Although international organizations and prior literature have recognized the importance of sustainability reporting for governments nowadays, some studies have revealed that this is an issue that has received little attention and thus needs further investigation. This article studies the publication of information on sustainability issues by local governments, analysing the relationship between diverse levels of sustainability information disclosure and some socioeconomic, financial and population variables. Based on the increased use of the Internet by governments, the methodology applied in this study is to analyse the websites of 55 major towns and cities in Spain, seeking 61 items that are recommended in the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. By applying multiple linear regression analysis, we analysed the influence of 13 factors on the sustainability reporting provided by these municipal authorities. The results show that social information is the most widespread, and that the dependent population has a positive impact on the sustainability disclosures. The major opportunities to improve sustainability practices lie in improving the disclosure of economic and environmental information, through the publication of formal sustainability reports and the enhanced coordination of information published individually by different departments. Points for practitioners: The results obtained highlight several issues of particular interest for managers. On the one hand, the public sector financial crisis has heightened the need to legitimize government actions. Moreover, the incidence of the variable ‘dependent population’ on the disclosure of sustainability information suggests that there is an important relation between the population structure and such disclosure, highlighting the need to consider the age of the population and its evolution over time as the basis for creating specific reports on sustainability. The public demand for information on sustainability does not depend on the level of taxes paid. Finally, local governments are not motivated by their level of financial autonomy with respect to information about their commitments on economic sustainability.

In the current socioeconomic context, the question of local government sustainability transparency is of great interest to policymakers, managers, citizens and other stakeholders, and yet one to which previous research has devoted little specific attention. At the same time, the Internet has become an instrument of good governance worldwide and government entities in Europe have strived to promote e-government to improve transparency towards citizens. The aim of this study was to identify factors that can help politicians and managers improve practices of sustainability information disclosed by European local governments. To do so, an empirical study was conducted of 91 municipalities in nine countries, comparing three main administrative cultures. Our analysis of the study results highlights various demographic, socioeconomic, financial and legal factors that may be useful to policymakers and managers in promoting the online provision of sustainability information in Anglo-Saxon, Nordic and Southern European countries.

En el actual contexto de crisis, los ciudadanos demandan al sector público mayor transparencia y rendición de cuentas. Este trabajo pretende avanzar en el conocimiento de las prácticas de sostenibilidad en la administración pública. Para ello proponemos comparar la divulgación de información sobre sostenibilidad realizada por distintos gobiernos regionales, analizando las webs de los mismos mediante un análisis de contenido, usando para ello un listado de ítems basado en las guías del Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Nuestros resultados muestran que los gobiernos regionales españoles difunden dos tercios de la información requerida por el GRI, presentando la información social un nivel de respuesta mayor y la información general un menor nivel de difusión. Además, aquellos gobiernos regionales con mayor compromiso ambiental publican más información sobre sostenibilidad. De nuestras conclusiones podemos destacar que la mala situación financiera que atraviesan no parece impulsar a los gobiernos regionales españoles a divulgar información sobre sostenibilidad.