Does political ideology act as a moderator of transparency drivers? an empirical analysis of active information disclosure in local governments

• Author(s): Tejedo-Romero, Francisca ; Araújo, Joaquim Filipe
• Date: 2023
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/93970
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Active information disclosure; transparency; local government; political ideology; municipalities
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho

Description

This article provides an analysis of the moderating role played by politicalideology in transparency, thereby contributing to the growing body of litera-ture on the topic of local government transparency. Although previous researchhas indicated that transparency in local governments depends on a variety ofpolitical factors, the influence of political ideology on transparency shows someinconsistencies. This paper argues that, among various political issues thataffect the disclosure of information, political ideology acts as a moderator ofactive information disclosure. The empirical analysis is based on unbalancedpanel data from 308 Portuguese municipalities. The results of this study confirmthat political ideology moderates the relationship between political factors andactive information disclosure. Specifically, they indicate that political ideologyplays an important role in improving levels of transparency in municipalitiesgoverned by left-wing politicians.