The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional Transparency

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.

Jens Forssback 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.