An analysis on the comprehension of governmental accounting information informed by the Budget Balance Sheet

Luiz Carlos Miranda, Alan José de Moura Silva, José Francisco Ribeiro Filho and Lino Martins da Silva
Additional contact information
Luiz Carlos Miranda: Federal University of Pernambuco
Alan José de Moura Silva: Court of Auditors of the State of Pernambuco
José Francisco Ribeiro Filho: Federal University of Pernambuco
Lino Martins da Silva: University of the State of Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian Business Review, 2008, vol. 5, issue 3, 198-217

Abstract: This study replicates, in an adapted way, the studies of Kinnersley and Fleischman (2001), Hall Jr. (2001) and Athayde (2002), focusing on the understanding of the information produced by the governmental accounts. The objective of the study is to assess if the citizens – principal recipients of the information produced by governmental accounts – understand the information disclosed in the statements published by the public entities. In this study, it is assessed specifically the Budget Balance Sheet, aimed at testing if this statement is written in a language understandable by citizens, permitting them to follow up on the budget execution. For such, it used a questionnaire, followed up by a Budget Balance Sheet from a governmental institution, which was applied in the Metropolitan Region of Recife (PE), with citizens of an educational level above the average of the Brazilian population. After applying some statistical tests adequate for this type of analysis (Alpha of Crombach, Chi-Square Pearson and Fisher tests), it is concluded that the information produced by the public accounts are not clear for the majority of citizens, regardless of the schooling level. Even among those considered to have a good knowledge of accounts and governmental accounts, the degree of understanding of the reports produced by the public accounts is low.

Keywords: budget balance sheet; comprehension of accounting information; citizenship; public accounts. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://bbronline.com.br/index.php/bbr/article/download/392/598 Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bbz:fcpbbr:v:5:y:2008:i:3:p:198-217

Access Statistics for this article

Brazilian Business Review is currently edited by Emerson Mainardes

More articles in Brazilian Business Review from Fucape Business School Fucape Business School Brazilian Business Review Av. Fernando Ferrari, 1358, Boa Vista CEP 29075-505 Vitória-ES. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Lasso ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).