Analysis of public transparency in municipalities in Bahia

Abstract

This article aimed to investigate the association between economic development and public transparency in the municipalities of Bahia, by analyzing the level of disclosure of Patrimonial Accounting Procedures (PCP), after the obligation determined by Ordinance Secretariat of the National Treasury (STN) nº 548, of September 24, 2015. It is relevant due to its reflection on public transparency, accountability and management of public resources. The research is classified as quantitative and descriptive, using multiple regression, using the Least Squares Method (OLS), with 417 municipalities in Bahia being analyzed in 2022. The association between the variables of interest was analyzed using the Asset Accounting Procedures Disclosure Index (ID-PCP) from the study by Piccini (2018) as a proxy for public transparency and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a proxy for economic development. The research results were consistent with the hypothesis, as they indicate the existence of a positive relationship between transparency in public accounting and economic performance, from the perspective of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that is, the greater the transparency in accounting public, the higher the GDP indices. The use of measurement proxies and the difficulty in finding condensed data on the State Audit Court (TCE) portal and on the Bahia Municipal Audit Court (TCM-BA) portal were presented as limitations of the work. Therefore, it is suggested that further studies verify the implementation of Patrimonial Accounting Procedures (PCP) in public bodies and small municipalities, in different socioeconomic contexts, as well as the use of other specific investigation mechanisms, demonstrating the contribution of accounting to practical issues. in the public sector.