Foundations' Transparency Levels. The Case of Catalan Foundations

[eng] The Social Economy sector (SE) is especially relevant because its entities have a social aim and they principally operate in areas not fully covered by either the market or the public sector. The number of SE organisations has increased significantly in the last decades and its importance is s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Jerez Bernat, Josefina
Tipo de recurso: tesis doctoral
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/119699
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/119699
http://hdl.handle.net/10803/461533
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Economia social
Entitats sense ànim de lucre
Fundacions
Transparència política
Social economy
Nonprofit organizations
Foundations
Transparency in government
Descripción
Sumario:[eng] The Social Economy sector (SE) is especially relevant because its entities have a social aim and they principally operate in areas not fully covered by either the market or the public sector. The number of SE organisations has increased significantly in the last decades and its importance is still growing at global, European and national scale. The high expectations of stakeholders towards the activity of these organizations have increased the transparency and accountability requirements of this sector's entities. Consequently, deficiency of transparency is considered a serious problem as it damages social trust in the organizations that belong to this sector. The objective of this thesis is to study the transparency level of foundations, a specific type of SE organizations, whose volume has significantly risen in the past decades. As a frame, the variety of coexisting registers in Spain and Europe were studied, as well as the evolution of the Spanish and Catalan regulations for foundations, which in recent years has undergone significant changes, especially due to the leading role that these institutions play in the economy. A database of 2,554 foundations from the Register of Catalonia, the largest in Spain, was used; information from the websites of 1,382 foundations, 54.11% of the total, was collected and analysed applying different statistical methodologies: bivariate, multivariate and logistic regression modelling, in order to find the drivers that influence the level of transparency of foundations. Conclusions indicate that this sector has a challenge to overcome: 45.89% of a total of 2,554 foundations do not have an active website, and in application of law 19/2014, in force from 1st July 2015, they should stop their activity. The main driver influencing the transparency level of foundations is the variable activity, being the healthcare activity the most influential. The variable province of Barcelona is more influential than the rest of Catalan provinces. However, there is not a conclusive effect of the variables decade of registration and regulation period. The methodology used to assess the degree of transparency can be extrapolated to other sectors (public or private). One possible future research field suggested is the study of the temporary evolution of the degree of transparency derived from the impact of legislation (law 19/2014).