Gerenciamento de resultados em cooperativas no Brasil: avaliação do income smoothing nas filiadas do SICREDI

Abstract

This study investigates the practice of earnings management, specifically in the form Income Smoothing, in Brazilian credit unions affiliated to the Cooperative Credit System (SICREDI). The sample consists of 149 credit unions, with semi-annual data for the period 2001-2011, in a total of 2300 observations. An panel data model estimated by fixed effects, using a Feasible Generalized Least Squares correction for heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. The results indicate the use of accounting discretion to smooth the results, with a positive and statistically significant result which signals that the higher the non-discretionary income, the greater will be the losses on provisions for loan losses. This result corroborates the perception of the analysts from the Central Bank of Brazil that, within Brazilian financial institutions, whether bank or credit unions, choose to smooth their results. The main contribution of this study is to reveal that credit unions affiliated to Sicredi, one of the largest cooperative credit systems also opt for the strategy to manage the financial results, as well as those affiliated to the Sicoob system and also the solidarity credit unions already researched. These results support the proposition that reducing the fluctuation of results is beneficial for the institutions (Trueman and Tilman, 1988; Moyer and Shevlin, 1995), which may be applicable to the actual scenario of Brazilian cooperatives