THE RELEVANCE OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION IN BRAZILIAN STOCK MARKET: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF COMPANIES LISTED ON BM& FBOVESPA BEFORE AND AFTER THE PROMULGATION OF LAW 11.638/07

Abstract

Supported by the positive accounting approach, the objective of this research was to determine whether the accounting information has become more relevant after the promulgation of Law 11.638/07. To answer the research question, it was used a sample composed by 50 public Brazilian companies before (2005-2007) and after (2008-2010) the  adoption of IFRS. This is a hypothetical-deductive study with quantitative approach. The dependent variable of research is the annual return measured from the closing price of the shares. It has as independent variables the EBITDA per share, earnings per share, book value per share and revenues per share. It was developed eight research hypotheses, and 4 for common shares (ON) and 4 for preferred shares (PN). For common shares three of the four hypotheses were rejected stating that the variables EBITDA, book value and earnings became relevant at a significance level of 1%, 5% and 10%, respectively. For preferred shares two of the four hypotheses were rejected indicating that the book value and revenues became significant at 1%. These results support previous evidence that the Brazilian process of convergence to international accounting standards may have increased the relevance of accounting information.

Keywords: Relevance. IFRS. Harmonization.