Conservadorismo contábil nas demonstrações financeiras de empresas de energia elétrica da B3

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the presence of conditional accounting conservatism in Brazilian companies in the electricity sector using the model proposed by Basu (1997). Accounting conservatism is understood as the practice of recognizing losses more promptly than gains, reflecting a principle of prudence in the preparation of financial statements and often associated with the quality of accounting information disclosed by companies. The research has a quantitative approach and uses accounting and market data from the selected companies from 2019 to 2023. The sample consists of five companies in the Brazilian electricity sector, totaling 25 observations. For data analysis, an Ordinary Least Squares regression model was estimated, in which the dependent variable corresponds to earnings per share scaled by the share price at the beginning of the period. The explanatory variables used were the annual return on the share, a dummy variable indicating negative returns, and the interaction term between these two variables, considered the main parameter for identifying conditional accounting conservatism. The results obtained indicated that the interaction coefficient between return and negative return dummy showed a negative sign and lack of statistical significance. Therefore, no empirical evidence of asymmetric loss recognition was found in the companies analyzed during the study period. This result suggests that, in the sample considered, the presence of conditional accounting conservatism as predicted by the theoretical model was not verified. Despite this, the results should be interpreted with caution, considering limitations such as the small sample size and the specific characteristics of the Brazilian electricity sector, which has strong regulation and relative operational stability. As suggestions for future research, it is recommended to expand the sample, include companies from other economic sectors, and use different econometric models to further investigate accounting conservatism in the Brazilian context.