This thesis set out to examine the role played by monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in promoting good governance in South Africa. It examined how M&E, in promoting democratic and good governance deliverables, such as transparency, accountability and learning, influences public administration practice. The reciprocity between democracy and M&E was demonstrated by assessing how the country managed democratic transition, the influence of globalisation on country practice, and specifically how the developmental State advances good governance. The thesis reviewed the evolution of M&E at the continental and country level, and also examined how the discipline has evolved over time, and its particular application in South Africa. A comprehensive overview of the oversight infrastructure was conducted, and tested against the performance of the Department of Social Development (DSD), the case study. Through an assessment of three distinct, but interrelated M&E perspectives, termed mandatory, persuasive and civic M&E, a differentiated picture of policy and actual performance was seen. It was found that mandatory M&E was strong, and the DSD generally performed well against this benchmark. Mandatory M&E also provided the legal basis and support for other forms of M&E. However, it was not always clear that compliance on its own leads to good governance. In examining persuasive M&E, the decision-making environment within the DSD was assessed, and the role of the DSD M&E function examined in terms of, amongst others, improving learning. Civic M&E revealed that the DSD has considered and acted upon the results of the non-government sector in revising its policies. However, there was no effective civic M&E at community level, largely due to uncoordinated or weak NGOs, many of whom were now contracted to the DSD. The research suggests that whilst information has been generated through different forms of M&E, without effective follow-through by decision-makers, it generated transparency, and not necessarily accountability. Furthermore, administrative compliance cannot on its own tantamount to good governance. The thesis argues for methodological pluralism, stronger civic M&E, and confirms the assertion that M&E promotes good governance.

ABSTRACT Under apartheid, the South African intelligence services operated in secrecy and without the framework of a Constitution upholding basic human rights. The situation changed drastically with the introduction of a democratic political dispensation in 1994, and with the adoption of the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1996. One of the fundamental rights contained in the Bill of Rights (Chapter 2 of the Constitution) was the right of access to information. The subsequent passage of legislation to give effect to this right, required all state structures - including the civilian intelligence services, the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Service - to actively disclose information about themselves, and to receive and respond to requests for access to records that were made in terms of the enabling legislation. The main issue with which the study is concerned - the balance between secrecy and transparency in a democracy - is one of a wider set of concerns related to democratic control and accountability of the intelligence and security services. The study explores policy options for reconciling the public’s right to information with the intelligence services’ need for a degree of secrecy with which to conduct their work. Inter alia, it compares the policy choices of three countries about how their intelligence services should function in relation to access to information legislation. The research reveals that there was uneven and erratic compliance by the intelligence services with key provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000, up to and including August 2005. The weaknesses arose because of the absence of clear policy on how to implement the Act in relation to the intelligence services, and in relation to information held by the intelligence and security services. The study therefore argues the need for a comprehensive policy package, which sets criteria for the conditions under which information should be protected from disclosure, and the criteria for determining when information no longer requires such protection. Finally, it argues for strict oversight of the intelligence services’ choices around secrecy and transparency.

A central tenet of industrial organization is that market concentration leads to higher prices. At the same time, there is a growing awareness that the market for health care is unique due to its complexity, and it is often difficult for consumers to make fully informed decisions. Might information frictions exacerbate market power in concentrated markets and lead to higher prices? While a growing literature seeks to address this question in a number of contexts, this dissertation focuses on the lack of price transparency in health care. I argue that the inability of consumers to compare prices is a major factor leading to high prices when health care is provided by the private market. In Chapter 1, I use a dataset covering all private medical claims in a state to examine the introduction of a state-run website providing detailed information about out-of-pocket prices for a subset of medical procedures. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation across procedures available on the website as well as the timing of the introduction, I use a difference-in-difference approach and find significant savings for both consumers and insurers. Part of the effect is due to consumers switching to lower cost providers. However, there is a small but significant supply-side effects in the long-run, i.e. there are lower negotiated prices. These lower prices benefit all insured individuals including those that do not use the website. Supply-side effects reduce price dispersion and are especially relevant when medical providers operate in concentrated markets. A relatively small fraction of consumers actually used the price transparency website when it was available. Therefore, it is important to understand why more consumers aren't using the price transparency tool and what would happen if more consumers were informed about prices. Answering this question requires a structural model, which is the focus of Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. In Chapter 2, I study demand for health care services when at least some consumers lack full information about prices. By exploiting the variation from the introduction of the website, I am able to separately identify consumer price sensitivity and the degree of uncertainty about prices. I also explicitly model the decision to use the price transparency website when it is available. This structural approach yields two main advantages over the reduced-form approach. First, the model can be used to examine what would happen if more consumers were incentivized to use the price transparency website. Second, the model provides insight into the welfare effects of price information. Finally, the reduced-form evidence that there is a supply-side effect of the website when even a small fraction of consumers are informed motivates a more in depth analysis of the supply-side. Chapter 3 combines the demand model of Chapter 2 with a model of bargaining between medical providers and insurers to examine how price transparency affects equilibrium prices. Model estimates and difference-in-differences estimates both imply that the website reduces health care spending by 3 to 4 percent. I then use the model to examine the effects of price transparency more generally. In counterfactual simulations, I find that price transparency would generate a substantial reduction in equilibrium prices if a larger fraction of consumers in the market were informed. Combining the price transparency website with high cost sharing would give individuals more incentive to use the price transparency tool, reducing health care spending by 18 percent. My research is intended to inform the policy debate surrounding the value of health care price transparency tools. In sum, I argue that while the value of price transparency tools is modest when only a small fraction of consumers are incentivized to use the tools, the savings become quite substantial when enough consumers are informed about prices.

The (Master's) Thesis deals with the process of awarding the grants to the municipalities. The main emphasis of the Thesis is put on the following questions: who (political representatives in particular committees, councils and local authorities, or clerks), under which standards and in what way decides about the funds distribution. The research will be made in chosen municipalities. There will be given certain standards that will serve as a base for the research analysis of the transparency of the process of awarding the grants. In the primary phase, the data will be collected by the means of standardized interview of particular municipal employees concerned with grant policy. The secondary phase of the research will be based on desk research method. The research will challenge the hypothesis that the grant programmes in municipalities are transparent. Among the analyzed variables, there are objectives of the grant, requirements for awarding of the grant, authors of the grants, people responsible for awarding of the grants, grant beneficiaries, the amount of contributions, supervision over funds distribution and release of the grants.

1 Transparency of proceedings in international arbitration Summary The purpose of my thesis is to explore the concept of transparency in international arbitration. There are different types of international arbitration, characterized by different participants and naturally distinct aspects of procedure. One of these aspects is, according to my opinion, the said transparency of the proceedings. For the purposes of this thesis, I have decided to analyze the position of transparency in two major areas, namely in investment arbitration and in commercial arbitration, respectively. As the concept of transparency in international arbitration is only recently developing, there is much to be resolved. Thus, the state of the affairs with respect to the subject matter of this thesis is ambiguous and misty. The aim of my research is to describe the position of transparency in two basic types of arbitration and identify the reasons for different trends in this respect. The thesis is composed of an Introduction, four basic chapters and a Conclusion. Chapters are divided into subchapters and parts, respectively. The Introduction presents the topic, defines relevant terminology and sets out the aim of my thesis. Chapter One deals with the confidentiality of arbitration which is clearly opposite concept than that of the...

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:27:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Alana Morais Abreu e Silva.pdf: 3328933 bytes, checksum: 2fa6ce550c01ee63f737967547158a98 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-03-31 / This research includes technically the production, scanning / tinge and printing of objects / matrices made in transparent plastic polyethylene. This support provides a reflective study and poetic about the different processes of construction of the work, scoring its relationship with traditional and digital technologies, and poetic thinking about the limits of the field. Initially this study focused on the production in the engraving workshop, which was held in a freedom technical and conceptual in the process of creation. The variations of matrices allowed then concentrate production in two opposite techniques: one is the extraction of material (plastic), and the other in collage of material. With the development of these two techniques deployed, the process experimental restricted itself, producing poetic reflections, conceptual searches and increased volume of production. The technique and the concept of engraving developed the work, the processes and considerations involving the manufacture of objects from / matrices until your impressions or final proposals. As path poetic, was questioned the transparency of the object / matrix being immaterial, missing, and their behaviour in steps of the production process, printing and reflection. This supports research on the work of artist Regina Silveira, in times that discusses the immaterial being, under the aspect of the concepts and ways of doing and understand the engraving. So its work built on the line of poetic visual, the daily the artist is a member of thinking and construction of the work, so as to the document which it uses referring to the process of creation. This research presents technical and conceptual axis as the engraving, which promotes reflection on the presence of transparent as a representation missing. / Esta pesquisa compreende tecnicamente a produção, digitalização/entitamento e impressão de objetos/matrizes confeccionados em plástico polietileno transparente. Este suporte proporciona um estudo reflexivo e poético acerca dos diferentes processos de construção da obra, pontuando sua relação com as tecnologias tradicionais e digitais, e o pensamento poético acerca dos limites da matéria. Inicialmente o presente estudo concentrou-se na produção em ateliê de gravura, em que foi exercida uma liberdade técnica e conceitual no processo de criação.As variações de matrizes permitiram, posteriormente, concentrar a produção em duas técnicas opostas: uma consiste na extração de material(plástico), e a outra, em colagem de material. Com o desenvolvimento destas duas técnicas destacadas, o processo experimental afunilou-se, produzindo reflexões poéticas, pesquisas conceituais e maior volume de produção.A técnica e o conceito de gravura orquestraram os fazeres, os processos e as reflexões que abrangeram desde a confecção de objetos/matrizes até suas impressões ou propostas finais.Como trajeto poético, foi questionada a transparência do objeto/ matriz ser imaterial, ausente, bem como o seu comportamento nas etapas do processo de produção, impressão e reflexão.Esta investigação apóia-se no trabalho da artista Regina Silveira, nos momentos em que discute a imaterialidade, sob a vertente dos conceitos e modos de fazer e entender a gravura.Por tratar-se de um trabalho construído na linha de poéticas visuais, o diário de artista apresenta-se como membro do pensamento e construção da obra, portanto, como documento ao qual se recorre referendando o processo de criação. Esta pesquisa apresenta como eixo técnico e conceitual a gravura, que promove a reflexão sobre o transparente como presença de uma representação ausente.

This study evaluated one important dimension of nonprofit self-regulation, the relationship between the Iowa Register of Accountability and voluntary website disclosure by Iowa nonprofits. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of self-regulation in Iowa to improve accountability as measured by voluntary website disclosure and transparency. As part of the study, an instrument was developed to reliably measure nonprofit website disclosure and transparency. The disclosure score ratings from Iowa Register of Accountability nonprofit organizations were compared to those not listed on the Register. Other factors relevant to disclosure and transparency (e.g. the method to become listed on the Iowa Register of Accountability and the type and number of organization staff members who received training) were also tested. Results indicated that nonprofit organizations listed on the Iowa Register of Accountability were more likely to have active websites and to voluntarily disclose recommended information on their websites than those Iowa nonprofits that have not sought or achieved listing on the Register. In particular, the Register group had statistically higher mean disclosure scores in four areas (Key Staff, Strategic Plan, Annual Reports, and Audit and Financial Statements) compared to the Non-Register group. Contrary to expectations, the method to become listed on the Iowa register of Accountability and the type and number of staff members who received training were not related to higher disclosure scores. The important finding of this research is that nonprofit organizations listed on the Iowa Register of Accountability were more likely to voluntarily disclose recommended information on their websites than those Iowa nonprofits that have not sought or achieved listing on the Register. Recommendations are made in terms of ways to improve nonprofit website disclosure and transparency by enhancing and expanding training opportunities. A major contribution of this study for future research in the field was the development of a disclosure scoring instrument to assess and compare website disclosure and transparency.

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Behandelte Themen sind: Staat und Wirtschaft als wesentliches Thema von TI; Staat und Wirtschaft früher stärker verbandelt; Distanz zwischen Staat und Wirtschaft als Korruptionsprävention; Geforderte Distanz gegenläufig zu New Public Management; New Public Management als Alternative zum Klüngel; Public Private Partnerships (PPP) – populär, wo formalisierte Lösungen versagen; „Privatisierung“ führt zu neuen Korruptionsrisiken; New Public Management – in Teilbereichen Alternative zu „Privatisierung“?; Das Potential von Transparenz; Neue Chancen für Ethik und Integrität

Sustainability reporting aims to inform stakeholders of the companies’ activities within environmental, social and economic issues. The reporting is a tool to increase transparency and it shows the company’s effort to take responsibility and account for its actions. Assurance of sustainability reports is an increasing trend that strengthens the credibility of the reports. There is a risk, however, of management taking control over the assurance process. In order to improve the quality of the sustainability report and its usefulness for the stakeholders, reporting and assurance standards have evolved. The purpose of the study is to describe and analyse the assurance statements of sustainability reports of public listed companies in Sweden. The findings allow the evaluation of how the assurance process influences accountability and transparency. The study is a content analysis of eleven assurance statements from 2010. The findings are categorized and analysed by assurance provider: accountants and consultants. The difference between the assurance statements were mainly due to the assurance standard used. The assurance statements provided by the consultants were more descriptive and stakeholder oriented compared to the accountants. We highlight the importance of the assurance process’ usefulness and discuss the limited level of assurance applied in the engagements. We argue that, an open and standardized assurance process increases transparency that enables stakeholders to make own judgements whether the company takes responsibility and accounts for its actions. Transparency also creates incentives for the reporting company to be accountable. To increase transparency and accountability, it is essential to involve stakeholders in the assurance process.