Analysis of the relation between revenues and public expenses and the educational development of the brazilian municipalities based on the FIRJAN index

Abstract

Based on arguments arising from the discussions on government accountability and studies related to the quality of public spending, this study aimed to measure the relationship between public revenues and expenditures, which are representative of the published municipal budget execution, and the quality of education in Brazilian municipalities, In the period from 2008 to 2011, according to the FIRJAN Municipal Development Index, in the educational field (IFDMed). A regression model with panel data was used for 4,376 municipalities between 2008 and 2011, with IFDMed as the dependent variable, as explanatory variables, representative variables of collection and public expenditure and others used to control the variables. The results of the research showed that the variables related to the municipal development indexes in the employment and income and health sectors, the proportion of students in relation to the number of inhabitants the expenses with the remuneration of the teachers and expenses with Municipalities. It has been demonstrated that a better living condition of the population, associated to higher remunerations per student for the teaching profession, are significant factors in the improvement of municipal education. Also, the density of students in the township population has shown to bring to this a level of complexity in the organization required for education, which can force educational outcomes to worse levels. The results demonstrate, finally, that there is a (partial) relationship between public revenues and expenditures and the quality of education of the Brazilian municipalities for the analyzed period.