ABSTRACT
This paper utilizes corporate governance concepts to assess the merit of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act). The paper first compares the information flows seen in a corporate context to those seen in a governmental reporting context. The paper then utilizes agency theory to establish a conceptual link between the two reporting processes. This conceptual link is used to identify common goals between the participants in the information flows. Following this, a corporate governance model is used to outline factors that contribute to effective corporate governance. This governance model is then used as a basis for assessing the merit of the DATA Act. After this, differences between the participants in the information flows are discussed and limitations of the paper are acknowledged. The paper suggests that the DATA Act has merit due to its potential to improve transparency and monitoring in the governmental reporting process. Increased data timeliness and usability will enhance transparency, while improvements in automation, data transfer, and data analytics will improve monitoring. The conclusions of this paper have implications for the participants in the governmental reporting process including government agencies, legislators, regulatory bodies, contractors, non-voting taxpayers, and members of the voting public.
