Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of the informational environment on the relevance of accounting information in companies traded in stock exchanges of emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, the authors calculated indicators based on figures derived from the financial statements and variables that sought to capture the influence of the economic and institutional environment. The sample consisted of publicly traded companies from 20 countries classified as emerging by Standard & Poors. Macroeconomic information was obtained through the International Country Risk Guide database. The analysis period ranged from 2004 to 2013, excluding missing data, variables considered as outliers, besides the exclusion of data from companies that presented negative equity. Findings It was observed that the financial variables presented signs consistent with the literature, except for the price-to-book variable and the asset change variable. The inclusion of variables related to the accounting informational environment offered evidence that the more opaque the accounting environment in the country, the lesser the ability of the profits to portray the variations of stock returns. The variable that captured the adoption of international standards was consistent with expectations, i.e. the adoption of international standards would increase the quality of accounting information, showing a positive signal. Moreover, the variable aggressiveness of the earnings was statistically significant and negative, consistent with the literature. Research limitations/implications The variables earnings smoothing and aversion to losses did not show the expected behaviour though, highlighting the possible limitations of these proxies used to capture the opacity of the earnings. Originality/value When institutional moderators were included, it was observed that the adoption of the IFRS standards positively affected the relationship, which is more relevant when the accounting figures were under its aegis. Recently, countless nations’ transition to international accounting standards has been justified by the need to use high-quality reporting standards. The research sought to contribute to strengthen this dimension, presenting evidence that the dummy variable included to capture the adoption of international standards had a positive effect on the relationship.

Resumo Objetivo: O objetivo do presente trabalho foi investigar a relação entre o nível de opacidade dos lucros e o ambiente informacional da empresa, mais especificamente levando-se em consideração os padrões contábeis e a origem legal do sistema. Metodologia: A amostra foi composta por empresas de capital aberto de 20 países classificados como emergentes, com base no índice elaborado pela agência Standard & Poor’s. A base de dados abrangeu as demonstrações contábeis das firmas nativas dessas economias de 2004 a 2013. Para fazer a comparação dos indicadores entre o grupo dos países, levando-se em consideração suas características institucionais, procedeu-se ao teste de Mann-Whitney e ao teste de Kruskal-Wallis. Resultados: Ao avaliar o comportamento das métricas de ambiente informacional em países emergentes, observou-se que referidas medidas apresentaram-se correlacionadas, sugerindo que as proxies de opacidade, mesmo com componentes distintos, carregam informações em comum. Também se observou que a opacidade dos resultados foi menor em países que já haviam transitado para as normas internacionais no período analisado. Ainda nesse âmbito, detectou-se maior nível de suavização de resultados em países de origem legal no direito consuetudinário francês. Contribuições: O presente trabalho contribui para a compreensão da relação entre as características do ambiente informacional da contabilidade e os níveis de opacidade das informações emanadas pela contabilidade. Assim, o trabalho auxiliou gestores, investidores e reguladores a compreender as necessidades dos usuários e como alterações da regulação e características específicas dos países alteram suas perspectivas.

Abstract Purpose: The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of Earnings Opacity and a company’s informational environment, specifically considering accounting standards and the legal origins of the system. Design/methodology/approach: The sample consisted of publicly traded companies from 20 countries classified as emerging, based on agency Standard & Poor’s index. The sample included data from 2004 to 2013. In order to compare the indicators among the group of countries, taking into account their institutional characteristics, the Mann-Whitney test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were performed. Findings: The assessment of the informational environment measures’ behavior in emerging countries revealed that these measures were correlated, suggesting that, despite different behaviors, opacity proxies share information. The fact that earnings opacity was lower in countries that had already adopted international standards during the analyzed period was also observed. In the same sense, a higher level of income smoothing was detected in countries of French code law origins. Originality/value: This article contributes to the understanding of the relationship between the characteristics of an accounting informational environment and the levels of opacity of the information emitted by accounting. Thus, this article has helped managers, investors and regulators to understand users’ needs and how country-specific characteristics change their perspectives.

Este estudo explora a controvérsia existente entre o meio empresarial e o meio acadêmico, no tocante à utilização do EBITDA. Alguns autores acadêmicos apontam que este indicador tem pouca utilidade, a não ser para comparar empresas de um mesmo segmento (Assaf Neto, 2003, McClure, 2006, Stumpp, 2000); por outro lado, o meio empresarial utiliza fortemente este indicador para embasar diversas de suas decisões (Schmalensee, 1985, Moraes, 2005). Esta diferença de opiniões despertou o interesse em entender as razões para a sua utilização e, em um aprofundamento maior, observar a utilidade do EBITDA para a comparação de empresas provenientes de um mesmo setor e de setores diferentes. Por meio da aplicação da Modelagem Hierárquica Linear, ou HLM (Hierarchical Linear Modeling), o principal objetivo deste trabalho consiste em observar os comportamentos dos EBITDAs de empresas atuantes no mercado brasileiro provenientes de um mesmo setor e de setores diferentes, ao longo do tempo, o que torna possível analisar as razões por meio das quais eventuais diferenças ocorrem. Os resultados mostram que há uma variabilidade significativa do EBITDA entre firmas advindas de um mesmo setor e entre empresas provenientes de setores diferentes. Por outro lado, nossos resultados mostraram ainda, que a primeira variabilidade foi a mais elevada, levantando questões acerca da real utilidade desse indicador para fins de comparação de empresas do mesmo setor.

This study explores the controversy between the business and academic perspectives regarding earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Some authors argue that EBITDA is not useful as an indicator, except for comparing companies within the same sector (Assaf Neto, 2003, McClure, 2006, Stumpp, 2000). On the other hand, the business world strongly uses this type of indicator as a tool to support its decisions (Schmalensee, 1985, Moraes, 2005). This difference in opinions has aroused interest in understanding the reasons for its use and has raised questions regarding the usefulness of EBITDA for comparing companies from both the same and different sectors. By applying Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), the main goal of this research is to observe EBITDA behavior across companies selling goods in Brazil, comparing them within the same sector and across different sectors over time. This research allows for the analysis of the reasons why EBITDA patterns occasionally occur. The results show significant variation in EBITDA among companies across the same sector and across companies from different sectors. On the other hand, our results have shown, nevertheless, that the variability among companies from the same sector was the highest one, raising questions on the actual usefulness of this indicator to compare companies from the same sector.

Este estudio explora la controversia entre las perspectivas de negocio y académicas con respecto al uso de EBITDA. Algunos autores sugieren que este indicador es de poca utilidad, salvo para comparar empresas del mismo segmento (Assaf Neto, 2003; McClure, 2006; Stumpp, 2000), aunque algunas empresas utilizan este indicador en sus decisiones (Schmalensee, 1985; Moraes, 2005). Esta diferencia de opinión ha despertado el interés en la comprensión de las razones de su uso y su utilidad para comparar empresas de diferentes sectores a través de la aplicación de modelos jerárquicos lineales, o HLM (Hierarchical Linear Modeling). El principal objetivo de este estudio es observar el comportamiento de EBITDA de las compañías en el mercado brasileño desde el mismo sector o no, con el tiempo, que permite analizar las razones por las cualses las diferencias se producen. Los resultados muestran que existe una variabilidad significativa en el EBITDA entre empresas del mismo sector y entre empresas de diferentes sectores. Por otro lado, nuestros resultados también mostraron que la primera variación fue mayor o que plantea dudas sobre la utilidad de este indicador para la comparación de empresas similares.