Municipal electronic governance practices and their correlation with socioeconomic and accounting variables

Abstract

The study aims to analyze municipal electronic governance practices and their correlation with socioeconomic and accounting variables. Therefore, a quantitative and descriptive study was developed, using bibliographic and documentary data with a sample of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) with a population of over 200 thousand inhabitants. Among the socioeconomic variables, the results highlight GDP per capita, as it presents a weak and positive relationship with the Municipal Electronic Governance Index (IGEM), while IDEB presents a weak and negative relationship. Such findings indicate that municipalities with better results in the IGEM tend to have higher GDP per capita and lower IDEB. As for the accounting variables that are related to the IGEM, it was noticed that the Liquidity Ratio (ILIQ) shows that the ability to pay makes managers more transparent, while the Net Consolidated Debt (DCL) indicates that the higher the debt, the lower the IGEM. The results emphasize the importance of citizen participation for the evolution of society, through the use of electronic portals as tools for control and access to information. It is expected that the results can contribute to public managers, in the development of actions in attention to the demands of the citizen, as well as to the other municipalities as a framework for the analysis of their electronic governance practices.

Key words: Electronic governance; Socioeconomic and accounting indices; Transparency.