Transparência, desempenho e risco: uma comparação entre empresas de comércio eletrônico do Brasil e dos EUA

Abstract

Among the Corporate Governance mechanisms proposed by the Agency Theory, disclosure is the one that provides the reduction of information asymmetry. This research examines the relationship between disclosure, performance and risk in e-commerce companies listed on NASDAQ or on BM&F Bovespa between the years 2003 and 2013. Also it analyzes the difference of these variables between the Brazilian and North American companies, their behavior in times of crisis and the interaction between crisis and disclosure. To achieve this, were used parametric and nonparametric tests of differences in means and regressions with panel data. Disclosure was measured by the variables of earnings management proposed by Leuz, Nanda and Wysocki (2003). Performance was measured by ROE, ROA and EBIT/Sales and risk was measured by Beta, WACC in the current time and in t+1. Moments of crisis - 2008 for all companies and 2011 for North American companies - were defined according to the literature on the subject. Significant results on tests of differences in means indicate that North American companies are more transparent and have higher performance and lower risk than the Brazilian companies. But for one disclosure variable (T2V) and for the WACC in the current time Brazilian companies have on average higher disclosure and lower risk. Regressions indicate that transparent companies have in average the best performance and highest risk. In time of crisis both performance and risk tend to be even higher. However, the interaction between crisis and disclosure indicates that the firms with more disclosure are less risky and, also, report a lower performance, since they manage their results less than others.