Regulators as guardians of trust? The contingent and modest positive effect of targeted transparency on citizen trust in regulated sectors

Stephan Grimmelikhuijsen, Femke de Vries, Robin Bouwman

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5 Citations (Scopus)
36 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Targeted transparency has become an essential tool for regulation. Through information disclosure, regulatory agencies try to get regulated companies to improve their practices and comply with regulations. In the past, regulation was associated with distrust in regulated sectors. Recent research suggests that regulation, especially targeted transparency, may also increase citizen trust in regulated sectors. However, empirical evidence on whether transparency as a regulatory tool undermines or decreases trust in a sector is lacking. We contribute to this debate by investigating the effect of targeted transparency on citizen trust through a large-scale representative survey experiment (n = 5303). We used 12 transparency frames in three regulated domains in the Netherlands (consumer rights, healthcare safety, and nuclear plant safety). Our findings suggest that, in general, targeted transparency does not undermine trust, but has a positive effect on trust in regulated sectors. However, this effect is small and contextual, depending on the regulatory domain and type of transparency frame.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)136-149
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Public Administration Research and Theory
Volume34
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Public Management Research Association.

Research programs

  • ESSB PA

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