Influential Variables of Sustainability Disclosures by Spanish Public Hospitals

Abstract

This paper explores whether the extent of sustainability information disclosed by Spanish public hospitals is affected by internal characteristics of such organizations as well as by political ideology and socioeconomic variables. We used the institutional, stakeholder, and legitimacy theories to explain different levels of sustainability disclosures. To accomplish our goal, we collected data through content analysis of the institutional websites of all Spanish public hospitals registered in the 2016 National Database of Hospitals, corporate annual reports, and sustainability reports published by Spanish hospitals. The results show that the most influential variables associated with the extent of sustainability information disclosed by Spanish public hospitals are the hospitals’ size, political ideology, and reputation as well as the access they have to the Internet. According to the legitimacy theory, the Spanish public hospitals that have revealed more sustainability information are more visible and may be perceived to have greater legitimacy in society. However, the extent of sustainability information disclosed by Spanish public hospitals is far from being adequate. According to the institutional theory, this is explained by the lack of coercive and normative forces.