Municipal Administrative Capacity and Inequalities in Educational Achievement in Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Educational achievement in Brazil is largely explained by socioeconomic factors and by characteristics of schools and teachers. However, the relationship between subnational state capacity (particularly the capacities of municipal and state education departments) and educational outcomes remains underexplored in the literature. This article examines the extent to which general municipal state capacity and education-specific managerial capacities are associated with educational performance, addressing a gap in debates on education policy and federalism. Materials and methods:The study adopts a quantitative approach, using cross-sectional analysis based on linear regression models with state-level fixed effects. The units of analysis are municipal and state public schools with data from the 2023 SAEB and IDEB. Independent variables include the Municipal Management Index (i-GeM), its five constituent dimensions, and education-specific indicators of municipal management (planning, teacher career structures, financial autonomy, principal selection procedures, and mechanisms for assessing educational demand). The models control for students’ socioeconomic status, educational inequality, and the size of the municipal education system. Results: The findings show that, once socioeconomic factors are controlled for, municipalities’ informational capacity is the only i-GeM dimension consistently associated with higher educational achievement. Formal instruments such as municipal education plans or teacher career plans do not exhibit statistically significant effects. By contrast, greater financial autonomy of education departments, merit-based selection of school principals, and systematic mechanisms for assessing educational demand are positively associated with outcomes. Discussion: The results suggest that what matters is not state capacity in the abstract, but specific capacities oriented toward data use, planning, and informational management. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting the central role of informational capacity in subnational educational governance and by pointing to limitations in existing indicators, thereby outlining a future research agenda focused on more precise measurement of state capacities and their causal mechanisms.