University foundations: an examination of the extent of their mandatory disclosures on their webpages

PurposeThis paper examines the level of mandatory information disclosed by Spanish university foundations on their websites.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis on the Spanish university foundations' websites is performed based on the mandatory reporting requirements indicated in the Spanish Law 19/2013 on Transparency and Good Governance.FindingsThe results of this paper reveal that the amount of mandatory information disclosed by Spanish university foundations remains low. When compared to the prior empirical research, the authors find remarkable differences in the levels of information disclosure. The level of mandatory disclosures by Spanish university foundations is rather low compared to the voluntary disclosure of information by other NPOs. Meanwhile, such differences are smaller when compared to previous studies focused on mandatory disclosures.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the very limited literature focused on the level of transparency of mandatory information of public foundations. Most of prior empirical research examined the level of voluntary disclosures of corporate or fundraising foundations.