Freedom of information (FOI) laws empower citizens to access public information from public organizations, enhancing government transparency and accountability. Previous studies have evaluated government transparency and FOI compliance based on the proactive release of information and governments' responses to citizens' requests. This study extends prior research by focusing on regulatory compliance mechanisms in German public organizations. Specifically, it investigates how these organizations respond to information requests under varying legislative frameworks across Germany's 16 states (Länder). Based on six legal elements (de jure provisions), we examine FOI law stringency and investigate their association with government responsiveness to approximate de facto regulatory compliance. Based on an analysis of over 100,000 requests directed at more than 7000 German public sector organizations, we find that not all six legal elements are directly associated with responsiveness. Only those elements that signify a broader organizational commitment to transparency are linked to higher responsiveness. This study contributes to public sector transparency literature by highlighting the complex interplay between variations in FOI laws and actual compliance, and underscores the need for further research on the assumed causal relationship between FOI law stringency and transparency outcomes.

中文翻译：

---

从法律上的透明度到事实上的透明度：根据信息自由法分析合规差距


信息自由 (FOI) 法授权公民从公共组织获取公共信息，从而提高政府透明度和问责制。此前的研究根据主动发布信息和政府对公民要求的回应来评估政府透明度和信息自由合规性。本研究通过关注德国公共组织的监管合规机制扩展了先前的研究。具体来说，它调查了这些组织如何在德国 16 个州 (Länder) 的不同立法框架下响应信息请求。基于六个法律要素（法律上的条款），我们检查信息自由法的严格性并调查其与政府响应能力的关系以近似事实上的监管合规性。根据对针对 7000 多个德国公共部门组织的 100,000 多个请求的分析，我们发现并非所有六个法律要素都与响应能力直接相关。只有那些表示更广泛的组织对透明度的承诺的元素才能与更高的响应能力相关联。这项研究通过强调信息自由法的变化与实际合规性之间复杂的相互作用，为公共部门透明度文献做出了贡献，并强调需要进一步研究信息自由法严格性与透明度结果之间假定的因果关系。