Over the past years, the use of simulations in social sciences is increasing (Zellner, 1984; Richardson, 1991; Carvalho, 2005; Vicente, 2005). The advantage of this tool is the possibility to test different scenarios that would not be feasible in real life. In this sense, this article has as objective to simulate the impact of Brazilian State Account Courts on public management and on the investment decision made by private companies. With that objective in mind, a system dynamics model was developed. The results of the simulation show that the State Account Courts have an indirect - but very important - role on attracting private investments for the cities. This happens when the Account Courts expand their original function into an accountability for performance role.
accountability; system dynamics; state Account courts; accountability; private investments attraction; public management
