A estrutura conceptual da informaçao financeira e o governo das sociedadesanálise da relaçao entre as características das empresas cotadas em portugal e a informaçao divulgada

Abstract

Accounting information is one of the fundamental pillars for judgment evaluation and business decision making and, therefore, must meet the requirements of quality, objectivity, transparency, rigor, responsibility and independence. To achieve this aim, information is developed based on accounting policies and criteria, concepts and underlying assumptions of the Conceptual Framework of regulations issued by national and international organizations, and the principles sustained in Corporate Governance and its recommendations, considering the needs of their users. This study aims at exploring the relationship between the Financial Information Disclosed and the Corporate Governance and provide a better and deeper understanding of the characteristics of the companies that influence the disclosure. This study used a sample of non-financial Portuguese companies, issuers of shares, which are admitted to trading on the official quotation of the New York Stock Exchange, hereinafter referred to as NYSE Euronext Lisbon market in the period 2010 to 2012. Information was collected through reading and analysis of Annual Reports and Accounts published and consultation of DataStream database. Data analyses used multivariate linear regression, considering data panel model, and the Gnu Regression Statistical Program, Econometrics and Time-Series Library (GRETL), version 1.9.92 (Sep 20, 2014), although for the analysis of correlations it has been used the statistical program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, hereinafter referred to as IBM SPSS Statistics, version 19. The analysis suggest that the main determinants underlying the disclosure related to the compliance rate on Corporate Governance are the explanatory variables related to: (i) enterprise dimension; (ii) debt; (iii) shareholder concentration; (iv) marketability; (v) percentage of shares held by executive directors; (vi) return on total investment; and (vii) remuneration of non-executive directors. In addition, tests have shown that the results obtained are robust to model specification and multicollinearity existence of problems. The software uses the method of Arellano (2004) in order to correct the problem of possibility of heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. Thus, all situations have occurred that could create obstacles and cause bias in estimates and definitions of variables. On the overall index of risk disclosure and uncertainties it was concluded that it is likely to be determined by different variables. This research enriches the discussion on relations between information disclosure and the Corporate Governance framework. Therefore, this study may be useful to shareholders, management, creditors and other investors, in helping them reflect on the adequacy of the disclosed information in the annual reports and accounts, for the purpose of making trustworthy and informed decisions. This study also provides empirical evidence that is essential for regulators to encourage companies to better adjust governance practices and to create more mechanisms in order to have a higher level of independence and a more adequate adoption of the recommendations on Corporate Governance.