Análise da estrutura de capital diante do nível de assimetria de informação das empresas listadas na B3

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate if there is a difference in the capital structure in view of distinct levels of asymmetric information, using the listed companies in Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão (B3). The research was based on the Trade-Off Theory and Pecking Order Theory and sought to verify which of them are the companies with the highest and lowest level of asymmetric information. The sample consisted of 291 companies with data available in 2018. To identify the companies with the highest and lowest level of asymmetric information, the folowing variables were used: business intensity, proxy bid-ask spread, stock market liquidity, issuance of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), and participation in Differentiated Levels of Corporate Governance. To reach the proposed objective, the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney means test was used. The variables that showed significant difference between the average debt levels were liquidity in the stock market, issuance of ADRs and NDGC. The results achieved in all significant variables showed that the lower the level of information asymmetry, the lower the level of corporate indebtedness, indicating that companies with lower level of information asymmetry tend to seek other forms of financing than debt contraction, while companies that have a higher level of informational asymmetry issue more debt securities. The result is in line with the pecking order theory, indicating that companies are not interested in increasing their debt levels, however, in a scenario where there is informational asymmetry, debt securities are a financing option with less sensitivity to the problems generated by asymmetric information.