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This paper examines whether dividend payments mitigate the influence of COVID-19 crisis on earnings management practices in Brazil. For this purpose, we use a sample of 264 Brazilian public firms from 2010 to 2021, applying System Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) regressions. Our main results indicate that, although firms are more prone to engage in earnings management practices during the COVID-19 period, the dividend payout ratio mitigates this influence on earnings management level. Therefore, we show that dividend payment can act as a substitute corporate governance mechanism in times of crisis, since it can reduce the occurrence of earnings management. Additional analyses also support this view, showing that big levels of dividends play a role in minimizing agency conflicts by reducing the level of earnings management. Hence, we contribute to the literature on dividend policy and earnings management, which calls for research to better understand the influence of dividends on earnings management practices in financial crises periods. Further, we shed light on how firms can use dividend policies as a substitute corporate governance mechanism to maintain or establish its reputation during periods of financial crises, benefiting investors, boards, creditors, financial analysts, and policymakers due the increase on the financial reporting quality.

Purpose The study aims to analyze the relationship between intangible assets and the economic performance of Brazilian public companies. Design/methodology/approach We calculated the Degree of Intangibility (DI) to segregate companies into two groups: intangible-intensive and tangible-intensive in a sample of Brazilian public companies from 2012 to 2016. We applied the Mann-Whitney test to verify whether there were statistically significant differences between these two groups of companies concerning the Operating Margin, Return on Equity, Return on Assets, Market Value Added and Earning per Share. Findings The results show that intangible-intensive companies presented higher economic performance in most part of the indicators and years analyzed. In addition, we did not find significant results for Earnings per Share, although the signed rank sum mean values of intangible-intensive are higher than tangible-intensive companies in most part of the years. Practical implications - The findings seek to contribute to discussions about the importance of intangible resources as determinants of competitive advantages and reflecting in higher economic performance, and thus increasing market value. In this sense, investments in intangible resources can be applied in adopting initiatives in markets and definition of strategic positions in companies. Finally, our study seeks also to contribute to capital markets since the relationship between intangible assets and economic performance can be useful in detecting investment opportunities. Originality/value Previous studies analyzed the relationship between intangible assets and economic performance with other periods and samples. We also measured different proxies for economic performance as Operating Margin, Return on Equity, Return on Assets, Market Value Added and Earnings per Share. RESUMO Objetivo - O presente estudo visa analisar a relação entre os ativos intangíveis e o desempenho econômico das companhias abertas brasileiras. Desenho/metodologia/abordagem - Foi calculado o Grau de Intangibilidade (DI) para segregar as empresas em dois grupos: intangível-intensivas e tangível-intensivas em uma amostra de empresas listadas brasileiras de 2012 a 2016. Foi aplicado o Teste de Mann-Whitney para verificar se existem diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre esses dois grupos de empresas, considerando Margem Operacional, Retorno sobre o Patrimônio Líquido, Retorno sobre o Ativo, Valor de Mercado Adicionado e Lucro por Ação. Resultados - Os resultados mostram que as empresas intensivas em intangíveis apresentam melhor desempenho econômico na maior parte dos indicadores e anos analisados. Além disso, não foram encontrados resultados significativos para a variável Lucro por Ação, embora os valores médios da soma dos ranks das empresas intangíveis-intensivas sejam superiores às das tangíveis-intensivas na maior parte dos anos. Implicações práticas - Os resultados visam contribuir para as discussões sobre a importância dos recursos intangíveis como determinantes de vantagens competitivas e desempenho econômico, aumentando assim o valor de mercado das empresas. Nesse sentido, os investimentos em recursos intangíveis podem ser aplicados na adoção de iniciativas em mercados e na definição de posições estratégicas nas empresas. Por fim, o presente estudo também contribui para o mercado de capitais, uma vez que a relação entre ativos intangíveis e desempenho econômico pode ser útil para detectar oportunidades de investimento. Originalidade/valor - Estudos anteriores analisaram a relação entre ativos intangíveis e desempenho econômico com outros períodos e outros tipos de empresas. No presente estudo, também foram consideradas diferentes proxies para desempenho econômico como Margem Operacional, Retorno sobre o Patrimônio Líquido, Retorno sobre o Ativo, Valor de Mercado Adicionado e Lucro por Ação.

This thesis aims to explore the relations between cash holdings, accounting quality and cost of capital in the context of IFRS adoption in Latin America. In the first essay, we verified the effect of IFRS adoption on accounting quality, especially, earnings management practices. The results show that the adoption of IFRS standards reduced the scope of earnings management practices in Latin American firms. The results also show that IFRS adoption has decreased cash holdings in these firms, as a consequence of higher quality standards. Additional findings suggest that the benefits of IFRS adoption is more pronounced in non-ADR firms since ADR firms present strong incentives to improve the level of accounting information quality. In the second essay, we analyzed the effects of IFRS adoption in the relationship between cash holdings and the cost of capital in Latin American firms. Our findings demonstrated that IFRS adoption impacted the relationship between cash holdings and cost of equity in Latin American firms. That is, when the firms increase cost of equity post-IFRS adoption, they also increase cash levels. Additional analysis demonstrated that IFRS adoption impacted cost of equity only in non-internationalized firms since these firms are more likely to face challenges in relation to the cost of capital than its counterparts. For the cost of debt, we did not find significant results since creditors already have their own mechanisms for loans guarantees. Finally, in the third essay, we analyzed whether discretionary accruals measured by gross income are value relevant in the context of IFRS adoption, comparing with discretionary accruals measured by net income. In addition, we analyzed whether discretionary accruals measured by gross income have complementary information to cash holdings, impacting value relevance. The results demonstrated that discretionary accruals measured by gross income influences value relevance and, the results are sensitive to the context of IFRS adoption. For discretionary accruals measured by net income, we did not find significant results. Additional findings suggest that in context of better accounting quality, the information related to gross income became more reliable, being a better way to predict future performance of firms than cash holdings. In general, this thesis seeks to contribute to literature demonstrating that the adoption of IFRS standards influences the relations between cash holdings, accounting quality and cost of capital in Latin American countries, emerging fruitful insights for future research. Essa tese objetiva analisar as relações entre saldo de caixa, qualidade da informação contábil e custo de capital, considerando a adoção das Normas Internacionais de Contabilidade (IFRS) na América Latina. No primeiro artigo, foi analisado o efeito da adoção das IFRS na qualidade da informação contábil, especificamente em relação às práticas de gerenciamento de resultado nas empresas. Os resultados demonstraram que a adoção das IFRS reduziu o escopo de gerenciamento de resultados nas empresas da América Latina. Os resultados também demonstram que a adoção das IFRS diminuiu o saldo de caixa nessas empresas, como uma consequência de melhores padrões de qualidade nos relatórios financeiros. Testes adicionais sugerem que os benefícios da adoção das IFRS são mais pronunciados em empresas que não possuem negociação de ADRs no mercado norte-americano, uma vez que as empresas com ADRs já apresentam fortes incentivos para melhoria da qualidade da informação contábil. No segundo artigo, foi analisado o efeito da adoção das IFRS na relação entre saldo de caixa e custo de capital nas empresas da América Latina. Os resultados demonstraram que a adoção das IFRS impactou a relação entre saldo de caixa e custo de capital próprio nas empresas da América Latina. Ou seja, quando essas empresas aumentam o custo de capital próprio após a adoção das IFRS, elas também aumentam os seus níveis de caixa. Análises adicionais demonstraram que a adoção das IFRS impactou o custo de capital próprio somente em empresas não internacionalizadas, pois essas empresas estão mais propensas a dificuldades de captação que as empresas internacionalizadas. Para o custo da dívida, os resultados não se mostraram significativos, uma vez que os credores já possuem mecanismos próprios para controle de garantias de empréstimos. Por fim, no terceiro artigo, foi analisado se os accruals discricionários mensurados pelo lucro bruto possuem value relevance no contexto de adoção das IFRS, quando comparado aos accruals discricionários mensurados pelo lucro líquido. Adicionalmente, foi analisado se os accruals discricionários mensurados pelo lucro bruto possuem informação complementar ao saldo de caixa, impactando o value relevance. Os resultados demonstraram que os accruals discricionários mensurados pelo lucro bruto impactam no value relevance das empresas e esses resultados são afetados pela adoção das IFRS. Para os accruals discricionários mensurados pelo lucro líquido, não foram encontrados resultados significativos. Os testes adicionais sugerem que, no contexto de melhores níveis de informação contábil, a informação relacionada ao lucro bruto se torna mais confiável, se tornando uma melhor maneira de prever o desempenho futuro das empresas que o saldo de caixa. No geral, a presente tese visa contribuir para a literatura, demonstrando que a adoção de padrões internacionais de contabilidade influencia as relações entre saldo de caixa, qualidade da informação contábil e custo de capital nos países da América Latina, emergindo insights frutíferos para pesquisas futuras.

The purpose of this study is to verify the existence of a causal relationship between R&D expenses not activated by Accounting, a proxy for innovation, and the book-to-market ratio (BTM), which demonstrates expectation of value generation in firms. We analyzed a sample composed of 30 Brazilian public firms that disclosed information about R&am

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the relationship between the abnormal return and R&D expenses in Brazilian public firms. Originality/value: The determinants of firms' abnormal return provide information relevant to investors' decision-making. In this context, we verified whether the innovation, measured by R&D expenses, could be a key factor for the abnormal returns in Brazilian firms. Design/methodology/approach: We analyzed Brazilian public firms, from 2009 to 2016, by panel data regressions, in a sample composed by 1,597 firm-year observations. We collected information about R&D expenses in the footnotes. When a firm only mentioned about R&D expenses but did not disclose spent value in the Income Statement, we consider that the firm did not invest in the period and we attribute zero as a value. We highlighted that few firms mentioned R&D expenses in their footnotes and/or declared that they invested in R&D, only 44 firms in all sample, pointing the importance of better disclosure practices of these investments. Findings: The results demonstrate a negative and statistically significant relationship between innovation and the abnormal return. That is, current R&D expenses lead to a lower current abnormal return. It could be linked with the fact that R&D expenses tend to produce returns just in longer periods, demanding more time to recover these investments, due to their complex characteristics related to accounting measurement of R&D expenses. Consequently, an abnormal return could be perceived only in subsequent periods.

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact factors and their effects on the corporate cash holdings in order to assist companies in achieving better financial management, corroborating the perpetuity of them. The sample consists of 917 observations of 131 listed companies in Brazil, from 2007 to 2013. The dependent variable used in this study is the natural logarithm of cash and cash equivalents divided by the total of net assets and the major independent variables are show in literature plus a dummy variable for passive financing through BNDES and a control variable for the financial crisis. The methodology used is regression with static and balanced panel data, with better results for fixed effects. Evidence is found that the variable distribution of dividends, higher level of liquid assets, existence of corporate governance, in addition to financial crisis, impact cash.