Access to government information and government corruption: an empirical investigation

الملخص EN

This study aims to investigate the effect of public access to and use of government information on government corruption.

Methodologically, the study uses a multivariate regression model to assess this impact.

Adopting a cross-sectional model, the study draws on cross-country data.

The study also draws on a few cases at the micro level with a view to corroborating the findings based on the multivariate regression model.

Furthermore, the study is designed to redress the methodological problems that are commonly encountered in cross-sectional regression models used in empirical investigation into the causes of corruption (e.g., multicolinearity and heteroscedasticity).

Three principal findings emerge from the study.

First, access to government information reduces corruption at both the micro and macro levels.

Second, a supporting institutional and political environment is a sine qua non of the effectiveness of access to government information as an anti-corruption policy tool.

Third, public access to traditional media (e.g., TV, radio, mobile phones, etc.) is an effective policy tool for curbing corruption, particularly in contexts characterized by limited computer and Internet penetration in society.

For developing countries, the policy implication is that this access may have to be an important component of anti-corruption policy initiatives.