Conteúdo emocional do relato integrado e desempenho econômico das companhias listadas na B3 com melhores práticas ESG

Abstract

His study aimed to analyze the relationship between the emotional content of Integrated Reporting and the economic performance of companies listed in B3 with ESG best practices. The survey included a sample of 67 companies listed on B3, with ESG scores, which voluntarily disclosed 232 Integrated Reports between 2014 and 2022. The Dictionary of Emotion Terms in Accounting and Finance was used to evaluate the emotional content (positive emotion and negative emotion) of the Integrated Reporting. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression models with stacked data. The findings admit that the emotional content of the Integrated Report affects the economic performance of companies listed in B3 with ESG best practices. Positive emotion showed a negative relationship with the cost of capital, suggesting that more/less positive narratives have a lower/higher cost of capital. Negative emotion revealed a negative relationship between profitability and market value, indicating that less/more negative narratives tend to higher/lower profitability and higher/lower market value. Thus, there is evidence of impression management in Integrated Reports, that is, it is necessary to consider emotions in corporate reports with financial and non-financial narratives (ESG aspects). This research makes an original contribution when discussing the voluntary disclosure of financial and non-financial information from the impression management perspective, using an automated content analysis to investigate, impartially, the effects of emotional content. This research brings an original contribution to discuss the voluntary disclosure of financial and non-financial information, from the perspective of impression management, employing a content analysis automated to investigate, in an impartial way, the effects of emotional content. By presenting the contradiction that companies with best ESG practices have signaled evidence of impression management, it contributes to educational context, showing the need for strengthening moral, ethical and social elements in accounting professional training. In addition, by combining the analysis of textual material from the Integrated Reporting (qualitative method) with the subsequent transformation into a statistical measure (quantitative method), it is aligned with the required skills of the accountant, recommended in the new National Curriculum Guidelines (NCD) for courses in Accounting, which provide that analyses of non-financial and non-reductionist information should cover qualitative methods of analysis and greater scope beyond the financial statements. The study also innovates by exploring voluntary disclosure under the context of emerging economy, where external investments with socio-environmental appeal are frequent.