O ambiente contábil como moderador da relação entre o valor de mercado e o bem-estar social dos países

Abstract

Aiming to lead countries in raising the social well-being of present and future generations, through a joint effort of companies, civil society and government, the United Nations (UN) launched in 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As an ally in companies' decision-making, accounting is expected to contribute to the fulfillment of at least eight of the 17 SDGs, by strengthening the relationship between companies and stakeholders. The objective function of organizations has been the subject of discussion in the literature. On the one hand, the Shareholder Theory considers that the only objective of organizations is to maximize the value of the company (and shareholder) and that social well-being would be obtained in scenarios of greater competitiveness and less government interference, therefore with greater economic freedom. In contrast, the Stakeholder Theory considers that companies' decisions must meet the objectives of all interested parties (stakeholders) simultaneously. Aware of the complexity of serving all stakeholders without any conflicts of interest, and recognizing that the main interested party is the shareholder himself, Jensen (2002), through the Enlightened Theory of Stakeholders, suggests a consensus between the theories of Shareholders and Stakeholders, proposing that the organizational objective is the maximization of value for the shareholder, but that the structure of stakeholders is also valued as fundamental to achieve this objective. In a row, Jensen's theory (2002) assumes that as companies maximize their market value and use means to optimize interaction with other stakeholders to achieve this goal, the greater the well-being promoted to society. In the present study, the progress towards achieving the SDGs by country is the proxy for measuring social well-being. In this context, the general objective of the study is to verify the impact of the accounting environment on the relationship between the market value of companies and the social well-being of countries. The sample consisted of 56 countries in the period 2016 and 2019 and as a methodology, Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the relationship between the investigated variables. The results show that the relationship between market value and social well-being is enhanced by the mediation of economic freedom, as expected by the Shareholder Theory. Additionally, it was identified that the moderation by the accounting environment has an explanatory utility of the structural model (f²) in the relationship between market value and the social well-being of countries. This finding represents that when approaching the structure of stakeholders, through the accounting environment, the relationship between market value and social well-being is strengthened, which corroborates the Enlightened Theory of Stakeholders. The results allow, theoretically, advances in the literature on the role of accounting and companies in the progress of eleven SDGs, presents the validation of indicators that characterize the accounting environment (Adoption to IFRS, Frequency of audit by Big Four, Disclosure of Integrated Reports, Interpretation of the legal system with a civil focus), in addition to endorsing assumptions of the Stakeholder Enlightenment Theory. Contributions can be useful in reviewing business strategies, in terms of dialogue with stakeholders, in training or improving accounting professionals, or even in the creation of policies that encourage companies to review their activities to conduct social well-being through of the accounting environment, especially in countries with less economic freedom.