ASYMMETRY AND QUALITY OF INFORMATION IN THE CAPITAL MARKETS OF EMERGING COUNTRIES

• Grant number: 17/01140-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2017
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Administration - Accounting
• Principal Investigator: Lucas Ayres Barreira de Campos Barros
• Grantee: Orleans Silva Martins
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade (FEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project is based on the hypothesis that a better standard of accounting information quality contributes to reducing information asymmetry in information environments with less legal protection to investors, because it minimizes the opportunistic practices of negotiation with private information. It has the main objective of analyzing the relationship between the information asymmetry and the earnings quality in different information environments in emerging countries. Based on the Efficient Market Hypothesis and Agency Theory, a literature review will be held on the main proxies for information asymmetry and earnings quality, as well as its main determinants. Then, the data of the companies that trade their shares on the main stock exchanges in emerging countries during the period 2000-2016 will be collected. With the help of empirical models, these proxies will be estimated and through models with panel data and fixed effects the determinants of these relations will be analyzed. In their results, it is expected that the main determinants of these relations are identified, and that the nuances and specificities of these information environments that can influence such relationships are disclosed. Still, we highlight its originality and its potential to contribute to the academy and the market, because, to our knowledge, there is no evidence in the national and international literature on the relationship between an information asymmetry index and the earnings quality, especially in emerging countries, considering their different information environments and legal protection to investors, which are historically weaker than in developed countries.