The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency

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.PART 1: INTRODUCTION ; 1. The Multi-Faceted Concept of Transparency ; Jens Forssbaeck and Lars Oxelheim ; PART 2: POLICY TRANSPARENCY ; 2. Constitutional Transparency ; Richard J. Sweeney ; 3. Monetary Policy Transparency ; Petra M. Geraats ; 4. Fiscal Policy Transparency ; Iain Begg ; 5. Transparent and Unique Sovereign Default Risk Assessment ; Edward I. Altman and Herbert Rijken ; 6. Transparency and Competition Policy in an Imperfectly Competitive World ; Philippe Gugler ; 7. Transparency in International Trade Policy ; Michael G. Plummer and Alissa Tafti ; 8. Transparency of Climate Change Policies, Markets, and Corporate Practices ; Thomas L. Brewer and Michael Mehling ; 9. Transparency of Human Resource Policy ; Erik Mellander ; 10. Transparency of Innovation Policy ; Bo Carlsson ; PART 3: INSTITUTIONAL, MARKET AND REGULATORY TRANSPARENCY ; 11. Labor Market Transparency ; Eskil Wadensjo ; 12. Transparency in Financial Regulation ; James R. Barth, Apanard (Penny) Prabha, and Clas Wihlborg ; 13. Price Transparency and International Market Integration ; Richard Friberg ; 14. Transparency of Inward Investment Incentives ; Frederick Lehmann and Ana Teresa Lehmann ; 15. Transparency and Corruption ; Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra ; PART 4: CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ; 16. Multinational Corporations' Relationship with Political Actors: Transparency versus Opacity ; Pervez N. Ghauri, Amjad Hadjikhani, and Cecilia Pahlberg ; 17. Corporate Governance and Optimal Transparency ; Tom Berglund ; 18. Transparency Differences at the Top of the Organization: Market-Pull versus Strategic Hoarding Forces ; Winfried Ruigrok, Dimitrios Georgakakis, and Peder Greve ; 19 . Governance Transparency and the Institutions of Capitalism: Implications for Finance ; Raj Aggarwal and John Goodell ; 20. Transparency and Executive Compensation ; Raghavendra Rau ; 21. Transparency and Disclosure in the Global Microfinance Industry ; Leif Atle Beisland, Roy Mersland, and Trond Randoy ; 22. Accounting Transparency and International Standard-Setting ; Sidney J. Gray and Helen Kang ; 23. Transparency of Fair Value Accounting and Tax ; Eva Eberhartinger and Soojin Lee ; 24. Transparency of Corporate Risk Management and Performance ; Peter McKay ; 25. Stress Testing, Transparency and Uncertainty in European Banking: What impacts? ; Rym Ayadi and Willem Pieter De Groen