Patterns of voluntary extended performance reporting in Italian local authorities

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 resul...

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