Do open budget institutional changes improve social development?

Resumo

Although the open budget issue is receiving growing attention in the recent academic literature, it continues to be a topic whose consequences need careful investigation. This study aims to verify whether better social development occurs when open budget institutional changes are in place and whether open budgeting and social development are related to democratic regimes.  The main findings of the paper are that the combination of transparency, participation and accountability leads to higher levels of social development and that open budgets and social development are associated with democratic regimes.