Evidence of Development Impact from Institutional Change: A Review of the Evidence on Open Budgeting

32 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Cristina Ling

Cristina Ling

World Bank

Dawn K. Roberts

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: July 1, 2014

Abstract

Despite the growing body of literature examining the effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives, there remains limited substantiation for whether and how open budgeting contributes to reductions in poverty and improvements in the lives of the poor. This paper reviews available evidence and conclude that institutional changes can contribute to higher-level outcomes in certain contexts. The approach first draws from existing studies of transparency and accountability initiatives and then follows their references to broaden the evidence base. The findings highlight the importance of measuring budget transparency, accountability, and participation and tracing their outcomes along an incremental, nonlinear results chain. Logical links or ongoing loops in this sequence include the interplay or interdependency among these three dimensions; the subsequent achievement of key, often mutually reinforcing, intermediate development outcomes; and ultimately, improved program or service delivery as the key lever for influencing development impact. Rather than establishing standard indicators, the process begins to identify which aspects of the institutional change are valid for measurement and what contextual factors to consider. Overall, this review serves as a starting point and underscores the need for further investigation to establish effective measurement practices of institutional change and build an evidence base for understanding the relative robustness of institutional change paths and the context in which they are likely to matter.

Keywords: Inequality, Economics and Institutions, Public Sector Management and Reform, Non Governmental Organizations

Suggested Citation

Ling, Cristina and Roberts, Dawn K., Evidence of Development Impact from Institutional Change: A Review of the Evidence on Open Budgeting (July 1, 2014). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6968, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2469526

Cristina Ling

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Dawn K. Roberts

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
122
Abstract Views
717
Rank
414,524
PlumX Metrics