Efect of Law 11.638/07 on conditional conservatismo companies listed on BM&FBOVESPA

Abstract

Law nº 11.638/07 has substantially changed Brazilian accounting practices and standards, and such changes can exert significant impacts on earnings conservatism. Understanding the role of conservatism and its determinants is important to interpret the nature, purpose and implications of accounting estimates. This study aimed to investigate whether the promulgation of Brazilian Law nº 11.638/07 changed the degree of conditional accounting conservatism of Brazilian companies listed on Bovespa & BMF BOVESPA. An empirical analytical research was carried out collecting information about non-financial companies listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange from the first quarter of 2005 to the third quarter of 2009 in the Economatica® system. Basu's model was adjusted to measure the effect of Law nº 11.638/07 on conditional conservatism. In conservativeness hypotheses, earnings reflect bad news (negative stock returns) more quickly than good news (positive stock returns). In this model, the measure of conservatism (asymmetrical treatment of gains and losses) is based on the extent to which the earnings-return association is stronger during periods of bad news as compared with periods of good news. For the sample analyzed, results suggest that it cannot be inferred whether the new rules had some effect on the degree of asymmetric recognition of gains and losses.