Comportamento dos custos à luz da teoria dos sticky costs em períodos de crescimento e de recessão econômica: um estudo em empresas do setor de construção civil listadas na B3

Abstract

Understanding cost behavior is crucial for effective decision-making, optimizing expenditures, and enhancing profitability. According to classical perspective, the relationship between costs and revenues is considered symmetric during fluctuations in activity levels. However, studies indicate asymmetric cost behavior. This study investigates asymmetric cost behavior in construction companies listed on B3 during economic growth and recession periods from 2010 to 2022, focusing on sticky costs. A descriptive quantitative approach was employed using data from the Income Statements of 33 companies in the construction sector listed on B3 within the cyclical consumer sector from 2010 to 2022. Analytical techniques included descriptive statistics and panel data regression analysis. Key findings include that Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) significantly impacted Net Sales Revenue (NSR), averaging 67.09% between 2010 and 2022. Selling Expenses (SE) accounted for 8.39%, and Administrative Expenses (AE) for 9.68% of NSR. The research highlights significant revenue and cost variations over the years, reflecting economic challenges and growth opportunities. Results show that a 1% increase in NSR corresponded to increases of 0.78%, 0.92%, and 0.59% respectively in COGS, COGS, and SE. Conversely, a 1% decrease in NSR led to decreases of 0.67%, 0.81%, and 0.49% in COGS, COGS, and SE, indicating the presence of sticky costs. AE responded with a 0.41% increase to a 1% NSR increase and a disproportionate 0.52% decrease to a 1% NSR decrease, demonstrating anti-sticky cost behavior. National GDP and Construction GDP influence exhibited asymmetry across all analyzed items, with a shift in SE behavior towards anti-sticky costs, increased asymmetry for COGS and COGS, and decreased for AE and SE. Analysis during recession and growth periods revealed anti-sticky behavior for COGS and COGS during recession, suggesting that managerial pessimism during these periods triggers greater cost adjustments. Thus, the results indicate that growth variations influence sticky costs, while recession periods influence anti-sticky costs in construction companies listed on B3 for Total Costs (TC) and Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). These findings align with existing literature, including Anderson, Banker, and Janakiraman (2003), and the analysis of Construction GDP's influence on sticky costs contributes to advancing theory.