Características explicativas do nível de disclosure voluntário de municípios do estado de Minas Gerais: uma abordagem sob a ótica da teoria da divulgação

Abstract

This research aims to identify the characteristics that explain the voluntary disclosure level of Minas Gerais municipalities in their homepages. The analyzed characteristics of public entities were the city manager gender, political party affiliation, educational level of the municipal manager, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, budgetary revenue, population, resources transfers from the Union to Municipalities, Municipal Human Development Index (IDH-M), literacy rate, Federação das Indústrias do Rio de Janeiro-Firjan (Industries Federation of Rio de Janeiro State) Index of Municipal Development (IFDM), Firjan Index of Fiscal Management (IFGF), and participation in the Federal Resources Surveillance Program from public sweepstakes. The research sample was composed by 130 municipalities -65 municipalities were considered small size (up to 50,000 inhabitants) and 65 medium and large sizes (more than 50,000 inhabitants). In theoretical platform, the addressed issues were related to accountability and transparency in public administration. Theory of Disclosure was the main theory used to support the findings regarding the level of voluntary disclosure, understood here as a response to conflicts dealt by the Agency Theory. Parametric and nonparametric tests of correlation, multiple linear regression analysis, and logit model were performed. Empirical evidences pointed that the municipalities in the sample in general had low levels of voluntary information disclosure, showing that they are enjoying only in a limited way the benefits arising from a greater information disclosure. Specifically when concerning to voluntary disclosures, it appears that the analyzed municipalities do not seem to prioritize the disclosure of such informations, creating obstacles to the full exercise of accountability and social control. Results from the regression analysis have allowed the features identification that explain the level of voluntary disclosure of municipalities in thestate of Minas Gerais and answer the research question raised by this study. Thus, it was observed that for the analyzed municipalities the size of the public entity can be considered an explanatory characteristic of voluntary disclosure level. Additionally, considering all the municipalities, the IFDMcan even be considered an explanatory factor for the level of voluntary information disclosure, beyond the fact that the citys manager is affiliated to political parties, named Partido dos Trabalhadores-PT (Workers Party), Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro -PMDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party), or Partido da República-PR (Republic Party) to detriment of the others. When analyzing only the municipalities of medium and large sizes, the literacy rate was also considered a feature explaining the level of voluntary disclosure. Regarding the logit model, considering all the municipalities, results showed that PT, PMDB, PR parties and size variables can lead to municipalities present a disclosure degree considered superior. These findings provided evidence not permitting to reject the research hypothesis that indicators of socioeconomic nature exert high influence on voluntary disclosure level than other explanatory variables.