From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery

Open data and open government data have recently attracted much attention as a means to innovate, add value, and improve outcomes in a variety of sectors, public and private. Although some of the benefits of open data initiatives have been assessed...

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Main Author: Jelenic, Michael Christopher
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/410191559670657041/From-Theory-to-Practice-Open-Government-Data-Accountability-and-Service-Delivery
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31800
id okr-10986-31800
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-318002022-09-20T00:13:35Z From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery Jelenic, Michael Christopher OPEN DATA OPEN GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY ACCOUNTABILITY SERVICE DELIVERY GOVERNANCE Open data and open government data have recently attracted much attention as a means to innovate, add value, and improve outcomes in a variety of sectors, public and private. Although some of the benefits of open data initiatives have been assessed in the past, particularly their economic and financial returns, it is often more difficult to evaluate their social and political impacts. In the public sector, a murky theory of change has emerged that links the use of open government data with greater government accountability as well as improved service delivery in key sectors, including health and education, among others. In the absence of cross-country empirical research on this topic, this paper asks the following: Based on the evidence available, to what extent and for what reasons is the use of open government data associated with higher levels of accountability and improved service delivery in developing countries? To answer this question, the paper constructs a unique data set that operationalizes open government data, government accountability, service delivery, as well as other intervening and control variables. Relying on data from 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the paper finds a number of significant associations between open government data, accountability, and service delivery. However, the findings suggest differentiated effects of open government data across the health and education sectors, as well as with respect to service provision and service delivery outcomes. Although this early research has limitations and does not attempt to establish a purely causal relationship between the variables, it provides initial empirical support for claims about the efficacy of open government data for improving accountability and service delivery. 2019-06-06T14:44:30Z 2019-06-06T14:44:30Z 2019-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/410191559670657041/From-Theory-to-Practice-Open-Government-Data-Accountability-and-Service-Delivery http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31800 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8873 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic OPEN DATA
OPEN GOVERNMENT
TRANSPARENCY
ACCOUNTABILITY
SERVICE DELIVERY
GOVERNANCE
spellingShingle OPEN DATA
OPEN GOVERNMENT
TRANSPARENCY
ACCOUNTABILITY
SERVICE DELIVERY
GOVERNANCE
Jelenic, Michael Christopher
From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8873
description Open data and open government data have recently attracted much attention as a means to innovate, add value, and improve outcomes in a variety of sectors, public and private. Although some of the benefits of open data initiatives have been assessed in the past, particularly their economic and financial returns, it is often more difficult to evaluate their social and political impacts. In the public sector, a murky theory of change has emerged that links the use of open government data with greater government accountability as well as improved service delivery in key sectors, including health and education, among others. In the absence of cross-country empirical research on this topic, this paper asks the following: Based on the evidence available, to what extent and for what reasons is the use of open government data associated with higher levels of accountability and improved service delivery in developing countries? To answer this question, the paper constructs a unique data set that operationalizes open government data, government accountability, service delivery, as well as other intervening and control variables. Relying on data from 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the paper finds a number of significant associations between open government data, accountability, and service delivery. However, the findings suggest differentiated effects of open government data across the health and education sectors, as well as with respect to service provision and service delivery outcomes. Although this early research has limitations and does not attempt to establish a purely causal relationship between the variables, it provides initial empirical support for claims about the efficacy of open government data for improving accountability and service delivery.
format Working Paper
author Jelenic, Michael Christopher
author_facet Jelenic, Michael Christopher
author_sort Jelenic, Michael Christopher
title From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery
title_short From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery
title_full From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery
title_fullStr From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery
title_full_unstemmed From Theory to Practice : Open Government Data, Accountability, and Service Delivery
title_sort from theory to practice : open government data, accountability, and service delivery
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2019
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/410191559670657041/From-Theory-to-Practice-Open-Government-Data-Accountability-and-Service-Delivery
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31800
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