Moderating effect of economic instability in the relationship between concentration of control and market value: empirical evidence in Latin America

This paper investigates the moderating effect of economic instability in the relationship between the concentration of control and market value of firms. For this purpose, we built an unbalanced panel dataset composed of 341 Latin American companies from six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. The results of the dynamic models, estimated using the systemic generalized method of moments, indicate, in general, that concentration of control only reduces the market value of firms in environments with high economic instability. Thus, this study provides empirical evidence that times of economic instability encourage controlling shareholders to act even more strongly in their own interests, which may result in the expropriation of the wealth of smaller shareholders.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The effect of macroeconomic instability on earnings management in developed versus emerging countries

This study analyzes the effect of macroeconomic instability on both accrual-based and real earnings management, explicitly examining how this relationship compares between developed and emerging countries. The empirical study relies on a worldwide sample of 92,501 firm-year observations from 38 countries. Based on several variables related to economic environment conditions, we construct a macroeconomic instability index for each analyzed country, which change over the years. Econometric models are estimated using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) approach, controlled for industry and year fixed effects. Our findings suggest that high levels of macroeconomic instability mitigate accrual-based earnings management in developed economies, whereas it encourages earnings manipulation by accruals in emerging ones. Findings also indicate a trade-off between accrual-based and real earnings management, but only in emerging countries. Overall, this study adds to the literature on the effect of economic environment on accounting quality and fills a gap in the previous literature focused on financial crises, by addressing macroeconomic instability for each year and country and broadening the discussion in different institutional contexts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Do the words matter? An analysis of the linguistic sentiment of earnings conference calls and abnormal stock returns in brazilian companies

In finance and accounting literature, different aspects are presented as possible factors related to stock returns. More recently, studies have been dedicated to analyzing the potential influence of the tone and sentiment of corporate reports, newspaper articles, press releases, and investor message boards on stock prices. Thus, based on assumptions of Legitimacy Theory, we investigate whether cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) on the stocks of Brazilian listed companies are associated with the linguistic sentiment of quarterly earnings conference calls. Using a sample of 78 observations related to the conference calls of 24 companies listed in the Novo Mercado segment in 2016-2017, we measured CAR using the market model and the linguistic sentiment of earnings conference calls using IBM’s Watson Natural Language Understanding platform. An analysis of the results of statistical tests such as descriptive results, correlation matrix, and correspondence analysis enables it to be inferred that, in general, there is a positive association between cumulative abnormal returns and the optimism sentiment of quarterly conference calls. Thus, it is conjectured the possibility that the speeches made by managers in conference calls legitimize company performance in the market, by altering the perception of investors in the stock market and leading to implications for the value of the stocks traded.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Origin and main ramifications of coeliac artery in Cerdocyon thous

Background: Cerdocyon thous is the canid with the greatest geographical coverage in South America. The aim of this study was to describe the origin, skeletopy, length and main branches of the coeliac artery in C. thous. Materials and methods: The dissections were performed on 14 cadavers of adult specimens, 6 males and 8 females, with a rostrosacral length average of 67.00 ± 4.7 cm and 62.09 ± 5.7 cm, respectively. The specimens were collected dead on highways on the banks of the Atlantic Forest (Rio de Janeiro) and the Pampa biome (Rio Grande do Sul) in Brazil. The cadavers were fixed and preserved in a formaldehyde solution until dissection. The coeliac artery was dissected, the length was measured “in situ” and its main branches were recorded. The coeliac artery emerged as a single artery in all dissected animals. Results: The average length of the coeliac artery was 1.43 ± 0.17 cm in males and 1.39 mm ± 0.24 cm in females, with no significant difference in this measurement between sexes. The predominant skeletopy was at the level of the second lumbar vertebra (57.1%), positioned on average 1.43 cm cranially to the cranial mesenteric artery. In most individuals (92.9%), the classic trifurcation was formed: the coeliac artery branched into the hepatic, left gastric, and lienal arteries. Only 1 male animal presented a bifurcation formed between the hepatic artery and a gastrolienal trunk. Conclusions: These anatomical characteristics are similar to those of other species of the Canidae family, possibly due to their phylogenetic proximity

Qualidade físico-química e sensorial de frutos de bananeiras cultivadas em sistema orgânico de produção.

O sistema de produção orgânico visa a produção de alimentos ecologicamente sustentável, economicamente viável e socialmente justo, capaz de integrar o homem ao meio ambiente. O crescimento da agricultura orgânica se deve ao fato dos consumidores buscarem alimentos isentos de resíduos de agroquímicos que são utilizados na agricultura convencional, considerados nocivos à saúde e ao meio ambient

A social and ecological assessment of tropical land uses at multiple scales: the Sustainable amazon network

Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network (Rede Amazônia Sustentável, RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The research approach adopted by RAS offers three advantages for addressing land-use sustainability problems: (i) the collection of synchronized and co-located ecological and socioeconomic data across broad gradients of past and present human use; (ii) a nested sampling design to aid comparison of ecological and socioeconomic conditions associated with different land uses across local, landscape and regional scales; and (iii) a strong engagement with a wide variety of actors and non-research institutions. Here, we elaborate on these key features, and identify the ways in which RAS can help in highlighting those problems in most urgent need of attention, and in guiding improvements in land-use sustainability in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropics. We also discuss some of the practical lessons, limitations and realities faced during the development of the RAS initiative so far