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This study aims to analyze the influence of taxes and corporate governance on the dividend policy of Brazilian companies.

The authors identify the changes of the tax legislation in Brazil in the period 1986-2011 and check their effect on corporate dividend policies for preferred and common shares. The authors use panel data Probit and Tobit estimation to verify the probability of companies to pay dividends under different tax regimes. The final sample comprises 672 companies, 1,159 traded stocks and 30,134 observations

The authors’ results suggest that changes in the tax legislation have a significant influence on dividend payments. Also, firms do not follow target payout ratios, but dividends are moderately dependent on past payments. Dividend payouts are affected by stock voting rights, privatization and dividend deductibility. Changes in regulation that reduce the agency problems among shareholders affect positively payout ratios.

For managers, maximizing shareholders’ value requires taking into account the consequences of the taxation when designing financial policies for the firm. For investors, stock portfolio selection should take into account payout behavior and how changes in dividend taxation affect stocks’ value. For policymakers, the effects of changes in the tax code on corporate behavior are of utmost importance to stimulate private investment and economic growth.

There are several tax law changes in Brazil within the period analyzed, creating a good opportunity to study the effect of taxation on dividend policy and its dynamics over time.

This paper sets out to argue that, due to a stable set of economic policies over the past decade, today Brazil is much more resilient to international financial crises than in the 1990s.

The paper presents preliminary macroeconomic data in a country case study.

The paper concludes that the initial impact of the current international financial crisis on Brazil has been much less severe than similar crisis episodes in the past.

Given that the crisis is still unfolding, the paper presents only preliminary data regarding its impact on emerging markets.

The paper suggests that emerging markets should adopt flexible exchange rate regimes and stable macroeconomic policies as a means to reduce their exposure to international shocks.

The paper makes an initial diagnosis regarding the impact of the international financial crisis on emerging markets that have adopted sensible economic policies, and is of interest to scholars, business people, and policymakers in developed and emerging countries.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the systematic translation and content validation method used to produce the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Duke Special Survey on Corporate Policy by Graham and Harvey.

In accordance with the requirements for cross‐cultural application of surveys, the paper accounts for obvious differences in language, culture, and the institutional setting and employ well‐known techniques from the field of psychology, such as the use of backtranslation, to ensure faithfulness to the original survey. A panel of experts served as judges in evaluating the clarity of language and the practical pertinence and theoretical dimensions of the questionnaire. Coefficients of content validity for each item and for the instrument as a whole are reported.

The results illustrate how a questionnaire designed for one country should be rigorously translated and validated prior to use in another country.

Although the content validity of the translated version of the Duke Special Survey on Corporate Policy for use in Brazil is generally satisfactory, a few items may prove to be a challenge for the Brazilian CFO to answer, particularly those questions concerning features that are uncommon in the Brazilian financial market.

This paper explores the field study method in finance by borrowing from the vast experience of psychology research in the rigorous translation and validation of survey instruments. This study also highlights the similarities and differences in the interpretation of questions between emerging and developed markets.

The purpose of this paper is to test the main theories of corporate debt maturity in a multi‐country framework, in an attempt to understand country‐specific constraints.

Dynamic panel data analysis estimated by the generalized method of moments, techniques that account properly for cross‐section and time series variation allowing for dynamic effects.

There is a substantial dynamic component in the determination of a firm's maturity structure; firms face moderate adjustment costs towards its optimal maturity, and the determinants of maturity structure and their effects are similar between Latin American countries and the USA; and there is a partial empirical support for each of the theoretical hypotheses tested.

Firm ownership, accounting standards, financial market depth, and the degree of supervision on financial reporting may vary across countries, which may affect the quality and consistency of some variables.

Firms face costs in adjusting the maturity of their debt, which gives such decision a long‐term character, and the determinants of debt maturity do not seem very sensitive to a country's business and financial environment.

The paper focuses on a sample of developing countries that have so far been ignored in empirical studies, employs empirical techniques that account properly for cross‐section and time series variation, and the model allows for dynamic effects that have seldom been considered in previous research.

The purpose of this paper is to survey financial managers in the Arab Gulf region about a broad set of financial decisions and contrast their answers with both prescriptions of financial theory and practices of their North American and European peers.

The paper uses Graham and Harvey's questionnaire on the cost of capital, capital budgeting and capital structure that is also employed by Brounen et al. in Europe, containing two additional questions on corporate governance. Moreover, the survey included an additional question about Islamic financial instruments.

Despite each firm's unique characteristics and institutions, chief financial officers (CFOs) in the Middle East are acting in a manner similar to their North American and European counterparts.

All CFOs surveyed are located in countries that abide by a combination of Islamic, civil (French, Romano‐Germanic), and common (Anglo‐Saxon) laws. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that a nearly identical corporate finance survey has been simultaneously administered in North America, Europe and the Arab Gulf region.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

Cangaço was a form of banditry that occurred in the North-East of Brazil between 1870 and 1940. The movement has inspired many films over the years. This chapter explores the contribution of Cangaço-inspired productions to Brazilian cinema, as well as the particular characteristics of what constitutes the Cangaço genre.

Following a historical survey of the Cangaço, the films were divided into different categories and ranked in terms of relevance. Only the most important are discussed in this chapter.

The Cangaço has been portrayed in Brazilian cinema through the decades in diverse ways, dating back to the 1920s. After becoming a consolidated film genre in the 1950s, then known as Nordestern, the Cangaço finally acquired a proper structure, featuring multiple Western references among its common characteristics. In the 1960s, Glauber Rocha, one of the most prominent filmmakers of the Cinema Novo avant-garde movement, added his own symbolism to the genre. Eventually, the Cangaço was also revisited by directors who combined it with other genres such as comedy, documentary, and erotic films. Another relevant reinterpretation came in the 1990s, when filmmakers of the so-called New Brazilian Cinema offered a new view on the subject.

Despite its strong association with Brazil, the Cangaço has not been thoroughly investigated by researchers. This chapter presents a historical survey and analysis of Cangaço films, highlighting their relevance to Brazilian cinema.