The text complexity of local government annual reports

ABSTRACT This study explores the factors that contribute to the text complexity of local government communication and whether text complexity varies with governments’ financial performance. We first identify factors associated with text complexity, including the local government’s size, external monitoring, organisational complexity, and financial complexity. We then explore if text complexity varies with the financial performance of local governments. We find that the annual reports of poor-performing governments are less understandable, but that performance is not related to the amount of information content. Our findings contribute to research on local government communication, accountability, and transparency and have practical implications for those who interact with local governments through government documents.