This article discusses the income statement and costing systems as instruments to prove compliance with the constitutional principle of efficiency, governance production and accountability in the public sector so as to minimize the information asymmetry between state and society. The theoretical framework is based on the teachings of the seminal paper by Ronald Coase (1937), "The nature of the firm," adapted to the civil service. The research is descriptive-quantitative, and the data, referring to 2006, was collected through document analysis at the Public Prosecutors Office (PGMSP) in São Paulo. The results of the empirical research suggest that the income statement can reveal compliance with the constitutional principle of efficiency, since it compares the economic revenue (R$ 302,894,295.11) to the costs and expenses incurred (R$ 118,058,180.00), indicating an economic outcome (R$ 184,836,115.11). It also creates new paradigms related to governance and accountability in public administration, capable of producing information to society and support for the decision-making process of public administrators
economic result; costing systems; efficiency; governance and accountability
