Corrupção percebida, IPSAS e regime de competência: um estudo cross-country

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the adoption of IPSAS and the accrual regime regarding the level of perceived corruption in Latin American countries. The research sample consisted of 18 Latin American countries. The accounting practices adopted in the years 2018 to 2020 were collected, regarding two indicators of perception of corruption, the ICP and the COR. From the results obtained, it was found that the variables press-freedom (PRESS-F) and government effectiveness (GE) significantly influence the degree of perceived corruption. A high correlation observed between the variables control of corruption (COR), gross domestic product (GDP) and government effectiveness (GE) with the level of perceived corruption. The variable size of a country (POP) for presenting a weak correlation seems not to be associated with the perception of corruption. Therefore, it inferred that the control of corruption can be associated with the economic development of a country and with the effectiveness of the government, however, the size of a country can have little influence on the degree of perceived corruption. In the present study, through regression analysis, neither the adoption of IPSAS nor the accounting regime showed significance in the regression model tested, however, there was a reduction in the perception of corruption with the adoption of IPSAS, which was not found with accounting regime. On the other hand, when performing the median comparison test (Mann-Withney test), a significant difference was observed. In view of the findings, it is expected that the research will contribute to the literature, by proposing to examine the relationship between corruption and the IPSAS and the accounting regime in countries that have a high degree of perceived corruption and how the adoption of quality accounting standards can help to reduce cases of corruption within the public sector. Thus, it appears that even if the adoption of IPSAS and the accounting regime do not exert a significant influence on the level of perceived corruption, the perception of corruption in adopting/partial adopting countries differs from that of non-adopters.