Rodrigo de Souza Gonçalves, Otávio Ribeiro de Medeiros, Elionor Farah Jreige Weffort and Jorge Katsumi Niyama
This study is aimed at developing and validating an index designed to measure the level of social disclosure of external social programs of firms listed on the Brazilian stock…
Abstract
Purpose
This study is aimed at developing and validating an index designed to measure the level of social disclosure of external social programs of firms listed on the Brazilian stock market.
Methodology/Approach
The index of social disclosure is composed of 13 items distributed in three dimensions: past information, prospective actions, and accessibility. Its validation involved: (a) pre-test, (b) analysis by referees, (c) exploratory factor analysis, (d) Cronbach’s alpha test, and (e) final validation. The sample is composed of 83 Brazilian firms listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange from 2005 to 2009.
Findings
The index presented robustness in all validation stages. It was found that size, industry sector, internationalization, auditing, and listing on social responsible investment funds are decisive factors for increasing the level of social disclosure.
Research Limitations
The index of social disclosure evaluates external social programs only. Hence, some types of social information are not captured, such environmental ones. Besides, the sources of information for the index are restricted to annual and sustainability reports, so that information from other sources, such as official announcements and company websites, are not captured.
Social Implications
The social disclosure index developed can be useful to analysts and investors assessing listed firms, as well as to financial-market regulators defining policies applicable to the disclosure of corporate social information.
Originality/Value
(a) Construction of a social disclosure index validated and tested in Brazilian firms, which is liable to replication; (b) Utilization of a representative sample of firms listed on an important emerging stock market.
Details
Keywords
Eduardo Flores, Elionor Farah Jreige Weffort, Aldy Fernandes da Silva and L. Nelson G. Carvalho
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether macroeconomic crises are a motivational factor for earnings management practices by the companies listed in the capital markets…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether macroeconomic crises are a motivational factor for earnings management practices by the companies listed in the capital markets of Brazil and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consisted of 7,932 firm-quarter observations from listed Brazilian companies and 99,931 from listed US companies, covering a 13-year period (1998-2010). The authors developed regression models for the panel data, taking into account discretionary accruals as an earnings management proxy (dependent variable), while crises were regarded as a macroeconomic factor (dummy variable of interest). Also considered were return on assets, market-to-book ratio, size, leverage, foreign direct investment, income taxes, quarters, and sectors, which were treated as control variables.
Findings
The results corroborate the conceptual issues involved in undertaking this study, and they demonstrate that in periods of macroeconomic crises, companies are more motivated to employ earnings management practices both in Brazil and in the USA.
Originality/value
Unlike previous studies, the model developed in our research includes multiple macroeconomic crises simultaneously. Furthermore, it was applied in two markets at different stages of development and operating in distinct institutional contexts, which indicates its viability for replication for a large number of countries.