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.

ResumenLas prácticas de divulgación de Responsabilidad Social Corporativa (RSC) son cada vez más utilizadas por las grandes compañías como instrumentos para eliminar las asimetrías de información entre los stakeholders. En el caso de las administraciones públicas, aunque las exigencias de los ciudadanos son cada vez mayores en materia de transparencia y de rendición de cuentas, la difusión de información RSC es un tema todavía poco estudiado. Este trabajo pretende realizar una primera aproximación a la difusión de información RSC en las administraciones locales españolas y su finalidad principal es conocer las debilidades y fortalezas que, en materia de RSC, tienen los sistemas de información de estas entidades, identificando oportunidades de mejora que orienten futuras investigaciones. Para ello, hemos analizado los sitios web de 55 grandes gobiernos locales, obteniendo conclusiones sobre la difusión de información general acerca de RSC así como sobre la publicación de información económica, social y medioambiental. Los resultados revelan que las mayores carencias de publicación de información RSC corresponden a la información medioambiental, mientras que la información social es la más divulgada. Asimismo, el tamaño de la entidad, la competencia política y el signo del partido gobernante, no explican el desarrollo de las prácticas de difusión de información RSC.AbstractThe disclosure practices of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are increasingly used by large companies in order to eliminate information asymmetries between stakeholders. Instead, the disclosure of CSR information for governments is a topic little studied yet, though the demands of citizens are increasing in transparency and accountability. This paper attempts a first approach to information CSR dissemination in Spanish local governments. Its main purpose is to know the strengths and weaknesses about CSR of information systems of these entities, identifying opportunities for improvement to guide future research. To do this, we analyzed the websites of 55 large local governments, drawing conclusions about the disclosure of CSR general information and about the publication of on economic, social and environmental information. The results reveal that the major shortcomings in CSR disclosure are related to environmental information, while social information is the most published. Also, the size of the entity, political competition and the political sign of the government, do not explain the development of disclosure of RSC information

Although the transparency and sustainability of governments are currently of great interest to researchers, few studies have specifically addressed these issues. Nevertheless, previous research has found sustainability transparency as a key issue in government–citizen relations, especially for local governments (LGs). The aim of this article is to identify factors that promote online transparency regarding the sustainability of public policies, by means of an empirical study of 62 LGs in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Southern Europe. Our results show that the prevailing administrative tradition may influence the degree of transparency of LGs, with population, socioeconomic, and financial factors being relevant.

Administrative decentralisation in Spain has been a continuous process since the restoration of democracy. However, while significant transfers of powers and funding have taken place between the central and regional governments, this is not the case with respect to local authorities. This situation, coupled with borrowing constraints and the budgetary balance required of Spanish councils under Spanish law, as well as the present economic crisis, is causing financial difficulties in municipal accounts. In this paper, we examine a sample of 2,364 local authorities, stratified by population size, for the period 2005-2008, with the aim of analysing the finances of Spanish local councils and observing the effects of the crisis on their financial condition.