Article2009

Patterns of voluntary extended performance reporting in Italian local authorities

100 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal of Public Sector Management

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Public Policy and Administration Research Accounting and Organizational Management

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of voluntary extended performance reporting (EPR) by Italian local authorities (LAs) by exploring the patterns of financial and non‐financial disclosure and the factors affecting those patterns. More specifically it aims to analyse hypotheses drawing from contingency and legitimacy approaches against the content of the reports and findings discussed consistently. Design/methodology/approach The paper takes the form of a content analysis conducted on all EPRs prepared by Italian LAs. The classification scheme is based on the literature on social and environmental disclosures content analysis and is specifically designed to investigate EPR practices by governmental entities. Findings From the empirical analysis an extremely differentiated picture emerges. A common model of EPR does not exist; nevertheless EPR represents a significant effort by LAs in communicating performance to external stakeholders, with specific reference to the results achieved in social and economic development. Even if there is not a unique set of factors which can explain the differences in the reporting choices by Italian LAs, the analysis shows that the type of activities performed and the LAs' strategic priorities influence significantly the content of the reports. Originality/value The paper focuses on an interesting phenomenon for Italian LAs, namely the shift from a reactive compliance of law‐driven managerial reform process to a proactive adoption of managerial practices. The paper explores the under‐investigated field of voluntary social reporting in LAs. It discusses the influence of a set of external and internal factors in shaping the patterns and contents of EPR disclosure in Italian LAs. If empirical findings confirm the explicit influence of only a limited set of factors, they provide a valuable insight into how LAs use (voluntary) EPR in order to legitimise strategic and management choices.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 100 citations exist upstream.

References

1984Content Analysis: An Introduction to its Methodology.1991A PUBLIC MANAGEMENT FOR ALL SEASONS?1999Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business 1990Basic Content Analysis 1998Partnerships from cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st‐century business 1975Organizational Legitimacy: Social Values and Organizational Behavior 2002Introduction 1995The “new public management” in the 1980s: Variations on a theme

Cited by

2014Factors influencing the transparency of sustainability information in regional governments: an empirical study 2015The Influence of Administrative Culture on Sustainability Transparency in European Local Governments 2012From Tuscany to Victoria: Some Determinants of Sustainability Reporting by Local Councils 2018Overcoming the Barriers to the Diffusion of Sustainability Reporting in Italian LGOs: Better Stick or Carrot?2020Determinants of online intellectual capital disclosure by Spanish local governments

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.