Purpose

The present study aims to extend the knowledge of intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) disclosure practices in the Italian Healthcare Organisations (HCOs) context. The ultimate goal of the study is to provide fresh insight into the possible explanatory factors that may drive the extent of ICD provided by Italian HCOs via the web.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study applies a manual content analysis on the websites of a sample of 158 HCOs to determine the level of voluntary ICD. A multivariate regression model is estimated to test the association between different variables – size, gender diversity in top governance positions, financial performance and indebtedness – and the level of ICD provided by sampled HCOs through their official websites.

Findings

Content analysis results reveal that – in the absence of mandatory requirements – Italian HCOs tend to use websites to disclose information about IC. Particular attention is devoted to Structural and Relational Capital. The statistical analysis pinpoints that size and indebtedness negatively influence the level of ICD. In contrast, the presence of a female General Manager (GM) positively drives ICD. Also, it is observed that Research and University HCOs and those located in the Italian Northern Regions are particularly prone to discharge accountability on IC through websites.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines voluntary ICD practices through websites in the Italian HCOs' context. Also, since prior studies on IC in the healthcare context are mainly descriptive or normative, this is the first study examining the potential determinants of ICD provided by HCOs in terms of size, gender diversity in top governance positions, financial performance and indebtedness.

中文翻译：

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医疗机构的智力资本披露及其决定因素——来自意大利的证据

目的

本研究旨在扩展意大利医疗保健组织 (HCO) 背景下知识资本披露 (ICD) 披露实践的知识。该研究的最终目标是对可能推动意大利 HCO 通过网络提供的 ICD 范围的可能解释因素提供新的见解。

设计/方法/途径

本研究对 158 个 HCO 样本的网站进行了手动内容分析，以确定自愿 ICD 的水平。估算多元回归模型以测试不同变量之间的关联——规模、最高治理职位的性别多样性、财务业绩和债务——以及抽样 HCO 通过其官方网站提供的 ICD 水平。

发现

内容分析结果表明，在没有强制要求的情况下，意大利 HCO 倾向于使用网站来披露有关 IC 的信息。特别关注结构和关系资本。统计分析指出，规模和负债对 ICD 水平有负面影响。相比之下，女性总经理 (GM) 的存在会积极推动 ICD。此外，据观察，研究和大学 HCO 以及位于意大利北部地区的 HCO 特别容易通过网站履行对 IC 的责任。

原创性/价值

据作者所知，这是第一项在意大利 HCO 背景下通过网站检查自愿 ICD 实践的研究。此外，由于先前关于医疗保健领域 IC 的研究主要是描述性或规范性的，因此这是第一项研究 HCO 在规模、高层管理职位的性别多样性、财务绩效和债务方面提供的 ICD 的潜在决定因素。