Title: Accountability and third mission in Italian universities

Authors: Paolo Ricci; Renato Civitillo

Addresses: Department of Law, Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods-DEMM, Sannio University, Via delle Puglie, 82, 82100 Benevento (BN), Italy ' Department of Law, Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods-DEMM, Sannio University, Via delle Puglie, 82, 82100 Benevento (BN), Italy

Abstract: This paper aims to give an overview of accountability systems in Italian universities with specific regard to universities 'Third mission'. After a sketch on non-financial communication towards stakeholders, the work deals with social reporting in Italian universities, its potential developments and the first results reached in the light of 'Third mission' issues. The research methodology used is based on observed cases analysis and content analysis, providing us with an interesting overview about the phenomenon. 'Third mission' is officially evaluated in Italian academic system, like the traditional research and teaching fields. With such a complex evaluation system, the Italian university system is at the forefront at European level to stimulate the commitment to research and teaching to society. However, social reporting in Italian universities do not seem to grasp the significance, and are rare cases in which the 'Third mission' is stated in the documents.

Keywords: social reporting; accountability; third mission; university.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMFA.2017.086688

International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 2017 Vol.9 No.3, pp.201 - 221

Received: 24 Mar 2017
Accepted: 23 Jun 2017
Published online: 19 Sep 2017 *

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