A última chance para o big bath: o gerenciamento de tributos diferidos com base no IAS 12 em empresas brasileiras de capital aberto

This study investigates whether Brazilian loss-making firms manage deferred income tax as a form of big bath strategy. “Big bath” is a strategy in which a firm manages earnings by intentionally recording large non-recurring losses. We found original evidence supporting the hypothesis of big bath through the managing of deferred taxes under CPC 32/IAS 12. Deferred tax expenses can be used as a tool for reducing earnings because of the subjectivity and timing involved. To analyze the excess of deferred taxes, we propose a particular research strategy that is based on the increased homogeneity of accounting standards and tax regulation in Brazilian listed firms. This analysis provides new evidence of big bath adjustments that was never described before in the literature. We analyze 226 Brazilian listed firms for the 2011-2015 period. We designed a linear model to estimate deferred tax excess that is based on the conditional independence between treatment and effect under accounting standard CPC32/IAS 12. For our baseline analysis, we used least squares with controlling covariates. We also used two-stage least squares to control for omitted variables bias. This paper finds evidence that Brazilian firms can manage deferred income tax as a form of big bath. Results indicate that loss-making firms disclose significantly higher excesses of net deferred tax expenses, and that these excesses increase with losses.O presente estudo investiga se as empresas de capital aberto brasileiras gerenciam os tributos diferidos em direção a uma estratégia de big bath. O “big bath” earnings management é uma estratégia na qual as empresas reconhecem elevados valores de perdas não recorrentes. O estudo obtém resultados originais que suportam a hipótese do big bath com base no CPC 32/ IAS 12. As despesas de tributos diferidos representam uma forma conveniente de reduzir os resultados, por conta de sua subjetividade e sua tempestividade. O estudo propõe uma estratégia específica de investigação para a análise do excesso de tributos diferidos, que é baseada na elevada homogeneidade de ambas as normas contábeis e a legislação tributária nas empresas de capital aberto brasileiras. Essa análise provê novas evidências de ajustes de big bath que não foram encontradas pela literatura contábil atual. O estudo analisa 226 empresas de capital aberto brasileiras no período de 2011-2015 e constrói um modelo linear para a estimação do excesso de tributos diferidos, o qual é baseado na independência condicional entre tratamento-efeito decorrente das exigências constantes na norma contábil CPC 32/IAS 12. A análise segue a abordagem convencional dos mínimos quadrados com variáveis de controle como a análise principal. O estudo aplica a abordagem de dois estágios para o controle de possível viés de variável omitida. Foram encontrados indícios de que empresas de capital aberto brasileiras gerenciam tributos diferidos em direção a uma estratégia de big bath. Os resultados indicam que as empresas com prejuízos divulgam um excesso significativo de despesas de tributos diferidos, e esse excesso é positivamente relacionado ao crescimento dos prejuízos

Understanding the clinical spectrum of complicated Plasmodium vivax malaria: a systematic review on the contributions of the Brazilian literature

The resurgence of the malaria eradication agenda and the increasing number of severe manifestation reports has contributed to a renewed interested in the Plasmodium vivax infection. It is the most geographically widespread parasite causing human malaria, with around 2.85 billion people living under risk of infection. The Brazilian Amazon region reports more than 50% of the malaria cases in Latin America and since 1990 there is a marked predominance of this species, responsible for 85% of cases in 2009. However, only a few complicated cases of P. vivax have been reported from this region. A systematic review of the Brazilian indexed and non-indexed literature on complicated cases of vivax malaria was performed including published articles, masters' dissertations, doctoral theses and national congresses' abstracts. The following information was retrieved: patient characteristics (demographic, presence of co-morbidities and, whenever possible, associated genetic disorders); description of each major clinical manifestation. As a result, 27 articles, 28 abstracts from scientific events' annals and 13 theses/dissertations were found, only after 1987. Most of the reported information was described in small case series and case reports of patients from all the Amazonian states, and also in travellers from Brazilian non-endemic areas. The more relevant clinical complications were anaemia, thrombocytopaenia, jaundice and acute respiratory distress syndrome, present in all age groups, in addition to other more rare clinical pictures. Complications in pregnant women were also reported. Acute and chronic co-morbidities were frequent, however death was occasional. Clinical atypical cases of malaria are more frequent than published in the indexed literature, probably due to a publication bias. In the Brazilian Amazon (considered to be a low to moderate intensity area of transmission), clinical data are in accordance with the recent findings of severity described in diverse P. vivax endemic areas (especially anaemia in Southeast Asia), however in this region both children and adults are affected. Finally, gaps of knowledge and areas for future research are opportunely pointed out