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Name of the project: |
Impact of Transparency of Lobbying on Democratization and Its Consequences |
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Grant recipient |
Technical University of Liberec, Economic Faculty Studentská 2, Liberec. IČO 46747885 |
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Head of the project: Project coordinator |
Šárka Laboutková, associate professor |
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Abstract of the project: |
The proposed project deals with the current, as yet unsolved problem of transparency of lobbying. In the current theories and prevalent models that deal with lobbying activities, there is no reflection of the degree of transparency of lobbying, mainly due to the unclear distinction between corruption, lobbying in general, and transparent lobbying. It is important to stress the transparency in association with the phenomenon of corruption and ask the question: under what circumstances can transparency be an effective tool in reducing corruption and improving the institutional quality? The project therefore aims to 1) identify objective methods for measuring transparency of lobbying through the study of factors that contribute to the transparency of lobbying, 2) prove the positive impact of lobbying transparency on the democratization process and civil society, and on decision-making processes in relation to the efficient allocation of public funds, and 3) quantify the impact of transparent or non-transparent lobbying on institutional quality, economic performance and competitiveness. |
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Grant provider: |
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Project code: |
GA16-08786S |
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Key words: |
Lobbying; Transparency; Democratization; Institutions; Corruption; Public Choice; Regulation; Civil Society; Information; Efficiency; Public Sector; Interest Groups; Decision-making Process; Governance; New Institutional Economics. |
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Duration of the project: |
1. 1. 2016 – 31. 12. 2018 |
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Total budget: |
1 929 000 CZK |
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WWW: |
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Project description |
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Outcomes |
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Team --------------------------------- Progress report 2016 |
Šárka Laboutková (applicant) – She focuses on the theory of impact of non-economic factors on economic policy decision-making, lobbying, corruption, and institutional quality; she is a co-author of the first Czech comprehensive publication on lobbying. She will guarantee the consistency of the empirical and interpretative framework of the research and the interpretative productivity of the research findings. She will contribute to the qualitative research. e-mail: sarka.laboutkova@tul.cz Vít Šimral (co-investigator) – His professional interest lies in the area of good governance. He worked and published on the topics of political finances and regulatory regimes. Outside of the academia, he worked as an analyst for Transparency International in Vienna and as an analyst and a lobbyist for the Reconstruction of State coalition in Prague. He will guarantee the theoretical grounding of the project within the tenets of political science and contribute to the qualitative research. e-mail: vit.simral@gmail.com Milan Žák (co-investigator) – He has long-term focused on the political and economic aspects of economic development, in particular with regard to the quality of governance and decision-making processes. He is an editor of CES VSEM Yearbook on competitiveness and institutional quality. He will be responsible for the methodology of the research, qualitative research and the application of its theoretical conclusions on institutional quality. e-mail: milan.zak@vsem.cz Pavla Bednářová (co-investigator) – She continuously deals with theoretical microeconomics, changes in the microeconomic environment induced by globalization and integration processes. Among other publications, she is a co-author of Advanced Microeconomics. She will be responsible for construction of the theoretical models and the cost-effectiveness analysis. e-mail: pavla.bednarova@tul.cz Miloš Fišar (co-investigator) – He deals with application of statistical and econometrical methods in economics and world economy. He will be responsible for the laboratory experiments and quantitative outcomes of the project. e-mail: milos.fisar@econ.muni.cz ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2016 Work progress in solving the grant project and achieved partial results In the first year of the project it was necessary to complete the design of the research plan as a first step. Four main research areas have been identified. They are interconnected and complementary. 1) to test the primary hypothesis about the relationship between the transparency of lobbying and democratization First, it was necessary to create a comprehensive catalogue of key measures of transparent lobbying. The first proposal of the basic set of key measures was introduced as a presentation "The Elements of Transparent Lobbying" (Laboutková, Vymětal) at the CEPSA international conference in Ljubljana in June and as a conference contribution by Laboutková, Vymětal "Measures of transparent lobbying: how to approach it and evaluate it – a preliminary stage" (Current Trends in Public Sector Research, Šlapanice by Brno, forthcoming). The received comments were incorporated into a significantly more detailed article ,,Investigation into Key Elements of Transparent Lobbying" (Laboutková, Vymětal) which has been submitted for review to the scientific journal Public Policy and Administration (Jsc). Simultaneously the dataset for comparative analyses of legal regulation started to be created as a preparation of an analytical model. The outcomes of this research phase were in the first draft of the paper "Regulating Lobbying in Europe: No Model Fits All" (Šimral), which was presented at two international conferences during 2016 (CEFRES Prague in May, CEPSA Ljubljana in June). The paper has been submitted for a review for a special edited volume of the Czech Sociological Review (Jimp). The volume should be launched in spring 2018. Transparency and the scope of civil and economic liberties are crucial factors influencing institutional quality and therefore democratization. A connection between opaque lobbying and competitiveness through indicators of economic freedom, which are negatively affected by the consequences of non-transparent lobbying, was identified. In this context, the relationship between competitiveness and economic freedom has been empirically tested in an already published article "The Potential Effect of Non-transparent Lobbying on Competitiveness through Economic Freedom in the EU – an Empirical Survey" (Laboutková, Staňková) in Scientific Papers of the University of Pardubice, Series D (Jsc). One of the sub-parts of the research was focused on open government data that has been identified as one of the sunlight principles of lobbying transparency key measures. This issue was the subject of a draft "Open Government Partnership: Unutilized Potential? (Case of the CzechRepublic)" introduced by doc. Laboutková at the World Political Science Congress (IPSA Poznań in July). Based on the feedback the paper has been edited and completed for consideration by the scientific journal Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research (Jimp). 2) to create a model of influence in decision-making based on the three regimes of lobbying (transparent, non-transparent, none) The formulation of the basic starting point of a relationship model is based on a simple scheme: interests – the decision maker – the outcomes. The aim was to study the links among government, lobbyists, businesses, and citizens in terms of information flows and to design a preliminary model of such links and identify possible consequences. This model and the consequences resulting from three hypothetical situations of lobbying – none/non-transparent/transparent – was introduced by Laboutková and Žák in conference paper "Transparency of lobbying: a theoretical approach" (XIV International Scientific Conference on Economic Policy in the EU Member Countries, Petrovice, September). The theoretical construct will be verified in an experiment in the next steps of the research (see bullet 3) and qualitative research based on a questionnaire survey. A pilot questionnaire focused on lobbyists and lobbied in the EU structures has already been created (Laboutková, Žák). It is now in the process of consultation with selected practitioners. Prof. Žák also focused on the regulation and supervision of an independent enforcement system of transparency – a spontaneous behavior. it has been demonstrated that transparency is inherent in a spontaneous market system and its regulation and supervision set up just rules. These conclusions were presented at conferences (Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Prešov, April; SEEPS, Praha, May) entitled "Markets, Interests, the Information or the Lobby as a Problem of Economic Theory". 3) an experiment The laboratory experiment on effects of lobbying (none/non-transparent/transparent) on decision making is being prepared and is expected to be tested in first quarter of 2017. Ing. Fišar cooperates on the preparation of the laboratory experiment not only with the project team, but also with researchers James Tremewan (University of Vienna) and Melis Kartal (WU Vienna). 4) identification of costs and benefits of transparency on lobbying During the first year's investigation dr. Bednarova conducted an extensive research of both domestic and foreign literature related to the issue of public sector and public projects. The proposal to change the system of allocation of public resources might be regarded as a public project as well, thereby increasing the transparency of lobbying can be characterized as a specific public project. From the perspective of public projects, traditional static indicators (assessed as unsuitable for use as part of research project) and advanced dynamic indicators that analyse the costs (inputs) project and apply them to its benefits (foreground), were reflected. Brief information about the progress and results of business trips abroad
The Economic Science Association is a leading research society of experimental economics. The meetings are usually attended by leading researchers in the field. Ing. Fišar presented a work in progress "Investigation of Lobbying Strategies in Laboratory" and received valuable feedback there. The work was then transformed to a publication for a conference called Current Trends of Public Sector research by Fišar, Špalek, Urbanová: "Ex-ante targeting of lobbying strategies"
The CEPSA conference in Ljubljana in June was a success. Two members of the project team, doc. Laboutková and dr. Šimral, led the panel titled ,,Lobbying Political Leaders: Qui Bono", where they presented two papers. In addition to thought-provoking discussions about the possibility of lobbying regulation and transparency of the decision-making process, new relationships were established with other colleagues from abroad and valuable insight was gained into several other international research projects on lobbying and interest groups.
The 24th IPSA World Congress of Political Science drew 2,587 participants from 92 countries to share their research and discussed the main theme of the Congress. Doc. Laboutková presented conclusions on the role of open government data in enhancing transparent decision making and demonstrated a practical use of the OGP initiative using the example of the CzechRepublic. |