DIGITAL PUBLIC FINANCE AS A GOVERNANCE TOOL: IMPLICATIONS OF TRANSPARENCY AND EFFICIENCY IN EMERGING ECONOMIES

The paper explores digital public finance as a governance system in developing economies, filling an information gap on the institutional environment for digitalization, as identified in existing literature on the topic. Through an integrative literature review, this paper combines existing frameworks and empirical studies on digitalization and institutional theory, specifically on developing economies globally. The paper finds that digitalization, as a system of e-budgeting, e-procurement, and artificial intelligence forecasting, improves transparency and efficiency through real-time information accessibility, standardization, and oversight. However, it depends on institutional capacity, regulatory frameworks, digitalization, and human capital. Emerging economies are more likely to have hybrid approaches, where digitalization coexists with traditional approaches. The paper focuses on integrating digitalization reforms in public finance with overall governance system reforms. The research contributes to redefining digital public finance as an institutional system of governance, particularly for developing economies globally.