Apresentação

ID: 44897

Authors: Fábio Frezatti.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 171-172, May-August, 2017. 2 page(s).

Document type: Editorial (Portuguese)

Editorial: - O positivismo e a pesquisa ‘alternativa’ em Contabilidade

ID: 44896

Authors: Maria João Major.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 173-178, May-August, 2017. 6 page(s).

Document type: Editorial (Portuguese)

Influence of board interlocking on earnings management

ID: 44898

Authors: Paulo Roberto da Cunha, Marcio Roberto Piccoli.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 179-196, May-August, 2017. 18 page(s).

Keyword: board interlocking , board of directors , degree centrality , earnings management , intermediation centrality

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The participation of directors on more than one board is called “board interlocking”. This phenomenon contributes to the spread of management and governance practices, through directors sharing their knowledge and experiences on other boards. Thus, directors could “carry” the earnings management practices present in one company into another in which they sit on the board. It is assumed that the greater directors’ direct or indirect connections on boards, the greater the sharing of information, especially information that can be reflected in company earnings quality. In light of the above, the aim of this study is to verify the influence of board interlocking on earnings management in companies listed on the São Paulo Stock, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBovespa). The study is characterized as descriptive, quantitative, and documentary, and uses a sample of companies listed on the BM&FBOVESPA between 2011 and 2013. For earnings management, the model from Kang and Sivaramakrishnan (1995) was used, while for interlocking, degree centrality measures were used for direct board member connections, and intermediation centrality for indirect connections. The results indicate that earnings management is influenced by the interlocking of board members. It is concluded that the greater the degree centrality, the greater positive earnings management is, and that variations in positive and negative accruals are influenced by board member intermediation. The results reinforce the idea that earnings management behavior can be transferred between companies by the directors that make up their boards.

Unconditional conservatism in Brazilian public companies and tax neutrality

ID: 44899

Authors: Juliana Pinhata Sanches do Vale, Sílvio Hiroshi Nakao.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 197-212, May-August, 2017. 16 page(s).

Keyword: book-tax conformity , conservatism , quality of accounting information , taxation , tax neutrality

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Law n. 11,638/2007 legitimized the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption process in Brazil and introduced an accounting system detached from tax purposes in the country. This law aims to reduce the influence of tax law on accounting standards and improve the quality of financial reporting, as IFRS are considered to be higher quality standards. International literature shows a reduction in earnings quality in environments where accounting and tax rules are strongly linked. Moreover, the influence of tax legislation on financial accounting is seen to encourage unconditional conservatism, a bias with no advantages for financial market efficiency. Thus, tax neutrality is expected to provide a more favorable institutional environment for quality financial reporting by detaching corporate accounting from tax accounting. In light of the above, this study aims to verify whether the advent of tax neutrality influences unconditional conservatism in Brazilian public companies. The methodology used involves panel data regressions. The sample consists of non-financial publicly-traded companies with information published in Economática® covering 2002 to 2014. The results show differences in the relationship between taxation and financial reporting between firms that are subject to different levels of monitoring in the Brazilian stock market. Evidence of unconditional conservatism is only found in companies that are subject to greater market monitoring. In this group, it is observed that taxation does not induce unconditional conservatism in reported earnings, which is expected in a tax neutrality context.

Complexity and corporate governance: an analysis of companies listed on the BM&FBOVESPA

ID: 44900

Authors: Renata Rouquayrol Assunção, Márcia Martins Mendes De Luca, Alessandra Carvalho de Vasconcelos.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 213-228, May-August, 2017. 16 page(s).

Keyword: agency theory , corporate governance , operational complexity , organizational complexity

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

In light of the need to develop mechanisms of control, protection, and transparency regarding the relationships between principal and agent, and with the aim of eliminating or reducing the agency problem, corporate governance has emerged. Based on Agency Theory, separation of ownership and control of activities derives from the complexity of organizations. In this context, this study aims to analyze the relationship between dimensions of complexity and corporate governance in companies listed on the São Paulo Stock, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA), in which contingency factors might influence organizational characteristics. The investigation gathers data from a sample of 162 companies listed on the BM&FBOVESPA. The following statistical tests were used in the data analysis: Factor Analysis, Multiple Linear Regression, Correspondence Analysis, and Correlation Analysis. For measuring complexity, contingency variables such as age, size, diversification, and internationalization were adopted; and, to assess corporate governance, a representative index of the adoption of good governance practices was used. The results show that organizational complexity is explained by the size and diversification variables, whereas operational complexity is explained by the size, diversification, and internationalization variables. It was observed that in the two dimensions of complexity – organizational and operational – corporate governance was influenced by the diversification, internationalization, and age variables, with the latter involving an inverse relationship. It is concluded that companies displaying more complexity, in its two dimensions, record a higher level of corporate governance, which confirms the research hypothesis.

Effects of the audit committee and the fiscal council on earnings quality in Brazil

ID: 44901

Authors: Vitor Gomes Baioco, José Elias Feres de Almeida.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 229-248, May-August, 2017. 20 page(s).

Keyword: audit committee , corporate governance , earnings quality , fiscal council , powered fiscal council

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of the audit committee and the fiscal council with their different characteristics on accounting information quality in Brazil. The proxies of accounting information quality used are: relevance of accounting information, timeliness, and conditional conservatism. The sample consists of Brazilian companies listed on the Brazilian Securities, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA) with annual liquidity above 0.001 within the period from 2010 to 2013. Data were collected from the database Comdinheiro and the Reference Forms of companies available on the website of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) or the BM&FBOVESPA. The samples used in the study totaled 718, 688, and 722 observations for the value relevance, timeliness, and conditional conservatism models, respectively. The results indicate that different arrangements of the fiscal council and the existence of the audit committee differently impact the accounting information properties. The presence of the fiscal council positively impacted the relevance of equity, while the presence of the audit committee, the relevance of earnings. Conditional conservatism was evidenced in the group of companies with a permanent fiscal council, demonstrating that it is significant as a governance mechanism, rather than the installation for temporary operation when asked by shareholders in an ordinary general meeting. The presence of both showed significant earnings for the market, but they were not timely, something which exposes restriction to the relevance found. Lastly, the powerful fiscal council showed a positive association only concerning the relevance of equity.

Voluntary disclosure and earnings management: evidence from the Brazilian capital market

ID: 44902

Authors: Silvia Consoni, Romualdo Douglas Colauto, Gerlando Augusto Sampaio Franco de Lima.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 249-263, May-August, 2017. 15 page(s).

Keyword: accounting information , discretionary accruals , earnings management , emerging markets , voluntary disclosure

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This study examines the association between the voluntary disclosure of economic and financial information and earnings management. The outlined arguments on the subject are based on the assumption that consistent voluntary disclosure policies may reduce earnings management. The analysis is conducted on a random sample of 66 non-financial Brazilian listed companies in the 2005-2012 period. To measure voluntary disclosure, the index proposed by Consoni and Colauto (2016) is used. As a proxy for earnings management, discretionary accruals (DA) are estimated based on the model by Dechow, Sloan, and Sweeney (1995). The relationship between these measurements is analyzed using a model of simultaneous equations and by the random effects regression method with panel data. A significant negative relationship was expected a priori; however, the main result of the study indicates that voluntary disclosure and earnings management are not simultaneously determined or associated. Although the results obtained contradict certain theoretical assumptions, there are alternative explanations for this finding. The empirical set of evidence in this research, in addition to those in previous studies, should be interpreted with caution because there is no consensus on the measures for voluntary disclosure and earnings management. Second, several companies in Brazil may not be interested in providing high-quality voluntary disclosure because most of their shareholders enjoy private benefits of control. This issue reduces the importance of the potential market demand for information, stratifies information asymmetry, and does not prevent earnings management.

Satisfaction among accounting professors in Brazil

ID: 44903

Authors: Tamires Sousa Araújo, Gilberto José Miranda, Janser Moura Pereira.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 264-281, May-August, 2017. 18 page(s).

Keyword: accounting , accounting professors , higher education , professional qualification , teaching

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of satisfaction among accounting professors in Brazil throughout their careers. The research is classified as descriptive and used a quantitative approach to data analysis. 641 valid responses were obtained from professors from all regions of Brazil. The results show that a feeling of satisfaction prevails among accounting course professors, as most of them “like the profession” and, in general, “are satisfied with it”. It was found that levels of satisfaction are higher among individuals with more experience, in that in their first years in the job (one to three years), professors have lower satisfaction rates; the highest levels of satisfaction are found in the final stage (over 35 years). The main factor that influences satisfaction is personal fulfillment (teaching work and relationship with students). It was also possible to identify that positive feelings about teaching predominate (67.3%) compared to negative ones (32.7%). These results show the need for greater attention to be paid in the early years of the career in order to avoid a “reality clash”. They also show the need for other studies to investigate how the phases in the life cycle of accounting professors are characterized.

Predictive power of Brazilian equity fund performance using the R2 as a measure of selectivity

ID: 44904

Authors: Marcelo dos Santos Guzella, Carlos Heitor Campani.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 282-296, May-August, 2017. 15 page(s).

Keyword: financial brazilian market , Jensen’s alpha , predictive power , selectivity of equity funds , Sharpe ratio

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This paper aimed to investigate the impact of levels of selectivity on the performance of equity funds using a methodology applied for the first time ever (as far as we know) in the Brazilian market. As an indicator of the activity level of a fund, we proposed the coefficient of determination (R2) of the regression of its returns over market returns. In total, 867 funds were analyzed in the period between November 2004 and October 2014. The hypothesis tested is that more selective funds perform better to compensate for their higher operating costs. This hypothesis was confirmed in the Brazilian market. Dynamic equally-weighted portfolios of funds were simulated, according to their past R2 and alphas, with monthly rebalancing and 12-month moving windows. The portfolio of the most selective funds had a Sharpe ratio of 0.0494, on a monthly basis, while the portfolio of the least selective funds had a Sharpe ratio of -0.0314. Performance was also higher in evaluations involving excess returns, Jensen’s alpha, and accumulated returns, as well as when compared to randomly selected portfolios. Moreover, past performance (as measured by Jensen’s alpha) was also a predictor of future performance. Particularly, the portfolio composed by funds with a higher past alpha and lower past R2 presented a Sharpe ratio of 0.1483 and a Jensen’s alpha of 0.87% (significant at 1%), while the one composed of funds with a lower past alpha and lower activity level presented a Sharpe ratio of -0.0673 and an alpha of -0.32% (also significant at 1%).

Investor relations and information asymmetry

ID: 44905

Authors: Sandrielem da Silva Rodrigues, Fernando Caio Galdi.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 28, n. 74, p. 297-312, May-August, 2017. 16 page(s).

Keyword: bid-ask spread , Brazilian capital market , financial information , information asymmetry , investor relations (IR)

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Companies invest significant volumes of resources in investor relations (IR) departments. The professionals working in the IR department are responsible for communication between the company and the market, so that the information generated is widely disseminated and understood by investors. In this context, this research aims to investigate whether there is evidence that the IR activity decreases information asymmetry between the company and the market. Specifically, we evaluate the hypothesis that Brazilian companies with IR websites classified as more informative have a reduced bid-ask spread (proxy for asymmetry). Therefore, this paper classifies the informative content from IR websites of Brazilian companies for the years 2013 and 2014 and relates the outcomes obtained with information asymmetry metrics. Initially, the estimation considers the pooled ordinary least squares (POLS) model and, at a second moment, in order to mitigate potential endogeneity problems, the pooled twostage least squares (2SLS) model is used. The results indicate that more informative IR websites are able to decrease the bid-ask spread of Brazilian listed companies. This finding strongly encourages companies to provide information to stakeholders on well-structured IR websites of their own.