The Effects of Economic Regulation and Presidential Elections on the Earnings Management Behavior of Brazilian Companies in Regulated Sectors

Authors

  • Márcio de Souza e Silva
  • Fernando Caio Galdi
  • Arilda M. C. Teixeira

Keywords:

Earnings Management, Economic Regulation, Presidential Elections.

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of economic regulation and presidential elections on the earnings management behavior of Brazilian companies. We analyze earnings management, considering companies active in different economic sectors, more specifically those regulated by the federal government. We looked at 339 companies with shares listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa), divided into four periods: 1993-1995, 1997-1999,2001-2003 and 2005-2007, and grouped into highly regulated sectors and less regulated sectors. We gathered the financial data from the Economatica database and analyzed them for earnings management using the regression model proposed by Han and Wang (1998). The results suggest that the companies with stocks listed on the Bovespa manipulated their accounting accruals in order to manage their earnings, confirming the findings in the international literature (HAN; WANG, 1998; CAHAN, 1992; JONES, 1991), according to which public attention interferes in the results disclosed by companies and therefore in the accounting information they disclose.

Published

2010-06-28

How to Cite

E SILVA, M. de S.; GALDI, F. C.; TEIXEIRA, A. M. C. The Effects of Economic Regulation and Presidential Elections on the Earnings Management Behavior of Brazilian Companies in Regulated Sectors. Contabilidade Vista & Revista, [S. l.], v. 21, n. 2, p. 45–68, 2010. Disponível em: https://revistas.face.ufmg.br/index.php/contabilidadevistaerevista/article/view/882. Acesso em: 24 nov. 2024.