Effects of Financial Condition on the Quality of Accounting Information of Brazilian Municipalities
Governmental Accounting; Quality of Accounting Information; Quality of Accounting Information in Brazil, theory of financial condition, theory of accountability.
While there are works that relate social, economic, and financial aspects to public transparency in Brazil, few encompass all the municipalities of the nation while considering the quality of the shared information. The main objective of this study was to examine the effects of the financial condition on the quality of accounting information of Brazilian municipalities. The theoretical framework is based on the theory of accountability, agency theory, and the theory of financial condition, in addition to empirical studies. Supported by the theoretical foundation and a broad conception of financial condition, the hypothesis was formulated that financial, organizational, and environmental factors can positively influence the quality of accounting information of municipalities. To this end, financial factors were considered to be solvency degree evaluated by liquidity ratio, current savings, and indebtedness; educational level of mayors as the organizational factor; and per capita GDP as the environmental factor. In order to analyze the effects of these variables, an econometric model was developed that considered all 5,569 Brazilian municipalities. The research has a quantitative nature due to the presence of statistical data and employs panel regression as the main tool to attain results.