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The aim of this article is to contribute to the literature on the implementation of worldwide freedom of information (FOI) laws, as observed in Spanish local governments, by hypothesizing and obtai...

This article focuses on a little-explored area of research, seeking to explain how political changes influence the participation of citizens in the social networks of local governments. In the cont...

Although the benefits of social media for enhancing citizens’ interactions with their local governments are well known in a more global context, few studies have focused on Latin America, or on the MERCOSUR countries in particular. This paper examines the use of dialogic strategies in the social media activities of local governments in MERCOSUR countries in order to generate citizens’ online engagement. Analysis of this question enhances our understanding of the use of social media by local governments in less developed countries and highlights the need for empirical evidence on the use of dialogic communication theory regarding stakeholder engagement with social media. The findings obtained reflect the positive influence of dialogic strategies on citizens’ online engagement, particularly those based on dialogic loop , useful information and generation of return visits, aimed at fostering participation via social media.

The aim of this study is to identify, synthesise and evaluate the current state of research into transparency in the public sector, with respect to the period 2005–2014, in order to provide a critical overview of published trends in this field and to identify future areas of interest. Specifically, we focus on the questions of mandatory and voluntary transparency that arouse most interest among researchers, institutions and journals in this field, with particular attention to the methodological aspects of the studies considered. To achieve these aims, various scientometric approaches are applied to articles included in the 2014 edition of the ISI Journal Citation Reports database for the research areas “Public Administration”, “Political Science” and “Information and Library Science”. During the past ten years the number of studies published in this field has increased considerably, particularly as regards voluntary transparency.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: to identify legislators’ policy on the mandatory, online proactive disclosure of information; and to identify environmental influences on behaviour in this respect. To implement these proactive policies on transparency included in the legislative frameworks, internet websites are being used as a means of disseminating this proactive information. Design/methodology/approach To achieve these goals, by application of the theories used to analyse the causes of information disclosure, the authors first developed an index of online proactive disclosure; then, by means of a regression analysis, the authors examined and tested eight hypotheses related to environmental variables. Findings The results obtained show that legislators have chosen to require scant online proactive information on which to base institutional legitimacy, and that in this respect they are influenced by how long the previous laws have been in force, by the level of public sector borrowing and by the degree of political commitment among the population. Originality/value The results obtained from this study will provide valuable information for future legislators and for civil society about information policies, clarifying the amount and nature of information that, according to the authorities, should be disclosed without the need for prior request. The paper is also intended to stimulate the development of further research in this area, by showing how different economic, political, social, cultural and institutional contexts influence the decisions taken regarding the public information that must be reported proactively to stakeholders.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the level of implementation by Spanish local authorities of the Transparency Act (19/2013), and their voluntary information disclosure in areas where such disclosure is obligatory in other EU countries. We identify the main factors that may influence the implementation of this Act and the self-regulation policies adopted. Our analysis highlights the existence of delays among some local authorities, with notable differences between municipalities with larger and smaller populations, in implementing the Act, and also the fact that many municipalities are committed to achieving transparency, often going beyond minimum legal requirements. Factors such as population size, the political ideology of the governing party and the education level and economic capacity of the population are related to the level of implementation of transparency and self-regulatory policies in this respect by local authorities. We acknowledge that the 2013 Act was still being implemented dur...

The aim of this paper is to develop the findings of previous research on policies regarding online proactive information disclosure, both voluntary and mandatory. We present and analyze new evidence on the factors that influence decisions taken in this respect. This study is focused on Central America, a region that has received little previous research attention on these issues. To achieve the study goals, we analyze the online information disclosure made by local authorities, regarding both the degree of compliance with legal requirements and the volume of information provided voluntarily. Finally, with respect to the same two types of information provision, we determine the influence of environmental factors on online information disclosure. The results obtained show that transparency is more an issue of attitude than of laws, and highlight the existence of a large gap between legal requirements and actual performance.

The social media are becoming a major channel of online interactive participation, and local governments are seizing this opportunity to enhance citizen engagement in political and social affairs. This article analyses the various forms of social media used – that is, Twitter or Facebook – by citizens in their relations with Spanish local government, to determine which of these achieves the strongest degree of commitment. We also analyse the influence of various factors on this level of commitment. The results obtained show that Facebook is preferred to Twitter as a means of participating in local government issues. Other factors that are relevant to citizen engagement are the level of online transparency, mood, the level of activity in social media and the interactivity offered by the local government website. The findings of this study contribute significantly to understanding how citizen engagement is influenced by the type of social media adopted.

Municipal authorities often use social media to enhance communication with the population and to encourage participation in decision-making processes. In this chapter, we analyse the evolution of such engagement via Facebook, before and after the local elections held in Spain in 2015. Engagement was measured by obtaining metrics of popularity, commitment and virality for each Facebook profile, in a sample composed of large local governments. The results obtained reflect significant differences in the index of engagement before and after these elections, which was calculated in terms of Facebook “likes”, “shares” and “comments”. A significant decrease was observed in citizens’ engagement to their local government following the election, especially among governments where emergent parties with a left-wing ideology took power, in contrast to areas governed by right-wing parties, where levels of engagement increased.

National governments are increasingly aware of the importance of carrying out Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives for the provision of public sector information and for use and reuse without restriction or charge by society. Therefore, the aim of this article is to examine and compare the quality of the OGD portals created by national governments, in terms of three analytical aspects: function, semantics, and content, and to identify the impact of diverse factors on the quality of these portals. The results obtained show there is considerable heterogeneity among OGD portals, reflecting the lack of harmonization and the need for quality standards. In this regard, the quality of the OGD portals examined is only at an intermediate level and is affected by the level of Internet penetration and the economic capacity of each country.

Social networks have changed the way in which governments communicate with citizens, encouraging them to participate in decision-making processes. Nevertheless, few studies have specifically addressed the use of social networks in public sector from the standpoint of dialogic communication theory. The aim of this study is, first, to analyse the extent to which European local governments are developing dialogic strategies in their Twitter profiles in order to establish and enhance relations with their citizens and then to examine the impact of certain factors on the implementation of these dialogic strategies. The findings show that the situation is open to improvement, because local governments are mostly unaware of the benefits offered by the use of dialogic principles when establishing online relationships with stakeholders. Therefore, this paper sheds light on the dialogic potential that social networks provide in public sector, and particularly, it offers a guide regarding how local government...

Under legislation enacted to restrain the public deficit (Act 2/2012), Spanish public universities are obliged to comply with the principle of financial sustainability. In consequence, their net debt capacity is limited, and they may not exceed an average payment period to suppliers of 30 days. We determine the financial sustainability of Spanish universities in terms of these two variables, and identify the factors that influence this sustainability. The results show that the net debt is significantly affected by the productivity of the university, the ideology of the party governing the Autonomous Community, the experience of the university, the size of its community and the financial support received from the regional government. However, the average payment period is only influenced by productivity and ideology.

This chapter has two main aims. First, to investigate the Facebook practices used in the U.S. banking sector with the aim of enhancing customer engagement; second, to perform a comparative analysis of the use of Facebook in this respect, among different U.S. banks. In this comparative analysis, we apply the Federal Reserve charter classification (Nationally chartered member bank, State-chartered member bank and State-chartered nonmember bank). The findings of this study contribute significantly to our understanding of the influence of social media in enhancing customer engagement. Banks, and their community managers in particular, can make use of the conclusions drawn in this study to develop future strategies to foster citizen engagement via Facebook.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyse whether it is the Spanish urban environments that can be considered smart cities that are making the greatest efforts to ensure that citizens have better access to city information and, thus, participate to a greater degree in its governance. Design/methodology/approach – This analysis of the use made of social networks, as an integral part of democratisation, is divided into two phases: first, a descriptive study was made of the cities’ use of their social networks; we then examined, by multiple linear regression analysis, whether the urban areas classed as smart cities are those that make more or less use or application of social networks. Findings – Although, in general terms, the “smartest” smart cities are those which obtain the best overall results in terms of social networks, further improvements are needed, especially in the field of activity and interaction with citizens via these networks. Originality/value – The impact made by social media is one of the emerging research themes in the domain of smart cities, e-government and their information policies. Nevertheless, few studies have examined whether the smart cities are also those whose governments have achieved a greater degree of citizen participation through social networks. Therefore, this study contributes to our understanding of the importance of social media in the local government context, by establishing a relationship between democratic participation, through Facebook and Twitter, and the development of smart cities.

En los últimos años, ante el nuevo entorno empresarial, ha surgido la necesidad de realizar informes integrados; las empresas de la industria de productos del cuidado de la salud han sido pioneras e impulsoras en su elaboración. Para que la información incluida en este tipo de informes sea comparable, se ha desarrollado recientemente un marco conceptual internacional de información integrada (MCIII). En este contexto, el objetivo del presente trabajo es aportar evidencias sobre el gap existente entre el contenido a incluir según el marco conceptual MCIII y lo que los elaboradores de los actuales informes integrados en la industria de productos del cuidado de la salud entienden como tal. Para ello, se analizará y comparará la información incluida actualmente en dichos informes con las recomendaciones incluidas en MCIII. Los resultados muestran el gran gap existente hasta el momento en esta industria, y la necesidad de seguir trabajando en este campo. In recent years, facing the new business environment, the necessity of doing integrated reports has emerged. Companies of the healthcare industry have been pioneers and instigators in their making. For this information to be compared, an International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF) has recently been created. In this context, the purpose of this article is to provide evidence of the existent gap between the contents to be included according to such framework and the one writers of the current integrated reports in the healthcare industry understand. In order to achieve this, information included on these reports was analyzed and compared with the IIRF's suggestions. Results show the existent gap up until now in this industry and the need to continue working on this field. Nos últimos anos, ante o novo contexto empresarial, vem surgindo a necessidade de realizar relatórios integrados; as empresas da indústria de produtos do cuidado da saúde têm sido pioneiras e promotoras em sua elaboração. Para que a informação incluída nesse tipo de relatórios seja comparável, desenvolveu- se recentemente um marco conceitual internacional de informação integrada (MCIII). Nesse contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho é contribuir com evidências sobre o gap existente entre o conteúdo a incluir segundo o marco conceitual MCIII e o que os elaboradores dos atuais relatórios integrados na indústria de produtos do cuidado da saúde entendem como tal. Para isso, será analisada e comparada a informação incluída atualmente nesses relatórios com as recomendações incluídas no MCIII. Os resultados mostram o grande gap existente até o momento nessa indústria e a necessidade de continuar trabalhando nesse campo.

Social media have changed how governments communicate with society, encouraging participation and the interaction of citizens in public affairs. The main aim of this study is to analyse the online practices of Spanish local governments, through Facebook, to examine the factors that influence these practices and to determine citizens’ mood in this respect. The results obtained show that the popularity and virality of municipal Facebook pages are greater than their followers’ degree of commitment. Users take a positive view of the pages, and the type of information most commonly shared on Facebook by Spanish local governments is of a social nature. Factors that influence local government’s Facebook practices include the level of internet use among the population, the level of municipal debt, the number of inhabitants and the economic capacity of the population.

The aim of the open government movement is for democratic governments to become more transparent, facilitating greater collaboration and participation among the administration, politicians, business representatives, and the general public. The concept of Open Government Data (OGD) denotes the provision of public sector information, to make public data available for stakeholders to store, use, and redistribute without restriction or charge. Many initiatives worldwide have been undertaken to develop web portals facilitating access to public sector data. The aim of this chapter is to examine the growing implementation of OGD, analyzing the data disclosed by the central governments of the European Union (EU) member countries through their official OGD websites. The methodology used is based on four analytical approaches: functions, semantics, quality, and content. The results obtained show, first, considerable heterogeneity among EU portals and, second, that the implementation of OGD portals in Europe is at an intermediate level of development. At present, the results obtained suggest that the countries of the EU are making little use of the feedback possibilities offered by their portals and, in many, cases do not allow the introduction of new data.

The many cases of corruption that have come to light, among other scandals, have led the public to lose faith in the management of public institutions. In order to regain confidence, the government needs to inform its citizens of all its actions. Public information should be accessible and controlled by means of a regulatory framework. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the transparency achieved and the progress still needed to be made by Dominican Republic municipalities with regards to complying with the requirements of the law on public information management. The chapter discusses the voluntary transparency achieved and factors that affect the implementation of information policies. The results highlight deficiencies in certain areas of online public information disclosure. The population size, economic capacity and electoral turnout are all factors that affect the online dissemination of public information by local governments in the Dominican Republic.

The aim of this article is to examine factors affecting to the voluntary information that electricity sector organizations provide in their sustainability reports. The methodology involves the application of Tobit regression model to measure the influence of independent variables on an indicator of sustainability. The study sample consists of 40 electrical corporations, mainly European and American, including in the list of the Global Reporting Initiative. The results revealed that the market share, return on investment and the evaluation of the information are variables that influence, significantly, on the information contained in sustainability reports El objetivo del artículo es examinar los factores que afectan a la información voluntaria suministrada por las organizaciones del sector eléctrico en sus memorias de sostenibilidad. La metodología utilizada consiste en aplicar un modelo de regresión Tobit, para medir la influencia de las variables independientes sobre un indicador de sostenibilidad. La muestra objeto de estudio la constituyen 40 corporaciones eléctricas, fundamentalmente europeas y americanas, incluidas en el listado de la Global Reporting Initiative. Los resultados sugieren que; la rentabilidad, la participación en el mercado y la evaluación de la información emitida, influyen en la información que figura en las memorias de sostenibilidad.

The aim of this article is to develop the fi ndings of a previous research on policies regarding proactive information disclosure, both voluntary and mandatory. We present and analyze new evidence on the factors that infl uence decisions taken in this respect. This study is focused on Mercosur area, a region that has received little previous research attention on these issues. To achieve the study goals, we analyze the proactive information disclosure made by local authorities, regarding both the degree of compliance with legal requirements and whether these local authorities are voluntarily and homogeneously implementing the proactive information disclosure policies recommended by the Organization of American States (OAS). Finally, with respect to the voluntary information provision, we determine the infl uence of environmental factors on information disclosure. The results obtained show that transparency is more an issue of attitude than of laws, and highlight the existence of a large gap between legal requirements, the OAS requirements and actual performance. Finally, it can be seen that fi ve factors are statistically signifi cant for the voluntary disclosure of the OAS recommended items: corruption, technology, size, mandatory disclosure policy and socio-economic development.