Good Governance, Financial Digitalization, and Village Fund Accountability: The Mediating Role of Community-Based Monitoring

Village Fund accountability has become a critical issue in decentralized public financial management, particularly in ensuring the transparent, efficient, and responsible use of public resources. Although previous studies have emphasized the importance of governance quality and digital financial systems, limited attention has been paid to the institutional mechanisms through which these factors jointly strengthen accountability. This study examines the direct effects of good governance and financial digitalization on Village Fund accountability and investigates the mediating role of community-based monitoring within the frameworks of Public Accountability Theory and Digital Governance Theory. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 200 respondents, including village government officials, Village Consultative Body (BPD) members, community leaders, and local supervisors directly involved in Village Fund management. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS. The findings reveal that good governance and financial digitalization have significant positive effects on both Village Fund accountability and community-based monitoring. Furthermore, community-based monitoring significantly enhances Village Fund accountability and partially mediates the relationships between good governance, financial digitalization, and accountability. These findings demonstrate that governance reforms and digital financial systems improve accountability not only through institutional and technological improvements but also by strengthening community participation in public oversight. The study extends Public Accountability Theory by demonstrating that accountability results from the interaction among institutional governance, digital financial capabilities, and community-based oversight rather than from governance quality alone. The findings offer practical implications for policymakers by highlighting the importance of integrating governance reform, digital financial transformation, and participatory monitoring to achieve sustainable Village Fund accountability in decentralized public administration.