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Chapter 6
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9803-1.ch006
ABSTRACT
The changes recommended by the New Public Management (NPM) in public accounting have given
special attention and importance to the evaluation of mayor’s performance by citizens/voters. Thus,
this study aims to assess the impact of accounting information on the re-election of Portuguese mayors.
Taking the agency theory as a point of departure, we start from the following research question: Does
the accounting information disclosed by the municipalities influence the re-election of Portuguese may-
ors? The research methodology used in this study is the quantitative type, through which a multivariate
analysis of data was performed on 308 Portuguese municipalities, in the period 2005-2008, based on
the election results of 2009. The results from the binary logistic regression show that some indicators
of accounting nature have impact on the re-election of mayors in Portugal, namely, the components of
financial accounting and municipal revenues.
INTRODUCTION
The reforms verified in the accounts of public sector organisations, based on the ideas advocated by the
NPM movement, began in the 1970s, taking place in different countries, and were characterised by the
incorporation, in public entities, including the local authorities sector, of new approaches/management
The Influence of Accounting
Information in the Re-Election
of the Mayors in Portugal
Ana Cunha
University of Aveiro, Portugal & University of Minho, Portugal
Augusta da Conceição Santos Ferreira
University of Aveiro, Portugal
Maria José Fernandes
Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Portugal