Digital Public Financial Management and Good Governance: The Mediating Role of Transparency and Accountability in Local Government Performance

Abstract

This study examines the explanatory relationships among Digital Public Financial Management (DPFM), transparency, accountability, and local government performance, with transparency and accountability modeled as parallel mediators. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, data were obtained from 312 local government officials involved in financial management across multiple local government institutions and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). DPFM was positively associated with transparency (β = 0.756, p < .001), accountability (β = 0.783, p < .001), and local government performance (β = 0.241, p = .001). Transparency (β = 0.284, p < .001) and accountability (β = 0.391, p < .001) were also positively associated with performance. The specific indirect effects through transparency (β = 0.215, p < .001) and accountability (β = 0.306, p < .001) were significant, supporting parallel mediation. Because the design is cross-sectional and based on self-reported survey data, the findings are interpreted as explanatory associations rather than causal effects. The study contributes an integrated model showing how digital financial management is associated with local government performance through two governance mechanisms, while good governance is retained as the broader theoretical framing rather than a separately estimated construct.