Online transparency as an intangible asset of the public sector

Abstract Public organizations must face the management of their intangible assets in different ways. Regarding transparency, the implementation of different specific laws (local and nationwide) which affect the way public information is presented has been a common practice in the case of Spanish public administrations. This study analyses the consequences of the application of such laws by assessing the evolution of the level of transparency presented by local administrations, taking as a case study all Councils in the Region of Murcia. Data collected in three waves (2015, 2016, and 2017) have been included in order to measure the evolution of this intangible asset in a timeline. For the analysis of the online transparency level, 52 indicators were used (tested nationwide). The results show that, five years after the implementation of the law, even though there has been a slight improvement, a generalized deficit in the real implementation of the transparency regulation is still visible, which affects key points related to its intangibility. At the same time, there are significant differences in the degree of compliance depending on the sex of the mayors who were in charge of the municipality.