Custo da dívida frente ao relato integrado e ao gerenciamento de resultados contábeis: evidências no Brasil

Abstract

Based on the signaling theory, this study aims to analyze the influence of voluntary disclosure of the integrated report on the relationship between the cost of debt and earnings management in the Brazilian stock market. For this, the sample is composed of non-financial companies listed B3, considering the period from 2016 to 2019. The cost of debt was estimated by the ratio between financial expenses and onerous liabilities, for which financial expenses were obtained in a disaggregated way directly in the explanatory notes. The data regarding the voluntary disclosure of the integrated report (IR) were obtained from the reference forms, annual reports and integrated reports, available on the websites of the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), B3 and the companies, following the guidelines established by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). Information for estimating discretionary accruals, a proxy for earnings management, was obtained from the Economática database. Based on the results, it was found that the cost of debt is sensitive to discretionary practices, due to the increase in information asymmetry. In turn, when disclosing voluntary information with a structure similar to the RI, creditors positively identify the signal, reducing interest rates. However, considering the RI according to IIRC guidelines, the relationship did not show statistical significance, suggesting that the RI alone does not directly influence the definition of the cost of debt. Finally, through the interaction of IR with accruals, the findings showed that Brazilian companies that disclose IR according to the guidelines tend to have a lower cost of debt, while discretionary behavior is minimized, suggesting that IR influences the definition of interest rates indirectly.