Beyond Size and Politics: Why Administrative Responsiveness Matters Most for Municipal Transparency in Javanese Cities

Abstract

Transparency and accountability of local governments in Indonesia still show significant variation. Previous studies tend to emphasise structural factors such as government size and political competition, but have not explored the role of administrative responsiveness. This study aims to examine whether administrative responsiveness provides a stronger explanation than traditional factors in determining the transparency and accountability of city governments on the island of Java. The study uses a quantitative design with panel data from 28 cities in Java during the period 2019-2023 (140 observations). Data were collected from the Board of Audit, SAKIP evaluations, public satisfaction surveys, and the General Election Commission. The analysis uses ordinal logistic regression to test the influence of government size, administrative responsiveness, and the political environment on transparency and accountability, with financial reporting quality as a control variable. The results show that government size and the political environment have no significant effect. Administrative responsiveness showed a marginally significant positive effect (β=1.569; p=0.092; OR=4.80). The most interesting finding was that the quality of financial reporting had a significant negative effect (β=-0.687; p=0.005), indicating a trade-off between formal audit compliance and substantive transparency. The findings challenge assumptions of resource determinism and political competition in governance. Administrative responsiveness, although not statistically significant, shows the strongest substantive association. The audit quality paradox reveals that formal compliance does not automatically result in genuine transparency. Practical implications suggest the need to focus on day-to-day operational practices and citizen-government interactions, rather than just structural capacity building. This study contributes by demonstrating the importance of behavioural dimensions in local government transparency. Null findings for traditional factors and paradoxical findings for audit quality open up a new research agenda. Future research needs to use larger samples, more refined measures of responsiveness, and designs that allow for stronger causal inferences to confirm the relationships found in this study.