Environmental disclosure determinants in dutch listed companies

ID: 30693

Authors: Dion van de Burgwal, Rui José Oliveira Vieira.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 0-78, January-April, 2014. 79 page(s).

Keyword: Content analysis , Environmental disclosure , Global Reporting Initiative , Sustainability reporting , The Netherlands

Document type: Article () Show Abstract

Previous studies have already reported mixed results on the relationship between corporate environmental disclosures and environmental performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify variables that impact significantly the level of environmental disclosure practices provided by Dutch listed firms. A content analysis scorecard is used to test the mentioned level. The scorecard is based on the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability reporting guidelines, developed by Clarkson, Li, Richardson, and Vasvari (2008) in collaboration with an environmental disclosure expert. It is one of the first studies that have applied this comprehensive scorecard. This method is valuable to users who seek to assess the firms' true environmental exposure. Furthermore, there are no published studies that examine variables in which it is possible to find a significant impact on the disclosure practices of Dutch companies. The environmental information for 2008 was collected from a sample of 28 Dutch listed companies, which ones represent 90% of the total market capitalization on the Dutch stock exchange, and the selected variables that could affect the level of environmental disclosure are firm size, industry membership and firm profitability. The statistical tests proved that firm size and industry membership are significantly and positively associated with the level of environmental disclosure. This result is consistent with prior research that has used other measures of environmental disclosure. However, profitability is not statistically significant related to the level of environmental disclosure. This may be due to the impact of the financial crisis that has arisen in 2007/2008.

Information asymmetry in stock trading, economic and financial characteristics and corporate governance in the Brazilian stock market

ID: 30691

Authors: Orleans Silva Martins, Edilson Paulo.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 0-45, January-April, 2014. 46 page(s).

Keyword: Capital market , Insider information , Insider trading

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This study sought to investigate the relationship between information asymmetry in the stock trading, economic and financial characteristics and corporate governance of listed companies in the Brazilian stock market in 2010 and 2011. To this end, the study relied on a theoretical framework for information asymmetry in the capital market to measure the asymmetry's magnitude based on the intraday stock- trading data of 194 companies. The primary results demonstrated that the informational asymmetry in the stock trading was positively related to the risk, return and liquidity of the shares as well as the cost of equity and the size of the companies. In addition, the asymmetry was negatively related to the abnormal return of shares. During the investigated period, the information asymmetry relationship with the liquidity and size (positive) and the abnormal return (negative) were at odds with previous research. The reasons for our results may be related to specific aspects of the Brazilian market, for example, in the case of abnormal returns, the deceleration of the Bovespa Index (IBovespa) or the reflection of the average return to negotiators without insider information during the period. In case of liquidity and size, the high index of issuance and negotiation of preferred shares may have influenced the results. Thus, this research contributes to the analysis of idiosyncratic characteristics of the capital market of a developing country, such as information asymmetry in stock trading and its association with the economic and financial characteristics and corporate governance of companies in the Brazilian stock market.

Editorial

ID: 30688

Authors: Fábio Frezatti.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 1-1, January-April, 2014. 1 page(s).

Document type: Editorial (Portuguese)

Audit regulation in banking systems: analysis of the international context and determining factors

ID: 30689

Authors: José Alves Dantas, Fábio Moraes da Costa, Jorge Katsumi Niyama, Otávio Ribeiro de Medeiros.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 7-18, January-April, 2014. 12 page(s).

Keyword: Audit , Auditing standards , Banking system , Banks , Regulation

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This empirical-analytical study aims to provide a comparison between the levels of audit activity regulation in banking institutions and evaluate the relationship between the degree of regulation and the characteristics of national banking systems. To this end, a database containing data from a survey conducted with the national banking supervisory and regulatory authorities of 172 countries that is maintained by the World Bank was used. Descriptive statistics revealed that the highest levels of regulation are recorded in the most developed nations as well as Middle Eastern, North African, European and Central Asian countries. The study also confirmed that Brazil has a higher level of regulation than the international average. Tests were carried out using regressions to evaluate the relationship between the level of auditing regulations and the characteristics of banking sectors; it was evident that countries with higher levels of domestic credit provision by the banking sector and more profitable banks impose more requirements regarding the performance of auditors. In contrast, there is less regulation in countries where state banks participate more in the financial system and where there are more restrictions on the activities of banking institutions. A positive association between a banking sector's degree of concentration and the level of auditing regulation was not found. Finally, it was noted that, in 2000, the first year in which the employed survey was conducted, the level of regulation was lower than in the other years, whereas in 2007, the final year of the survey, the level of regulation was higher than in previous years. These results confirm the findings in the literature that auditing standards are likely to become more stringent over time as the demand for more rigorous requirements accumulates, especially during credibility crises.

Homogeneity versus heterogeneity in debt structure: a study using panel data

ID: 30690

Authors: Angela Cristiane Santos Póvoa, Wilson Toshiro Nakamura.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 19-32, January-April, 2014. 14 page(s).

Keyword: Debt structure , Heterogeneity , Homogeneity

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article argues that new contributions to the study of capital structure can be obtained from the study of corporate debt structure. More specifically, it addresses the issue of homogeneity and heterogeneity in debt structure, including its relevance and determinants, and incorporates a theoretical discussion. Because of the novelty of this topic in Brazil, a study was conducted that analyzed the debt structure of 113 companies over a period of 5 years. The results show that homogeneous and heterogeneous debt patterns are present in the debt structures of companies operating in Brazil and are associated with variables such as company size, market to book value, and the presence of rating grades.

Capital structure, cash holdings and firm value: a study of brazilian listed firms

ID: 30692

Authors: Tiago Rodrigues Loncan, João Frois Caldeira.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 46-59, January-April, 2014. 14 page(s).

Keyword: Capital structure , Cash holdings , Firm value

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This study analyzed the relationship among capital structure, cash holdings and firm value for a sample of publicly traded Brazilian firms, through panel data regressions, employing the fixed-effects estimator. Initially, it was estimated regressions between capital structure (debt to total capital) and cash holdings (cash to assets), as well as between cash holdings and short and long-term debt. Next, it was applied a regression among firm value, capital structure and cash holdings. The results of this study suggested that debt, both short and long-termed, is negatively related to cash holdings, and that the level of cash holdings is also associated to a lower leverage. The study also presented indirect evidence that financially constrained firms hold more cash. Regarding to the impact of the capital structure on the firm value, short-term debt, long-term debt and the financial constraint had negative marginal effects on the firm value, suggesting a risk-averse behavior of investors in relation to debt. Cash holdings, instead, is valued as positive by investors, but up to an optimum threshold level. Further, the market capitalization is discounted with respect to cash holdings (inverted U-curve), in synergy with static trade-off theory of cash holdings.

Does the standard-setter's opinion matter? An analysis of the impact of the IASB letter's disclosure on the stock returns of european banks with greek bond exposure

ID: 30694

Authors: Cristina Zardo Calvi, Fernando Caio Galdi.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 79-91, January-April, 2014. 13 page(s).

Keyword: Event study , financial crisis , financial instrument accounting , standard-setting body

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This study investigates whether there is evidence that the letter issued and disclosed to the market by the international accounting standard- setter the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which warned of an inadequate accounting for, had informational content and caused changes in the stock prices of banks in Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom whose portfolios included Greek bonds. This analysis is important because the letter represents the first time that the IASB took a stand on the adequacy of published financial statements compared to international accounting standards (International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS). To perform this analysis, the event date was identified as the day on which the letter was publicly disclosed by the specialized press. Although the letter was published on August 30, 2011, it was dated August 4, 2011, and according to the IASB, it was disclosed on August 30 because the day before, the Financial Times reported concerns by the IASB regarding accounting inadequacies that were occurring in the market. To assess the impact of the event, the market-adjusted return metric was used, and using the difference-in-differences approach, it was possible to test the effect of the interaction on the treatment group (i.e., banks that owned Greek bonds) during the time after the letter was published. For this test, a regression was performed for each event window using the Ordinary Least Squares method (OLS) with pooled data. The results show there is evidence that the standard-setter's opinion is relevant, i.e., that the IASB's letter had an impact on the stock return of banks that owned Greek bonds during the period of analysis.

Nominata de avaliadores

ID: 30695

Authors: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 25, n. 64, p. 89-95, January-April, 2014. 7 page(s).

Document type: Other (Portuguese)