Timeliness no Brasil: um estudo dos determinantes do prazo de divulgação das demonstrações contábeis das companhias não financeiras listadas na BM&FBOVESPA

Abstract

This study has as a primary purpose to provide empirical evidence about the factors that influence managers' decisions about the timing of annual disclosure of financial statements of non-financial companies listed on the BM&FBOVESPA. The deadline for disclosure was called defasagem (lag) and measured as the time elapsed between the end of the fiscal year and the date of the first submission of Demonstrações Financeiras Padronizadas (DFP) (Standardized Financial Statements). The focus of this research was the influence of the following unobservable factors on the lag: monitoring, accounting complexity, corporate governance, audit reporting and performance. Based on the literature reviewed, were formulated proxies designed to capture the effects of these factors. To achieve the objectives, econometric models were estimated using the methods: (i) Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) with cross-sectional data, (ii) OLS pooled, and (iii) panel data. The tests were applied to a balanced panel data of 644 observations of 322 companies for the years 2010 and 2011. The estimation results showed that tend to release their statements more rapidly companies: (i) with larger number of shareholders, (ii) with higher debt levels, (iii) that have added to one of the especial levels of corporate governance of BM&FBOVESPA, (iv) that have higher proportions of independent directors in the composition of the board of directors, and (v) companies that were audited by an audit firm among the Big-4 group. Moreover, it was found a tendency to delay their disclosures in companies that: (i) belong to a group of companies and are subject to join their balance sheets, (ii) had auditor’s opinion qualified, (iii) report negative earnings (losses). Additionally, proxies were formulated to capture the effects of the surprises contained in the results, one of them was based on the analysts’ forecasts that is the benchmark for market expectations, however, were not observed impacts of the surprises on the timing of disclosure. Nor were verified influences on the timing coming from: (i) the proportion of institutional investors, (ii) the formation of control blocks, (iii) the state regulation, (iv) the level of profitability, (v) the company size, (vi) nor from the complexity derived of the trading activities in foreign markets. The findings of this research can contribute not only to literature devoted to this line of research, but also for investors, analysts and state regulators. The nuances observed for the years analyzed, which marked the full adoption in Brazil of the accounting standard aligned to IFRS and the recovery of the Brazilian economy in relation to the impacts of the global financial crisis allowed relevant findings. Moreover, the relevance of this study is amplified by novelty in the application of proxies never used before in Brazilian environment to explain the timing of disclosure.