Associação entre ciclos tarifários e gerenciamento de resultados: evidências empíricas em distribuidoras de energia elétrica de capital aberto

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to analyze whether the accounting result of electricity distributors is managed in response to tariff review cycles. Thus, it was verified whether there is an association between accounting earnings management - represented by the discretionary accruals (DA) proxy - and the tariff review cycles of electricity distributors in Brazil (represented by the dummy variable that indicates whether or not there was a tariff review that year). To this end, it was evaluated whether companies make more use of DA in years that precede the tariff revisions (RTP's) carried out by ANEEL, the body responsible for regulating the electricity sector. The information needed to estimate discretionary accruals through the model proposed by Pae (2005) and Kothari (2005) was obtained through the Economatica® platform and the ANEEL website, covering the period from 2010 to 2021. The empirical results support the research hypothesis and indicate a correlation between the use of discretionary accruals in the years preceding tariff reviews. Given that one of the functions of the regulatory body is to define the remuneration of companies through tariff revisions, which are calculated based on accounting and financial information, there is a need for informational quality to guarantee that the transfer of wealth between distributor and consumer occurs in a correct manner fair way. This study contributes to the academic field as it shows that RTP's can be a GR booster, which reinforces that this study needs to be studied in a particular way because they present specificities). The study also contributes to society by demonstrating factors that can influence the formation of electricity tariff collection.