Purpose: This paper aims to identify different accountability patterns among State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), by carrying out an assessment about the e-disclosure levels of Spanish SOEs.
Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive website content analysis of 91 SOEs owned by the Spanish central government was carried out. Each website was analyzed for 60 items classified into 4 dimensions: 1) financial information, 2) information about objectives and strategies, 3) corporate governance and 4) usability. In order to identify different accountability patterns among SOEs, cluster, multidimensional scaling and Pro-Fit analyses have been carried out.
Findings: E-disclosure practices among Spanish SOEs are still in its infancy. Financial accountability is the main focus and most SOEs are silent about their policies, objectives and corporate governance structures. Most SOEs are still anchored in a narrow accountability style, which only considers shareholders as the key stakeholders. Enforcement of transparency-related legislation is an issue in the Spanish context.
Practical implications: Spanish SOEs are far from being as transparent as listed companies, as the OECD recommends. Some recommendations to improve e-disclosure practices among SOEs are: adequate enforcement of e-disclosure requirements, as it is the case for listed companies or other public sector entities, including the establishment of an independent watchdog, publication of guidance manuals; training seminars; implementation of benchmarking processes and/or performance awards.
Originality/value: Ensuring public access to the information that SOEs produce is necessary and corporate websites should be used for this purpose. However, there is a lack of research analyzing accountability of SOEs.
Keywords: Accountability styles, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), e-disclosure.
Governance and management of State-Owned Enterprises, corporate forms and agencies on loca
Accountability_in_SOEs_The_way_forward_2.pdf 