Manipulação de resultados contábeis nos municípios paulistas de 2014 a 2022

Abstract

The objective of this research is to investigate the practice of accounting manipulation in budgetary results in the municipalities of the state of São Paulo when using the accounts for other current revenues and other current expenses to achieve budgetary balance. Using fixed effect, random effects, and pooled models for unbalanced panel data in a sample of 645 municipalities in São Paulo from 2014 to 2022, five hypotheses based on the scientific literature were tested. The results of this research reveal strong indications that managers manipulate their results, and this practice is more evident in municipalities in the state of São Paulo with fewer than one hundred thousand inhabitants than in those with a larger population. Furthermore, this manipulation is more pronounced concerning the account of other current expenses. Thus, according to the findings, the practice of managing results was confirmed based on a) the existence of a negative relationship between the variation in budgetary results and other current expenses, supporting the hypothesis that public managers, motivated by achieving budgetary balance, use the account of other current expenses; b) fixed assets have a positive relationship with other current expenses in municipalities with fewer than one hundred thousand inhabitants; c) real liabilities and population density have a positive relationship with other current revenues and expenses. Finally, in election years, the findings of this research show that there were no increases in other current expenses or other current revenues. In the future, the use of more robust econometric models with the inclusion of new variables is proposed in studies along these lines.