Search results

The purpose of this research is to analyse the web sites of large Spanish city councils with the objective of assessing the extent of information disseminated on the internet and determining what factors are affecting the observed levels of information disclosure.

The study takes as its reference point the existing literature on the examination of the quality of web sites, in particular the provisions of the Web Quality Model (WQM) and the importance of content as a key variable in determining web site quality. In order to quantify the information on city council web sites, a Disclosure Index has been designed which takes into account the content, navigability and presentation of the web sites. In order to contrast which variables determine the information provided on the web sites, our investigation bases itself on the studies about voluntary disclosure in the public sector, and six lineal regressions models have been performed.

The empirical evidence obtained reveals low disclosure levels among Spanish city council web sites. In spite of this, almost 50 per cent of the city councils have reached the “approved” level and of these, around a quarter obtained good marks. Our results show that disclosure levels depend on political competition, public media visibility and the access to technology and educational levels of the citizens.

The strategy of communication on the internet by local Spanish authorities is limited in general to an ornamental web presence but one that does not respond efficiently to the requirements of the digital society. During the coming years, local Spanish politicians will have to strive to take advantage of the opportunities that the internet offers to increase both the relational and informational capacity of municipal web sites as well as the digital information transparency of their public management.

The internet is a potent channel of communication that is modifying the way in which people access and relate to information and each other. The public sector is not unaware of these changes and is incorporating itself gradually into the new network society. This study systematises the analysis of local administration web sites, showing the lack of digital transparency, and orients politicians in the direction to follow in order to introduce improvements in their electronic relationships with the public.

This study aims to analyse the extent of online social responsibility (SR) information disclosure by Portuguese municipalities and to identify related determinant factors, based on Institutional Theory and Legitimacy Theories.

A content analysis was performed on webpages from 60 sampled municipalities, and an information disclosure index was created.

Descriptive statistics obtained indicate the Total Disclosure Index (TDI) value was 0.46. The Economic Information sub-category exhibits the highest value (0.66), followed by the Social and Environmental Information categories (0.61 and 0.36, respectively).

The multivariate analysis results indicate that LA21 implementation the existence of tax burdens, the characterisation of a municipality as urban and environmental/SR certification application positively influence SR information disclosure. TDI is negatively affected by the existence of an inactive population (i.e. by the percentage of individuals ≤19 and ≥65 years of age).

Corporate digital responsibility is a challenge for companies as it recognizes that the use of technology can have a significant impact on society. In addition, a whole philosophy of nonfinancial disclosure has recently been developing and has become a priority for organizations seeking to be transparent and accountable. While some companies have already adopted this approach, practices related to information transparency in corporate digital responsibility are still in their early stages, creating a need to improve reporting and promote greater understanding in this evolving field. Based on a study analyzing the disclosure of information on digitization and taking into account that the board of directors is the body in charge of companies’ disclosure policy, the study aims to identify the factors that favor this disclosure.

As established by Ponce et al. (2022), IBEX-35 companies are Public Interest Companies subject to European and international regulations and are required to provide information on economic efficiency indicators and nonfinancial indicators. In relation to the proposed objectives, the aim is to analyze the possible factors that condition the degree of dissemination of information on digitization. To this end, a multiple linear regression of the dissemination index has been proposed following the works of Gil et al. (2018), Rodríguez-Ariza et al. (2014) and Briano-Turrent & Rodríguez-Ariza (2013). The estimation will be performed using the SPSS software (version 27).

The results show that the number of independent directors has a positive influence on the level of information disclosed by companies online. Conversely – and in line with previous studies – board size does not have a significant impact on the level of information transparency.

This study has a few limitations that adversely impact the generalizability of the results. First, the subjective problem inherent in the rating and evaluation of information collected in the annual reports of sample companies cannot be excluded. Second, the consideration that each element that constitutes the IDT has the same weight, there being no weighting criteria. Finally, the study population is limited to 35 listed companies, not considering medium and small companies. Nevertheless, despite these limitations, the results are sufficiently interesting to justify and extend the research to a larger number of companies and, of course, to other stock market indices. Another interesting future line of research would be to include more independent variables to analyze what other factors determine the degree of digital transparency of companies.

The study may be useful for organizations to take into account when identifying the corporate governance characteristics that will improve the disclosure of information on digitalization, which is still incipient and voluntary. Similar considerations could be made with respect to the competent authorities in regulating the disclosure of information by companies, insofar as they should promote policies that, in general, favor corporate transparency.

This study contributes to the literature in three main ways: 1) although there is a large body of research that has explored the impact of corporate governance dimensions on the level of nonfinancial transparency, the present study pioneers the approach to digitalization disclosure in Spanish listed companies; 2) it provides evidence that it is highly advisable to have a majority of independent directors to achieve a higher degree of digital disclosure; and 3) the results of this research show the current state of digital transparency on the websites of most of the listed companies in Spain, which could serve as a benchmark for those responsible for issuing corporate governance policies and guidelines.

The application of new public governance by many countries has led to the creation of new management systems in public administration and the development of an effective accounting structure with efficient internal control to guarantee a proper provision of services that meet citizens’ requirements. The purpose of this paper is to focus on Spanish local government with the intention of determining the impact of the internal control structure on the disclosure of financial information on the internet.

The empirical analysis used combines a descriptive aspect with an explanatory one and seeks to answer the question of whether the internal control system (ICS) influences the disclosure of financial information on the websites of Spanish LGs. The authors use a multivariate model that allows us to verify the predictive capability of the previously defined explanatory variable, internal control, in 1,806 local governments. To test the hypotheses, the authors use two different models.

The authors consider the existence and quality of the financial information disclosure in relation to ICSs, and a series of financial and non-financial variables. The authors conclude that the structure of the ICS influences financial information disclosure and its quality. Also, the socio-political variable gives a better explanation of financial information disclosure than the financial variable.

This research is novel to determine whether the development of ICSs in Spanish municipalities has favored and increased the disclosure of financial information financial through the municipalities’ website transparency portal. These findings will contribute to increase the importance of internal control in the management of public entities.

This paper aims to determine whether high school students can become agents of change in their local communities by participating in a formal internship program implemented through a partnership between academia (high schools and universities), nonprofit organizations and key community stakeholders.

Pre- and post-assessments, activity journals and on-line interviews are used to measure the impact of internships on high school students’ sustainability leadership, using a train-the-trainer intervention led by university interns. A conceptual problem-solving framework is proposed and empirically tested to explore the linkages between complex problem constellations, sustainability transition strategies and sustainability visions.

The five core leadership competencies (systems thinking, strategic, anticipatory, normative and interpersonal) may not be as uniquely discrete as suggested in the literature. An effective learning experience depends on students’ developing competence in their ability to implement a strategic intervention, which is better acquired through hands-on experience rather than a classroom setting.

Students need experiential learning outside of the classroom to make sustainability come alive as a viable option for their communities.

The principles of social responsivity, engagement, experiential learning, capacity-building and entrepreneurialism can be executed by transforming the campus into a learning lab, which includes the local community.

This study empirically demonstrates that students need involvement in strategic interventions to imagine and conceptualize sustainability visions. It also shows how academia can help fulfill the United Nations sustainable development goals.

The provision of online information through the use of digital platforms (websites and social networks) can be helpful for public sector organisations to promote transparency and accountability, thereby bringing it closer to citizens, more accessible and with higher added value for society. Whereas the call for government transparency is manifest and seems to be equal for all parts of government, this paper investigates whether small government entities are able to cope with this demand. In addition, the drivers of digital platforms are investigated in the context of Portuguese parishes.

The paper follows a quantitative research approach based on an original data set with more than 3,000 observations collected in two different time periods (2015 and 2020), which looks at the parishes’ use of website and Facebook.

Findings show that about half of Portuguese parishes, which are mostly small entities with on average fewer than 3,500 inhabitants, have an institutional website, whereas almost three out of four have Facebook. The empirical analyses reveal that a lack of organisational capacity of small entities can be an obstacle for the use of an institutional website and of Facebook. Furthermore, factors from the provider side (e.g. being part of a merger, participation in previous elections) and the user side (e.g. having access to broadband internet) are also found to have an influence on the adoption, use, and dropping of a digital platform.

The use of an original data set with more than 3,000 observations, and the research of the influence of size as a proxy of organisational capacity on the presence of parishes on the internet and Facebook, are innovative elements of this paper. In addition, this study adds to the knowledge about the influence of organisational, political, and socio-demographic characteristics on the use of digital platforms by small government entities.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2023-0171

This paper aims to investigate the extent of intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) through websites and social media in Spanish local government (SLG) and analyze the factors that explain their disclosure.

The study applies content analysis and regression techniques. The ICD is analyzed for Spanish municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants and provincial capitals over a period from January 2018 to February 2020.

Findings emphasize that the quantity of disclosed information on intellectual capital (IC) is in the low level, particularly with regard to human capital (HC). Furthermore, the results show that the information provided via social media mainly concerns the relational capital (RC). On the other hand, results obtained indicate that larger municipalities, with lower financial autonomy and whose citizens have a high income level use the online media (both websites and social media) more actively to disclose information about IC. Finally, municipalities led by women and with high level of citizens' education exert a positive influence in the ICD only on websites.

This paper makes a number of key contributions to the existing body of knowledge, focusing on ICD, a neglected area in the public sector accounting literature. It explores and identifies the supply-side and demand-side determinants of information affecting the ICD in local governments. The results of this research could be useful for policymakers, regulators and governments' managers to improve the online information addressing ICD issues.

This paper adopts an innovative perspective by investigating the use of alternative tools for ICD in local government context (websites and social media). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that focuses on investigating the determinants of online ICD in local governments.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived value of an action learning experience (i-Week) on the development of important soft employability skills applying expectation confirmation theory (ECT).

A total of 1,295 activities were offered in 36 cities of ten countries. Each activity had a faculty member and multidisciplinary teams to address an authentic situation during one full-time week. The ECT was applied to assess the disparity between what was expected from the students and their actual learning experience. A total of 929 students answered a Perceived Value Questionnaire to measure 14 transversal competences categorized on five employability skills.

Achievements were statistically higher than expectations in 5 out of 14 transversal competences. The perceived value of the i-Week reflects the impact on soft skills: self-skills, personal, learning, social and systemic. The paper proposed an integrated model to learn these competences from action learning experiences.

The questionnaire is a self-assessment and not an actual performance measure. Besides transversal competences, there were more disciplinary competences that are not included in the study.

The perceived value model of the i-Week could be applied for different educational levels and contexts considering a lower scale. A new version of the Perceived Value Questionnaire on Competences is provided for educational research.

The educational experience, instruments and analysis described in the study might be easily transferred to other action activity used to measure perceived learning results on multiple skills.