Popular Financial Reports as Fiscal Transparency Mechanisms: An Assessment Using the Fiscal Transparency Index for the Citizen User |
| |
| Authors: | Meagan M. Jordan Juita-Elena Yusuf Melanie Berman Casey Gilchrist |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. School of Public Service, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA;2. Winrock International, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | Popular financial reports (PFRs) are intended to increase transparency by providing financial information to a non-technical, citizen audience. We examine the extent to which PFRs are meeting the goal of transparency by developing a 23-criteria fiscal transparency index for the citizen user (FTI-CU) and applying it to a sample of PFRs (popular annual financial reports and citizen-centric reports) issued by local governments in the U.S. These criteria are organized into five areas: comprehension, access, financials, appearance, and community-focused. The analysis finds that, while there are areas for improvement, the PFRs rated the highest in the access and appearance criteria. |
| |
| Keywords: | Disclosure index financial reporting popular reporting transparency |
|
|
