Editorial

ID: 6892

Authors: Gilberto de Andrade Martins.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 5-5, May-August, 2009. 1 page(s).

Document type: Editorial (Portuguese)

Poison pills in Brazil: an exploratory study

ID: 6374

Authors: Jorge Vieira, Eliseu Martins, Luiz Paulo Lopes Fávero.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 6-24, May-August, 2009. 19 page(s).

Keyword: Hostile take over , Poison pills , Publicly held firms , Tender offer

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This paper aimed to study poison pills, investigate the conceptual aspects, as well as legal dispositions and other rules applicable. A research of publicly-held firms that use this anti-takeover instrument was done, sampled till June 2006, in order to discover peculiarities in the Brazilian environment. Moreover, as an objective of this paper, some theories that can explain the behavior of managers from poison pill firms were presented, focused on the classical agency problem: managers' interest against firms' interest. This exploratory study should support the development of a new empirical research area in Brazil. Theories here presented can and should be investigated in future research, in order to improve Brazilian literature focused on this matter. Nevertheless, it would be prudent to consider the idiosyncratic aspects of the Brazilian Stock Market and precocity of these poison pill firms in empirical studies, before coming to any conclusion about the figures and measures obtained.

Comparability between BR GAAP and U.S. GAAP results: evidence from Brazilian companies listed on North American stock exchanges

ID: 6375

Authors: Sirlei Lemes, Luiz Nelson Guedes de Carvalho.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 25-45, May-August, 2009. 21 page(s).

Keyword: Br GAAP , IASB , Index of Comparability , U.S. GAAP

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This research assesses the materiality of the reconciliation differences in profits reported by Brazilian companies. Given the non-existence of IFRS compatible accounting statements for Brazilian companies, the sample was composed of enterprises that publish the result according to Br GAAP and U.S. GAAP on the 20-F Form filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). By means of an exploratory - in function of its objectives - and documentary research - due to the data collection method - Gray's Index of Comparability (Gray, 1980) was applied to the differences evidenced for 30 Brazilian companies between 2000 and 2005. The results indicate a representative number of enterprises with materially incomparable results, being three for a materiality margin of 5%, six for 10%, while only 21 of the 30 companies present comparable profits for 15%. Analyzing the reconciliations of 10 companies in the year 2005, the adjustment referring to the business combination was what affected the largest number of enterprises; as for the revaluation of assets, characteristically appointed as a practice that requires frequent adjustments to U.S. GAAP, reconciliation was not observed for the majority of companies. Additional studies are suggested to identify specific differences for a bigger number of enterprises and years.

Voluntary disclosure: factors explaining the extent of information on intangible resources

ID: 6376

Authors: Cléa Beatriz Macagnam.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 46-61, May-August, 2009. 16 page(s).

Keyword: Disclosure , Intangible resources

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The reduction of information asymmetry leads to a sound economic distribution with better investment opportunities. From this perspective, this paper aims to investigate factors that affect the extent of voluntary information disclosure by companies listed in the Spanish stock exchange. The statistical technique ordinary least squares was used for the sake of analysis. The results suggest that factors like: firm size, economic industry, debt ratio, level of internationalization, age and difference between common stock value and book value explain the greater extent of information disclosure for intangible resources. In turn, factors like profitability, level of monopoly and floating capital of the company explain the lower levels of information disclosure.

Auditing and earnings management: an empirical studies in publicly-traded companies audited by the big four and other auditing firms

ID: 6377

Authors: José Elias Feres de Almeida, Juan Carlos Goes de Almeida.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 62-74, May-August, 2009. 13 page(s).

Keyword: Auditing firms , Big Four , Discretionary Accruals , Earnings Management

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This paper investigates the relations between auditing firms and their ability to mitigate earnings management. In this context, we analyze if discretionary accruals of publicly-traded companies audited by the "Big Four" (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers) and other auditing firms are statistically different. The final sample consists of 1,414 observations collected from the 1999-2005 period: 897 observations for publicly-traded companies audited by the "Big Four" and 517 representing other publicly-traded companies audited by other firms. The information content in the database was obtained from Economatica software and "Divulgação Externa" available at the BOVESPA website to obtain information from auditing firms. We used KS model with instruments and non-parametric tests to verify the difference in discretionary accruals between these groups of firms. The results indicate that companies audited by the "Big Four" have a lower level of discretionary accruals than companies audited by other auditing firms, suggesting the capacity to mitigate earnings management. Additionally, we verified that there is little research in this subject in Brazil.

Determinants of the capital structure of publicly-traded companies in Brazil, Mexico and Chile in the period 2001-2006

ID: 6378

Authors: Douglas Dias Bastos, Wilson Toshiro Nakamura.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 75-94, May-August, 2009. 20 page(s).

Keyword: Capital structure , Latin America , Panel data

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The present study investigates the determinants of the capital structure, using the technique of static panel data, for a sample of 297 companies from several sectors in Brazil, Mexico and Chile, between 2001 and 2006, in order to determine the relative importance of the specific factors of the firm. Starting from six indicators of leverage ratio (total book-debt ratio, short-term and long-term book-debt ratio, total market-debt ratio and short-term and long-term financial-debt ratio), it was evidenced that the specific factors of the firm: current liquidity, profitability, market to book value and size presented the most significant results for the capital structure of the companies from the three countries. Among the four theoretical currents analyzed (Trade off, Asymmetry of information, Pecking order and Agency), the theory of Pecking order seems to be the one that best explains the results obtained for Brazil and Mexico. For Chile, besides the Pecking order, the theory of Trade off strongly influences the capital structure.

The relation between accounting conservatism and conflicts on dividend policies between major and minor shareholders of Brazilian companies listed on Bovespa

ID: 6379

Authors: Rosimeire Pimentel Gonzaga, Fábio Moraes da Costa.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 95-109, May-August, 2009. 15 page(s).

Keyword: Conflicts , Conservatism , Dividend Politics

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The main objective of this study was to present empirical evidence on the relation between accounting conservatism and conflicts about dividend policies between majority and minority shareholders of Brazilian publicly traded companies listed on BOVESPA. Data for the period from 1995 to 2006 was retrieved from Economatica. To test the hypotheses, panel data regression was used with two proxies for accounting conservatism - the accrual-based measure used by Givoly and Hayn (2000) and the book-to-market-based measure proposed by Beaver and Ryan (2000). The results corroborate the findings by Ahmed et al. (2002), indicating a relation between accounting conservatism and conflicts about dividend policies between shareholders in the sample companies. The same cannot be affirmed, however, when the proxy based on book-to-market is employed.

Destination of wealth for employees in Brazil: comparison between state and private companies in the electric sector (2004-2007)

ID: 6380

Authors: Esmael Almeida Machado, Rafael Borges Morch, Dilo Sergio de Carvalho Vianna, Ruthberg dos Santos, José Ricardo Maia de Siqueira.

Source: Revista Contabilidade & Finanças, v. 20, n. 50, p. 110-122, May-August, 2009. 13 page(s).

Keyword: Distribution of wealth , Energy sector , Statements of cash fl ows

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Several studies compare the effects of privatization in state and private companies, where they discuss issues like economic efficiency and the social role of business. Many indicate that state enterprises are less efficient economically, but that they develop social responsibilities, including the distribution of income. Based on this information, this study aims to determine if there are significant differences among state and private enterprises in the electric sector, related to the distribution of wealth generated to employees. Data were collected from the Statement of Cash Flows and the Social Balance Sheet, for the period from 2004 to 2007. First, it was examined whether there was any difference in the percentage of the distribution of wealth generated for the employees. Then, it was checked if there was any difference in the number of employees from private and state companies. Finally, it was verified if there was any difference in average pay per capita. To examine this connection, Mann-Whitney's non-parametric test was used. The tests indicate that companies spend more on state officials than on private employees and that the origin of these differences is the amount of staff in 2006 and, additionally, higher earnings.