Contribution of Textual Analysis by ALCESTE Software to Determine Dimensional Publicness and Public Values: An Application on Two Banks of the French Local Authorities

Abstract

This paper presents an original qualitative empirical approach in local management. It is indeed based on a textual analysis (using a French software, named ALCESTE) of financial reports of two major banks of the French local sector: Dexia CL, as the market leader until 2011 and AFL, as the new entrant into the market in 2013. This research reveals public values contained in their both communications and proposes a measurement of their publicness (that is to say the importance of political constraint compared to economic constraint, weighing on the organization). The textual analysis shows vocabulary used and significant contents. First results are somewhat surprising: AFL, the bank for and made by local authorities, presents no more political constraints or more public values, despite the nature of its shareholding and its objective of general interest. A compared literature on companies per share and on cooperative banks could be used to explain the future funding sector of local governments in France.