Relevância dos indicadores contábeis na determinação do preço das ações no contexto da nova economia: um estudo da América Latina

Abstract

This is a study about value relevance. Despite the existence of other such studies in corporate finance, the results are inconclusive and instigate debates in academia and beyond. Many authors argue that accounting, being designed for an industrial economy, would no longer be able to contribute significantly in the determination of stock prices. Studies conducted by other authors in several markets do not indicate unic directions, showing some loss of relevance for book value (BV) and / or earnings per share (EPS) in determining asset prices, others showing different situation (COLLINS, MAYDEW and WEISS, 1997; BROWN, LO and LYS, 1999; LEV and ZAROWIN, 1999; TRABUCHO, 2007; ZANINI, CANIBANO and ZANI, 2010). Aiming to contribute to this discussion, this study analyzed the traditional accounting variables EPS and BV in the determination of stock prices over the past 22 years, in a sample of companies listed on stock exchanges in some Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The model for the analysis was the Ohlson Model (1995), already used in many other works. The statistical technique used was multiple regression analysis with panel data standarized, which provided a direct comparison of results between countries and the elimination of the scale effect. The results showed some loss of relevance of BV in Brazil, loss of relevance of EPS in Argentina and Chile, and increased relevance of EPS in Peru. Another important result was that the BV seems to lose relevance in its explanatory power in times of economic crises, in which the short-term results, based in corporate profits seem to bemore important for investors.