An Investigation of the Correlation Between Mental Workload and Web User’s Interaction

Mental Workload, a psychological concept, was identified as being linked with task’s and system’s performance. In the context of Human-Computer Interaction, recent research has identified Mental Workload as an important measure in the designing and evaluation of web interfaces, and as an additional and supplemental insight to typical usability evaluation methods. Simultaneously, web logs containing data related to web users’ interaction (e.g. scrolling; mouse clicks) have been proved useful in evaluating the usability of web sites by analysing the data tracked for hundreds of users. In order to study if the potential of logs of user interaction can be applied in the study of Mental Workload in Web design, an online experiment with 145 participants was performed. Additionally, the experiment, composed of alternative interfaces, sought to assess the role of Mental Workload in the evaluation of interfaces using interactive Infographics, which were identified by literature as bringing new challenges and concerns in the field of Web Design. The online experiment’s results suggested that correlations between mental demands and users’ interaction can only be observed when taking in consideration the web interface used or the profile of the users. Moreover, the used measurement methods for assessing Mental Workload were not capable of predicting task performance, as previous research suggested (in the context of other types of web interfaces)

An investigation of the correlation between Mental Workload and Web User’s Interaction

Mental Workload, a Psychology concept, was identified as being linked with task’s and system’s performance. In the context of Human-Computer Interaction, recent research has identified Mental Workload as an important measure in the designing and evaluation of web interfaces, and as an additional and supplemental insight to typical Usability evaluation methods. Simultaneously, web logs containing data related to web users’ interaction (e.g. scrolling; mouse clicks) have been proved useful in evaluating the Usability of web sites by levering the data tracked for hundreds of users. In order to study if the potential of logs of user interaction can be applied in the study of Mental Workload in Web design, an online experiment with 145 participations was performed. Additionally, the experiment, composed of alternative interfaces, sought to assess the role of Mental Workload in the evaluation of interfaces using interactive Infographics, which were identified by literature as bringing new challenges and concerns in the field of Web Design. The online experiment’s results suggested that correlations between mental demands and users’ interaction can only be observed when taking in consideration the web interface used or the profile of the users. Moreover, the used measurement methods for assessing Mental Workload were not capable of predicting task performance, as previous research suggested (in the context of other types of web interfaces)

The influence of corporate governance characteristics on human capital disclosure: the moderating role of managerial ownership

Purpose The main objective of this paper is to analyse the content and extent of human capital disclosure by Spanish companies. It studies various factors related to the board of directors’ composition and functioning. These factors can be seen as mechanisms of corporate governance and the moderating role of managerial ownership, which help predict the behaviour of managers in relation to the human capital disclosure. Design/methodology/approach This study develops and applies a more comprehensive framework for coding information on human capital, integrating the intellectual capital and social responsibility perspectives in order to explain the content and extent of human capital disclosure. The research was based on a content analysis of 210 corporate reports from 2007 to 2016. A system-GMM estimator was used to test the hypotheses in four dynamic linear regression models of balanced panel data in order to address concerns of endogeneity. Findings The results show that companies are adapting to new regulations and voluntarily disclosing information on human capital – a trend which signals their commitment to responsible attitudes towards employees and stakeholders. The results also show that board composition and functioning are mechanisms of supervision, control and legitimacy that promote human capital disclosure, with managerial ownership acting as moderator for aligning interests between managers and stakeholders. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on human capital disclosure by introducing a broader conception of human capital to coding information. It accomplishes this through considering aspects of the intellectual capital and social responsibility approaches, which provide a better understanding of companies’ human capital disclosure. In addition, it seeks to enrich the debate about the effects of corporate governance mechanisms– such as boards of directors and managerial ownership – on human capital disclosure.This study was partially supported by the Department of Business Administration - University of Castilla-La Mancha

Explicando el libre acceso a la información en el gobierno local: qué influye en la divulgación de información?

In response to the growing demand from society to access public information, governments have been forced to be more transparent in the conduct of their activities. Based on the literature of information disclosure, this paper analyses factors that influenced the freedom of information in Spanish municipalities, and which explain the levels of information disclosure. For the purpose of this study, a dynamic panel System General Method of Moments (System-GMM) estimation was used to analyses data from 100 Spanish largest municipalities for the period of 2008-2014. Additionally, the sample was partitioned in two categories according to the province capital or not province capital criteria in order to find if there are interesting differences. The analysis indicates that disclosure of information about municipal management is associated with financial dependence, internet access, unemployment, electoral turnout and political rivalry. Differences found in the two categories of municipalities suggest that there may be institutional characteristics that could influence the dissemination of information. This study is a contribution to the growing body literature of information disclosure in order to understand what explains the variations of information disclosure among the municipalities.En respuesta a la creciente demanda de la sociedad para acceder a la información pública, los gobiernos se han visto forzados a ser más transparentes en el desarrollo de sus actividades. Basado en la literatura de divulgación de información, este artículo analiza los factores que influyeron en el libre acceso a la información en los municipios españoles y que explican los niveles de divulgación de información. A los efectos de este estudio, se utilizó la estimación del Método Generalizado de Momentos (GMM) de Sistema (System-GMM) de datos de panel en un modelo dinámico para analizar los datos de 100 municipios españoles más grandes para el período 2008-2014. Además, la muestra se ha dividido en dos categorías según el criterio de si los municipios son capital de provincia o no para determinar si existen diferencias interesantes. El análisis indica que la divulgación de información sobre la gestión municipal está asociada con la dependencia financiera, el acceso a internet, el desempleo, la participación electoral y la rivalidad política. Las diferencias encontradas en las dos categorías de municipios sugieren que puede haber características institucionales que podrían influir en la divulgación de información. Este estudio es una contribución a la creciente literatura sobre divulgación de información con la finalidad de comprender qué explica las variaciones de divulgación de información entre los municipios.This study was conducted at the Research Center in Political Science (UIDB/ CPO/00758/2020), University of Minho/University of Évora and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national fund

Local government transparency index: determinants of municipalities’ rankings

Purpose Cases of corruption, embezzlement, theft and fraud, abuse of discretion, favoritism, nepotism, clientelism, and abuse of power in governments have led to a growing demand from society to access public information. In response to this demand, governments have been forced to be more transparent in the conduct of their activities. The information transparency index (TI) may be conditioned by economic and political characteristics of local governments affecting the information provided. What factors influenced the index of municipal transparency? Literature about transparency is largely based on the explanations of the agency theory and the legitimacy theory. Based on the postulates of both theories, the purpose of this paper is twofold. First, study the index transparency in Spanish municipalities, and, second, determine the main features that are affecting the index of transparency. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from Transparency International Spain ranking and from official sources. Univariate and multivariate analysis are performed for the treatment of data. Findings The results shows that political factors like electoral turnout, political ideology, and political competition have a significant effect on the index of transparency. Gender has no significant effect on the index of transparency. Originality/value This study is a contribution to the growing body literature of transparency in order to understand what explains the variations of the TI among municipalities

Women’s political representation and transparency in local governance

Despite the growing interest on the influence of gender in local government, the relationship between women’s political representation on municipalities, as council member or as female mayors, and transparency is an under-researched topic. This article analyses the political representation of women in Spanish local councils and their influence on the level of transparency. Results show that women’s political representation in municipalities has a positive influence on the level of transparency, increasing information transparency and reducing information asymmetry

E-government-enabled transparency: the effect of electoral aspects and citizen’s access to Internet on information disclosure

Recent literature on transparency claims that e-government-enabled transparency through websites may be conditioned by political and social factors. Being more transparent while conducting its activities and political responsibilities has been the response of governments to citizens’ demand for access to public information. This paper analyzes if political and social conditions influence transparency in Portuguese municipalities. The results show that political ideology, electoral turnout, proximity of elections, citizens’ access to Internet and geographic location influence municipalities’ transparency. The analyses are based on panel data from all 308 Portuguese municipalities.This study conducted at Research Center in Political Science [UID/CPO/00758/2013], University of Minho and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds

Transparencia, Responsabilidad Social y Gobierno Corporativo: el Capital Humano de las empresas

[EN] Companies develop their activity in an environment characterized by knowledge-based economies, with qualified and highly skilled workers. Human Capital is one of the most important intangible resources that companies have to generate sustainable wealth. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the Human Capital information provided by companies in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance. Using the methodology of content analysis, this paper analyses the Human Capital disclosure contained in social responsibility reports of Spanish companies belonging to the IBEX 35. In addition, it identifies factors related to Corporate Governance (characteristics of the Board of Directors, and ownership structure of companies) with greatest impact on information provision. Balanced panel data are used to test our hypotheses. Empirical evidence shows a quadratic U-shaped relationship among the size of the board, independence, and the ownership concentration with Human Capital disclosure; and an inverted U-shaped relationship between managers’ ownership of shares and Human Capital disclosure. In addition, it has been found that companies with greater gender diversity on their Board, as well as with greater board activity, tend to disclose more information related to Human Capital.[ES] Las empresas desarrollan su actividad en un entorno caracterizado por economías basadas en el conocimiento, con mano de obra competente y altamente cualificada. El Capital Humano es uno de los recursos de naturaleza intangible más importantes que poseen las empresas para generar riqueza de manera sostenible. El principal objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la información del Capital Humano suministrada por las empresas dentro del ámbito de la Responsabilidad Social Empresarial y del Gobierno Corporativo. Mediante la metodología del análisis de contenido, se analiza la información relativa al Capital Humano contenida en las memorias de responsabilidad social de las empresas españolas pertenecientes al IBEX 35. Además, se determinan aquellos factores relativos al Gobierno Corporativo (características del Consejo de Administración y estructura de la propiedad de la empresa) que mayor incidencia tienen en el suministro de información. Se emplea un panel de datos balanceado para testar nuestras hipótesis. La evidencia empírica obtenida muestra una relación cuadrática en forma de “U” entre el tamaño del consejo, la independencia y la concentración accionarial con la revelación de Capital Humano; y una relación en forma de “U” invertida entre el control accionarial de gestores y la información de Capital Humano. Además, se ha encontrado que aquellas empresas con mayor diversidad de género entre sus consejeros, así como con una mayor actividad del consejo, tienden a revelar más información relativa al Capital Humano.This study was conducted at the Research Centre in Political Science (UID/CPO/00758/2013), University of Minho, and was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, and by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through national funds

E-government mechanisms to enhance the participation of citizens and society: exploratory analysis through the dimension of municipalities

The use of information technologies has been a window of opportunity for local governments to increase initiatives and instruments for citizen participation and interaction with society. The electronic interaction of municipalities with citizens may be different depending on the municipality. The objective of this study is to explore how the dimension of Portuguese municipalities can explain the implementation of participatory processes and channels through e-government initiatives to improve participation and interaction with society. Based on the analysis of the municipal information and interaction indexes, our results show that municipalities are increasingly committed to developing online initiatives for citizen participation in a significant way over the years, with the largest municipalities being the ones that implement the most mechanisms. The influence of population size occurs both for information dissemination and for the implementation of citizen participation mechanisms. This result is consistent with stakeholder theory and political cost theory. This paper contributes to the literature by offering a characterization of the municipalities and the mechanisms carried out to implement citizen participation and interaction initiatives according to the size of the municipality. It claims that policy makers need to pay attention to the capabilities of e-governments tools to better facilitate the e-participation process and provide the necessary channels to get citizens’ feedback.This study was conducted at the Research Center in Political Science (UIDB/CPO/00758/2020), and supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT

Factors influencing the information disclosure and access to information in municipalities

A transparência e o acesso à informação são importantes para o escrutínio público, a participação e a responsabilidade, contribuindo para a confiança dos cidadãos no governo. Para aumentar o acesso à informação pública, os governos locais têm recorrido à transparência ativa através da divulgação de informação pública nos seus websites, com acesso livre e aberto. Este estudo analisa a influência de fatores socioeconômicos e políticos na gestão das políticas públicas de transparência ativa nos municípios portugueses. O estudo utiliza a metodologia de dados de painel, que ainda não foi empregada para examinar a transparência municipal ativa em Portugal, testando empiricamente os fatores que impactam a divulgação da informação pública, valendo-se do índice de transparência como um proxy. Foram encontradas evidências empíricas em relação aos fatores políticos e socioeconômicos que influenciaram o nível de transparência municipal. Uma vez que os estudos sobre o caso português são escassos, esta pesquisa contribui para a compreensão das respostas dos municípios às pressões da sociedade por mais transparência.Transparency and access to information are important for public scrutiny, participation and accountability, contributing to citizens’ confidence in the local government. To increase access to public information, local governments resorted to active transparency through the dissemination of public information on their websites, in a free and open manner. This study reviews the influence of socioeconomic and political factors in the management of active transparency of public policies in Portuguese municipalities. The study uses the panel data methodology, which has not yet been used to review active municipal transparency in Portugal, empirically testing the factors that influence the disclosure of public information, using the transparency index as a proxy. Empirical evidence was found regarding the political and socioeconomic factors that have influenced the level of municipal transparency. Since studies regarding Portuguese cases are scarce, this investigation contributes to the understanding of the municipalities’ responses to society’s pressures for more transparency