AssessmentEdward I. Altman and Herbert Rijken6. Transparency and Competition Policy in an Imperfectly Competitive WorldPhilippe Gugler7. Transparency in International Trade PolicyMichael G. Plummer and Alissa Tafti8. Transparency of Climate Change Policies, Markets, and Corporate PracticesThomas L. Brewer and Michael Mehling9. Transparency of Human Resource PolicyErik Mellander10. Transparency of Innovation PolicyBo CarlssonPART 3: INSTITUTIONAL, MARKET AND REGULATORY TRANSPARENCY11. Labor Market TransparencyEskil Wadensjö12. Transparency in Financial RegulationJames R. Barth, Apanard (Penny) Prabha, and Clas Wihlborg13. Price Transparency and International Market IntegrationRichard Friberg14. Transparency of Inward Investment IncentivesFrederick Lehmann and Ana Teresa Lehmann15. Transparency and CorruptionAlvaro Cuervo-CazurraPART 4: CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY16. Multinational Corporations' Relationship with Political Actors: Transparency versus OpacityPervez N. Ghauri, Amjad Hadjikhani, and Cecilia Pahlberg17. Corporate Governance and Optimal TransparencyTom Berglund18. Transparency Differences at the Top of the Organization: Market-Pull versus Strategic Hoarding ForcesWinfried Ruigrok, Dimitrios Georgakakis, and Peder Greve19 . Governance Transparency and the Institutions of Capitalism: Implications for FinanceRaj Aggarwal and John Goodell20. Transparency and Executive CompensationRaghavendra Rau21. Transparency and Disclosure in the Global Microfinance IndustryLeif Atle Beisland, Roy Mersland, and Trond Randoy22. Accounting Transparency and International Standard-SettingSidney J. Gray and Helen Kang23. Transparency of Fair Value Accounting and TaxEva Eberhartinger and Soojin Lee24. Transparency of Corporate Risk Management and PerformancePeter McKay25. Stress Testing, Transparency and Uncertainty in European Banking: What impacts?Rym Ayadi and Willem Pieter De Groen
