Adoção da IPSAS 17 em órgãos do Poder Executivo Federal

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the positions of the Federal Executive Agencies regarding the adoption of IPSAS 17 – Property, Plant and Equipment. The analysis was carried out based on the concept of formal and informal rules from the New Institutional Theory, with a focus on the public bodies’ understanding of five informal rules: perception, interpretation, cost and benefit, educational responsibility, and budgetary approach. The study was carried out in Brazil and comprises a sample of 119 higher bodies of the Federal Executive Branch. These entities responded to a research instrument sent through the e-SIC (Electronic System for the Citizen Information Service) and e-Ouv (Ombudsman System of the Federal Executive Branch). The questionnaire consisted of five blocks, each representing an informal rule, which also served as the basis for developing the research hypotheses, which were subjected to the mean difference test (t-student), at a significance level of 1 %. The results show the hypotheses for blocks I – Perception, II – Interpretation, III – Cost and Benefit, and V – Budgetary Approach to be confirmed. For block IV – Educational Responsibility, however, the hypothesis was dismissed. Our conclusion was that the adoption of IPSAS 17 is beneficial to the public sector. Institutional Theory explains that institutional change occurs when individuals understand its advantages. This indicates that those institutions are on the path to the adoption of IPSAS 17.