Conservadorismo incondicional no Brasil: as práticas contábeis brasileiras, após as alterações na legislação societária (IFRSs), são mais conservadoras do que as práticas anteriores?

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine whether there was an increase of conservatism in the Brazilian accounting after the publication of the Federal Laws 11.638/2007 and 11.941/2009. The research is justified by the importance of analyzing the level of conservatism and convergence of Brazilian accounting. Adjustments to shareholders' equity and net income in the financial statements for the years 2008 and 2009 were collected and analyzed using the methodology proposed by Gray (1980) to measure the level of conservatism. The research is empirical and the sample was composed of the companies that made up the first theoretical portfolio of IBRX in 2013, excluding the financial institutions. After other relevant exclusions, the final sample consisted of 54 companies for the first phase of transition (2008) and 70 for the second phase of the process (2010). The methodology consisted in using the nonparametric Wilcoxon test, Median test and descriptive statistics. Based on the metrics and statistical tests used, it was concluded that there was no statistically significant variation in the level of Brazilian accounting conservatism with the adoption of new accounting standards.