The influence of public transparency on the irregularity of the acts of management of federal resources transferred to Brazilian municipalities
Government Audit; Public transparency; Irregularities in public management.
This research aimed to analyze the relationship between the public transparency of Brazilian municipalities and the amount of irregularities in the acts of management of public resources transferred by the Union. Furthermore, it was also investigated the influence of other factors related, specifically, socioeconomic aspects and the financial condition of these municipalities. As an indicator of irregularities, the audit reports adopted by the Controladoria Geral da União (CGU) were adopted, while for the measurement of public transparency, the scores obtained by the municipalities in the National Transparency Ranking were used, with parameters established in Complementary Law 101 (2000), Complementary Law 131 (2009) and Information Access Law - 12.527 (2011) which all aim to implement transparency in public accounts. To this end, this study adopts agency theory, theory of public choice and accountability as a theoretical platform, relating its concepts to the duty of accountability and public transparency. The sample consisted of 167 CGU audit reports, randomly selected, published between 2014 and 2016. Descriptive statistical analyzes, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression were performed. The results obtained do not allow to assess a statistically significant association between the indexes of public transparency in the municipalities and the irregularities practiced by the mayors. As for the influence of socioeconomic factors and the financial condition of the municipalities, a statistically significant association was identified between the population's education and income per capita to the number of irregularities found in management.