Managerial agenda in Brazilian municipalities: diffusion or context?

Abstract

This work seeks to analyze the diffusion of managerial reforms in the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities. Although managerial reforms involve a broader agenda of innovations, the article considered only 1) proportion of civil servants “without a permanent contract” in direct municipal administrations, and (2) the existence of indirect administration in local management, inferring incentives for decentralization and incorporation of procedures derived from private administration. The data were obtained from the Munic/IBGE database and from the Municipal Policy Atlas/UFRGS. The central argument is that the expansion of managerial mechanisms in municipalities is less a result of political factors or ideological preferences than a combination of increased spending on education, limited municipal fiscal capacity and reduced local development.