Ativos intangíveis, risco de mercado e legibilidade dos fatores de risco: análise das empresas do mercado de capitais brasileiro

Abstract

Over the last years, technological advancement and ompetitive intensity have provided a more connected entrepreneurial environment, requiring more innovative business models, which go beyond tangible resources. In this scenario, intangible assets emerge as an strategic resource associated with the generation of value, increase in competitiveness and higher performance; however, they are also often linked to a higher risk when compared to the other assets. The risk context brought by the intangible assets is shown as a primary vector in companies which invest intensively in these resources due to the impact on performance and the value generated for their shareholders. Despite the extensive literature on intangible benefits for companies, the number is still little of empirical studies on the interrelationship between intangibles, the firm’s risk and its disclosure. This way, it is questioned, under the light of the Theory of Communication and Signalling, whether the quality of information on risks disclosed, or, more specifically, the risk factor readability (considered as a signal), can intervene in the relationship between the intangible assets and market risk. In this perspective, the main goal of this research is to analyse the moderating effect of readability of risk factors disclosed by companies in the relationship between intangible assets and market risks in the Brazilian companies listed on the B3. The sample gathers companies with data available for study between 2018 and 2022, totalling 1.117 observations company-year organized in an unbalanced panel. To do so, descriptive statistics, tests of average, correlation and multiple linear regression were employed as parameters estimated by the Generalized Moment Method (GMM). Readability was measured based on reading ease and the extension of the company’s risk factor report. Results show that companies with higher representativeness of intangibles (intangible-intense) present higher market risk than tangible-intense, which also applies to the structural intangible assets (composition). Regressions indicate that i) the higher the company’s intangible asset proportion (representativeness), the higher the market risk; ii) the innovation and relationship intangible assets (composition) are likely to reduce market risk; iii) readability (reading ease) contributes to reduction of market risks, whereas, the statement of these risk factors in lengthy texts can increase the perception of risks; iv) readability reading ease) of risk factors can contribute to the evaluation of intangibles representativeness and composition) to the extent that extensive documents do not guarantee higher transparency, which can impact on the evaluation of innovation and relationship intangibles by investors; v) readability (reading ease) of risk factors reduce the positive effect of intangibles on the risk market while the extension of the risk report document can amplify the intangible effect on the risk market. It then concluded that the elaboration of transparent and clear, concise reports increases the perception of risk by investors, rather than just increasing the size of reports (which does not necessarily mean greater transparency), converging the assumptions in the Theory of Communication and Signaling