published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The object of study of this dissertation is the institution of modulation effects, provided by the Article 27 of Brazilian Federal Law n. 9.868/99, when applied in tax matters. The problem arises from the fact that taxpayers' rights are recognized as a fundamental right, which is why a considerable part of the national legal doctrine believes that modulation effects, in tax matters, can only be given in favour of the taxpayers; because the reasons of state could never supplant the exercise of fundamental rights. This work focuses on the theory of contemporaneous constitutionalism, lays the understanding that the current Democratic State of Law presupposes the rescue of the moral subject, which was achieved by assigning full normativity of fundamental human rights conveyed by indeterminate concepts which provide ample space for action by the judiciary. Given this framework, this work studies the role of the legal argument in the legitimation of judicial acts. A study shall be conducted to identify the boundary between interpretation and judicial discretion. It concludes that it is possible for courts to decide to use practical and consequentialist arguments, whether economical or not, once provided their reappointment due to the legal system, through rational discourse. It undertakes logical-syntactic analysis of the modulation rule, and verifies that the object of cognition for the award of prospective decision on constitutionality control effects involves a risk analysis. In an attempt to frame the rule of modulation at the “Matrix Incidence Rule”, it concludes about the need for inclusion of a new criterion, here called “circumstantial”, at the normative hypothesis. It undertakes a study about the application of the modulation of effects in accordance with the supremacy of the constitution. The paper also focuses on the justifications given to the taxing power in the democratic state environment and the about the role of tax in the realization of fundamental rights and the protection of human dignity. It also explores and discusses the theory of the fundamental rights of taxpayers, correlates taxation to human rights, deals with the role of the principle of legal certainty in tax matters and concludes that its use, chiefly in the areas of modulation of effects, can only be given in favour of taxpayers. It talks about the role of the state in the fulfilment of fundamental rights, both social and individual, and the necessary mitigation of the deep separation between the interests of taxpayers and tax authorities, considering that both serve the same purpose, which is the realization of the human person. It aims to address that, in exceptional cases, the modulation of effects can be given in favour of the state, when its indispensability for maintaining public institutions or policies related to the implementation of fundamental rights is demonstrated. / O presente trabalho tem como objeto de estudo o instituto da modulação de efeitos, previsto no artigo 27 da Lei n. 9.868/99, quando aplicado em matéria tributária. A problemática surge do fato de que os direitos dos contribuintes têm reconhecido o status de direito fundamental, motivo pelo qual parte considerável da doutrina jurídica nacional entende que a modulação de efeitos, em matéria tributária, só pode se dar em favor dos contribuintes, tendo em vista que as razões de Estado jamais poderiam suplantar o exercício de direitos fundamentais. Situado o trabalho no atual momento do constitucionalismo, fixa-se o entendimento de que o atual Estado Democrático de Direito tem como pressuposto o resgate de pautas valorativas ao ordenamento jurídico, o que se deu pela atribuição de plena normatividade aos direitos humanos fundamentais, veiculados mediante conceitos indeterminados que conferem amplo espaço de atuação ao Poder Judiciário. Considerando esse quadro, examina-se o papel da argumentação jurídica na legitimação dos atos judiciais. Realiza-se estudo para identificação dos limites entre interpretação e discricionariedade judicial. Conclui-se pela possibilidade de utilização na decisão judicial de argumentos ditos práticos e consequencialistas, de conteúdo econômico ou não, desde que haja a sua devida recondução ao sistema jurídico, por meio de discurso racional. Empreende-se análise lógico-sintática da norma de modulação. Verifica-se que o objeto de cognição para a atribuição de efeitos prospectivos à decisão em controle de constitucionalidade envolve uma análise de risco e que, por isso, o órgão julgador é responsável tanto pela construção do fato típico quanto pela incidência da norma, o que se opera numa só ação. Na tentativa de enquadrar a norma de modulação à Regra Matriz de Incidência, advoga-se a necessidade de inclusão de mais um critério, chamado de “circunstancial”, no antecedente normativo. Empreende-se estudo acerca dos pressupostos para que a modulação de efeitos seja aplicada em conformidade com a supremacia da Constituição. Abordam-se as justificativas dadas ao poder de tributar no ambiente do Estado Democrático de Direito e o papel da tributação na concretização de direitos fundamentais e da proteção à dignidade humana. Discorre-se acerca da teoria dos direitos fundamentais dos contribuintes, correlacionando a tributação aos direitos humanos. Enfoca-se o papel do princípio da segurança jurídica em matéria tributária e se conclui que a sua utilização, principalmente em sede de modulação de efeitos, só pode se dar em favor dos contribuintes. Trata-se do papel do Estado na efetivação dos direitos fundamentais, tanto sociais quanto individuais, e da necessária mitigação da forte cisão entre interesses do Fisco e dos contribuintes, considerando que ambos se destinam à mesma finalidade, que é a realização da pessoa humana. Defende-se que em casos excepcionais a modulação de efeitos pode se dar em favor do Estado, quando demonstrada a sua imprescindibilidade para a manutenção de instituições ou políticas públicas ligadas à concretização de direitos fundamentais.

[pt] A dissertação é composta por três artigos independentes, uma introdução unificada, um referencial teórico (junto com nossa revisão sistemática) e uma discussão geral. No primeiro artigo, revisamos a crescente literatura sobre discricionariedade contábil. Com base na literatura anterior, definimos a discricionariedade contábil como a latitude permitida pelas regras contábeis para que os contadores exerçam seus julgamentos por meio de um conjunto de escolhas e estimativas contábeis, que influenciam diretamente o resultado contábil de uma empresa. Aplicando uma metodologia de mapeamento sistemático na literatura existente, encontramos evidências de quatro correntes principais de literatura: 1) discricionariedade gerencial, 2) escolha contábil, 3) gerenciamento de resultados e 4) impairment de goodwill. Cada um desses fluxos indica possíveis oportunidades para os gerentes exercerem poder discricionário sobre as práticas contábeis, moldando a qualidade dos relatórios contábeis e, em última análise, moldando como os mercados financeiros reagem às informações contábeis. A partir de uma amostra inicial de mais de 1.000 documentos, analisamos e discutimos detalhadamente 69 artigos, dos quais identificamos fatores relacionados às regras contábeis que potencialmente fornecem ou restringem o oportunismo gerencial, os incentivos econômicos para que as empresas usem a discrição contábil e os mecanismos que potencialmente limitam o uso indevido do poder discricionário. As descobertas são relevantes para profissionais, reguladores, pesquisadores acadêmicos e gerentes corporativos, pois ajudam a entender a literatura existente sobre o tema e potencialmente melhorar as práticas contábeis. Por fim, sugiro caminhos interessantes para pesquisas futuras. O segundo artigo estende essa literatura construindo um índice de discricionariedade contábil (IAD) para empresas listadas e explorando, usando um modelo de diferenças em diferenças e amostras pareadas, como mudanças no fornecimento de discricionariedade contábil afetaram o gerenciamento de resultados em 43 países durante 2003-2007, quando vários países adotaram as IFRS. Os resultados empíricos mostram que as variações do IAD estão positivamente associadas ao gerenciamento de resultados por accruals e negativamente relacionadas às estratégias de gerenciamento de resultados reais. O terceiro artigo teve como objetivo construir um índice de discrição contábil em nível de país (ADI) contemporâneo que mede o nível de discricionariedade contábil que as regras contábeis permitem para empresas privadas em 35 países. Embora os regulamentos e regras contábeis forneçam um fator essencial no comportamento gerencial na preparação de relatórios financeiros, a literatura regulatória sobre relatórios contábeis negligenciou amplamente a análise da discricionariedade contábil no nível da regra (nível GAAP). Assim, a contribuição para a literatura contábil foi construir a ADI para investigar diferenças sistemáticas na discricionariedade contábil entre os países. Validamos o índice internamente (ou seja, usando alfa de Cronbach, Lambda 4 de Guttman e análise fatorial) e externamente (com análises em nível de país e empresa) e demonstramos que ele tem variabilidade significativa entre países. Por fim, contribuímos para a literatura fornecendo uma medida objetiva de discricionariedade contábil em diferentes países. Argumentamos que entender a variabilidade no nível de país na discricionariedade contábil é crucial para entender a discricionariedade gerencial geral no nível da empresa. / [en] This dissertation consists of three independent articles, a unified introduction, a theoretical framework (in the same chapter of the first article), and a general discussion. In the first article, we review the growing literature on accounting discretion. Drawing from previous literature, we define accounting discretion as the latitude allowed by accounting rules for accountants to exercise their judgments through a set of choices and accounting estimates, which directly influence a company s profits and losses. First, applying a methodology of systematic mapping on the extant literature, we found evidence of four main streams of literature: 1) managerial discretion, 2) accounting choice, 3) earnings management, and 4) goodwill impairment. Each of these streams indicates possible opportunities for managers to exert discretion over accounting practices, shaping the quality of accounting reporting and, ultimately, shaping how financial markets react to accounting information. Drawing from an initial sample of more than 1,000 documents, we analyze and discuss in detail 69 articles, from which we identified factors related to accounting rules that potentially provide or restrict managerial opportunism, the economic incentives for firms to use accounting discretion, and mechanisms that potentially limit the misuse of discretion. The findings are relevant for practitioners, regulators, academic researchers, and corporate managers as they help understand the extant literature on the topic and potentially improve accounting practices. Finally, we suggest exciting avenues for future research. The second article extends this literature by constructing an index of accounting discretion (IAD) for listed firms and exploring, using a differences-in-differences and paired-samples model, how changes in the provision of accounting discretion affected earnings management in 43 countries during 2003-2007, when several countries adopted IFRS. The empirical results show that IAD variations are positively associated with accruals-based earnings management and negatively related to real earnings management strategies. The third article aims to build a contemporary country-level accounting discretion index (ADI) that measures the level of accounting discretion that accounting rules allow for private companies in 35 countries. Although accounting regulations and rules provide an essential factor in managerial behavior in preparing financial reports, regulatory literature on accounting reports largely neglected the analysis of accounting discretion at the regulatory level (GAAP level). So, the contribution to the accounting literature was to build the ADI to investigate systematic differences in accounting discretion across countries. We validate the index internally (i.e., using Cronbach s alpha, Guttman s Lambda 4, and factor analysis) and externally (with country and company-level analyses) and demonstrate that it has significant cross-country variability. We contribute to the literature by providing an objective measure of accounting discretion across different countries. We argue that understanding country-level variability in accounting discretion is crucial to understanding overall managerial discretion at the firm level.

Syftet med studien var att få en djupare förståelse för hur biståndshandläggare inom äldreomsorgen upplever sitt handlingsutrymme utifrån gräsrotsbyråkratens roll samt att identifiera vilka faktorer påverkar handlingsutrymmet. Fem intervjuer med sju informanter, varav sex kvinnor och en man, har genomförts och studien har en kvalitativ ansats. Analysen av resultatet visade att handlingsutrymmet ökar eller minskar vilket beror på ett antal identifierade faktorer. Dessa faktorer är: bakgrund, stödfunktioner, påtryckningar, reglementen och arbetssätt. I studien beskrivs hur handlingsutrymmet utförs och hur det upplevs av informanterna. En konsekvens av ett litet handlingsutrymme är att biståndshandläggarnas position mellan myndighetens uppdrag och medborgarnas behov kan bidra till stress. / The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of how social worker in elderly care experience their discretion based on the street-level bureaucrats role and to identify the factors affecting the discretion. Five interviews with seven informants, six women and one man, have been completed and the study has a qualitative approach. The analysis of the results showed that the discretion increases or decreases due to a number of identified factors. These factors are: the background, support functions, pressure, regulations and practices. The study describes how the discretion is performed and how it is perceived by the informants. A consequence of a small discretion is that the social workers position between the authority´s  mission and the needs of citizens can contribute to stress.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how four preschool teachers experience their discretion in the working team and what is reinforcing and limiting factors for this. The empirical data for this qualitative thesis was collected through interviews with four preschool teachers working in different preschools in Stockholm. I used semi-structured interviews, which is characterized by open questions and a curios and open attitude for me as an interviewer, where I tried to follow the interviewee by asking follow-up questions. A phenomenological perspective has been used as a theoretical framework for this study. This has led to that I have looked at discretion as a phenomenon and how it is experienced and perceived in the preschool teachers’ lifeworlds. The empirical data were analyzed and interpreted based on a hermeneutical approach.The result shows that a critical factor for discretion in the working team at preschool is their own personal characters ability to "stand up for oneself," without being hindered by the fear to be seen as troublesome. To find good arguments, to give and receive feedback and be able to compromise and include others and have clear procedures was also perceived as reinforcement for discretion. Limiting for the experience of discretion could be the lack of good communication and colleagues who don’t have the same level of education.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka vilka förutsättningar skolkuratorer i Stockholmupplever sig ha för att arbeta förebyggande och hälsofrämjande med psykisk ohälsa bland unga. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats då nio intervjuer med skolkuratorer verksamma på gymnasieskolor i Stockholmsområdet har genomförts. Delar av Lipskys (2010) teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater och deras handlingsutrymme samt en organisationsteori från Abrahamsson (2000) användes för att analysera empirin. Resultatet visade att de intervjuade skolkuratorerna upplevde sig ha varierande förutsättningar att arbeta förebyggande och hälsofrämjande med psykisk ohälsa bland eleverna. Vidare framkom att det är otydligt definierat, både i skollagen (2010:800) och på de enskilda arbetsplatserna, vad det innebär i praktiken att arbetaförebyggande och hälsofrämjande. Genomgående uttryckte skolkuratorerna en önskan om att arbeta mer på gruppnivå vilket också var deras definition av förebyggande och hälsofrämjande arbete. Resultatet visade att skolkuratorernas ambitioner inte stämde överens med hur de beskrevatt de arbetade. Avslutningsvis diskuteras skolkuratorernas upplevda svårigheter med att vara den enda personen som bedriver psykosocialt arbete i en organisation som skolan, där fokus främst är måluppfyllelse. / The aim of this study was to investigate how school counsellors in Stockholm experienced their work conditions and their own abilities to work with mental health prevention and health promotion among young students. The study was conducted trough nine qualitative interviews with school counsellors at nine upper secondary schools, in the Stockholm area. To analyze the empirical data, we have used parts of Lipskys (2010) theory about “street level-bureacrats” and their discretion, and Abrahamssons (2000) theory about organization. The results showed different conditions and abilities among the interviewees for working with prevention and health promotion projects among young students. Our results also showed that the Swedish Education Act and school counsellors job descriptions was vaguely defined regarding the prevention and health promotion projects. Througout the interviews, the school counsellors expressed a desire to work more with group projects, which was also their definition of prevention and health promotion. The results also showed an inconsistency between the school counsellors ambitions and the way they currently carry out their work. In the conclusion we discuss how the school counsellors feel about being the only employee that works with social work, in organisations that primarily focus on achievements.

The design of incentive compensation plans is critical to a company’s success. This study develops and validates a theoretical model to examine how incentive contract framing affects effort. This study uses an experiment to observe the effect of the manipulation of incentive contract frame and the presence or absence of principal discretion in performance evaluation on effort. The results of the experiment show that when principal discretion in performance evaluation is absent, penalty contracts induce greater effort than bonus contracts. The results of the experiment also demonstrate that the interaction of principal discretion in performance evaluation and contract frame influences how agents view the perceived fairness of their incentive contract. Specifically, principal discretion in performance evaluation increases perceived fairness under a penalty contract but not under a bonus contract. This study also extends prior research by documenting that perceived fairness explains how incentive contract frame affects trust and effort.

Insatsen kontaktperson används flitigt inom socialtjänsten, trots det finns det ytterst lite forskning kring insatsen och dess effekter. Detta arbete strävar efter att få en ökad förståelse för socialsekreterares användande av insatsen kontaktperson för ungdomar samt hur socialsekreterares handlingsutrymme har påverkat det användandet. För att nå en ökad förståelse kring detta har en kvalitativ intervjustudie genomförts där socialsekreterare från olika socialkontor fått berätta om sina erfarenheter och upplevelser kring insatsen. Utifrån de uppgifter som framkommit under intervjuerna har olika teman skapats som beskriver skäl att använda insatsen, vilka effekter som ses av insatsen samt skillnader och likheter mellan olika handläggares agerande. Resultatet visar att kontaktperson kan beviljas av många olika anledningar och att de upplevda effekterna varierar. Det blir också tydligt hur fritt det är för varje socialsekreterare att själv utforma insatsen, vilket gör att det går ifrågasätta klienters rättssäkerhet då detta skiljer sig mellan olika kommuner. / In Swedish social services work with youths one of the most common ways to help is to grant the youth a sort of grownup mentor, a contact person. Despite of this, there is very little research about this kind of mentoring and its effects. In this study, we wanted to increase our understanding of the use of contact person for youths and also how the social workers discretion affects the use of contact person. To be able to do that a qualitative interview study was made where social workers from different social service offices shared their knowledge and experiences about contact person. Based on the information that was given during the interviews we were able to identify different themes that describe reasons to use contact person, which effects the social workers can see and also the differences and similarities between the different social workers way to use it. The result shows that social workers can provide youths with a contact person for a variety of reasons, and that the experienced effects differ between the social service offices. The result also makes it clear how the social workers in a free way are allowed to form the setup and implement of the contact person, which makes it possible to question the client’s rights to receive the same help no matter where you live or who you meet with.

Det övergripande syftet med denna studie är att studera socialsekreterares uppfattning av deras möjlighet till att bedriva förändringsarbete på avdelningen för ekonomiskt bistånd inom socialtjänsten, med målet att klienten ska bli självförsörjande. Tidigare forskning inom området har visat att socialsekreterare har flera olika roller. De förväntas följa lagar och regler samtidigt som de ska möta klientens individuella behov. Detta förutsätter en god relation mellan socialsekreterare och klient, och möjligheten till att skapa goda relationer anses kunna vara avhängigt organisationstypen. Tidigare forskning har även visat att ett av problemen i det dagliga arbetet inom socialtjänsten är tidsbristen, vilken ger upphov till ett behov av att prioritera mellan ärenden. Det är i ljuset av vad tidigare forskning visat om bland annat organisationsform och arbetsbörda som det ter sig relevant att utforska vad socialsekreterare själva anser om möjligheter till att bedriva förändringsarbete. Studien baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer med totalt åtta socialsekreterare från fyra olika svenska kommuner. Resultatet, det vill säga bland annat vad som informanterna anser vara viktiga faktorer samt vad som utgör hinder för förändringsarbetet inom ekonomiskt bistånd, analyseras och diskuteras utifrån Hasenfelds teori om människobehandlande organisationer samt Lipskys teori om gräsrosbyråkrater. Resultatet pekar bland annat mot att socialsekreterarna anser sig behöva organisatoriska förutsättningar, såsom en rimlig mängd ärenden, för att kunna bedriva ett framgångsrikt förändringsarbete inom ekonomiskt bistånd. Vidare anser informanterna att individuella faktorer, såsom klientens motivation, är av vikt för processen bort från ett biståndsberoende. Bland hindrande faktorer på individnivå nämns diskrepans mellan socialsekreterarens och klientens målbilder gällande vilken förändring som ska uppnås hos klienten som ett exempel. På organisationsnivå anser socialsekreterarna den höga arbetsbelastningen, som ofta råder inom arbetet med ekonomiskt bistånd, vara det största hindret för ett aktivt klientarbete mot självförsörjning. Informanterna betonar att ärendemängden i dagsläget ofta är så hög att det inte är möjligt att träffa klienterna så ofta som det skulle behövas. I ljuset av vad tidigare forskning och vad analysen av den insamlade empirin visar, identifierades i denna studie, utifrån socialsekreterares synvinkel, flera faktorer som anses vara av vikt för ett välfungerande förändringsarbete inom ekonomiskt bistånd. Det intervjuade anser att de (som socialsekreterare) behöver både individuella ”verktyg” och organisatoriska förutsättningar för att kunna bedriva sitt arbete på det sätt som fastställs i Socialtjänstlagen.

Tidigare forskning gällande skolkuratorer har visat att deras roll på skolan är oklar och att deras arbete är relativt oreglerat. Den tidigare forskningen som gjorts, särskilt i Sverige, är begränsad och det finns mycket att utforska på området. Skolkuratorns handlingsutrymme är en aspekt av området som är relativt outforskat. Syftet med studien är att undersöka skolkuratorns upplevelse och tolkning av sitt handlingsutrymme i sitt yrkesutövande. Studien har en kvalitativ inriktning. Fem semi-strukturerade intervjuer med skolkuratorer genomfördes. Som teoretisk referensram har Michael Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater använts samt hans teoretiska begrepp handlingsutrymme.   Resultatet visar att kuratorerna upplever de riktlinjer och lagar som finns för deras arbete som lösa och tolkningsbara. De upplever även sitt handlingsutrymme som stort. Resultatet visar även att det finns ett flertal faktorer som kan påverka skolkuratorernas handlingsutrymme, både som gör det större och som krymper det. / Previous research regarding school social workers and school counselors has shown that their role in school is unclear and that their work is relatively unregulated. Despite this there have been few studies, especially in Sweden, in the area of school counselors. Particularly the discretion of the school counselor is an aspect of the area that is relatively unexplored. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the school counselors experience and interpretation of their discretion in the exercise of their profession. The study has a qualitative approach. Five semi-structured interviews with school counselors were conducted. Michael Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucrats and his theoretical concept of discretion have been used as a theoretical framework in this study.   The results show that the school counselors experience the laws and guidelines that are applicable for their work as loose and interpretable. They also experience their discretion as large. The results also show that there are several factors that can affect the school counselors’ discretion, factors that can both shrink their discretion and make it larger.