The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency

Jens Forssbaeck and Lars Oxelheim

Oxford Handbooks

One of the first reference works to survey existing research on transparency and explore its meaning and significance in different areas
Provides an up-to-date account of existing work on and approaches to transparency in economic research
Contributions are authoritative, yet accessible and approach transparency from a range of discplines

The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency

Jens Forssbaeck and Lars Oxelheim

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.

The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency

Jens Forssbaeck and Lars Oxelheim

Oxford Handbooks

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. The Multi-Faceted Concept of Transparency
Jens Forssbæck 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 Wadensjö
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

The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency

Jens Forssbaeck and Lars Oxelheim

Oxford Handbooks

Author Information

Jens Forssbaeck, Associate Professor of Corporate Finance, Lund University School of Economics and Management, and Lars Oxelheim, Chair in International Business and Finance, Lund Institute of Economic Research, Lund University

Jens Forssbæck is an Associate Professor of Finance at Lund University School of Economics and Management and a fellow of the Knut Wicksell Centre for Financial Studies in Lund, Sweden. He holds a PhD in Finance from Copenhagen Business School and has held visiting positions at universities in France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. His research lies mainly in the areas of international finance and financial intermediation, and he has been widely published in international scientific journals and in book form.

Lars Oxelheim is Professor of International Business and Finance at Lund University School of Economics and Management (LUSEM), Lund, Sweden. He is affiliated with the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden and the School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. He is Honorary Professor at the Fudan University, Shanghai and the founding chairman of the Swedish Network for European Studies in Economics and Business (SNEE). Professor Oxelheim has published approximately 40 books and numerous scientific articles. He is an active member of several international research networks and serves on the editorial board of a number of journals.

Contributors:

Raj Aggarwal
Edward I. Altman.
Rym Ayadi
James R. Barth
Iain Begg
Leif Atle Beisland
Thomas L. Berglund
Tom Brewer
Bo Carlsson
Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra
Willem Pieter De Groen
Eva Eberhartinger
Jens Forssbæck
Richard Friberg
Dimitrios Georgakakis
Petra M. Geraats
PervezN. Ghauri
John Goodell
Sidney J. Gray
Peder Greve
Philippe Gugler
Amjad Hadjikhani
Helen Kang
Soojin Lee
Ana Teresa Lehmann
Frederick Lehmann
Peter MacKay
Michael Mehling
Erik Mellander
Roy Mersland
Lars Oxelheim
Cecilia Pahlberg.
Michael G. Plummer
Apanard (Penny) Prabha
Trond Randoy
Raghavendra Rau
Herbert Rijken
Winfried Ruigrok
Richard J. Sweeney
Alissa Tafti
Eskil Wadensjö
Clas Wihlborg