Online sustainability information in local governments in an austerity context: An empirical analysis in Italy and Spain
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and compare how austerity has influenced online sustainability information in Italy and Spain.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors relate austerity policies to online information in order to ascertain whether austerity plays a role in the financial, organizational, social and environmental information disclosed on local government (LG) websites. The research has been conducted by analysing the websites of all Italian and Spanish LGs with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
Findings
The results show that institutional and legislative pressures, as well as austerity measures, have played a relevant role in the increased production of information by LGs, although not all information is fully provided.
Originality/value
The results may be of interest to managers and politicians as a stimulus to increase the flow of information. They may also be useful to policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders in order to foment environmental information.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was carried out with financial support from the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry (Research project ECO2010-20522) and the Regional Government of Andalusia (Research project P11-SEJ-7700).
Citation
Brusca, I., Manes Rossi, F. and Aversano, N. (2016), "Online sustainability information in local governments in an austerity context: An empirical analysis in Italy and Spain", Online Information Review, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 497-514. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-05-2015-0161
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited