Ativos intangíveis e governança corporativa: value-relevance no setor de utilidade pública da B3

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine how the value relevance of intangible assets recognized by publicly traded companies in the public utility sector is affected by the quality of corporate governance. The research sample comprises 40 companies from the public utility sector of B3 (Brasil, Bolsa Balcão). The period covered is 2010 to 2023, and the total number of observations is 355. The research applies a variation of the Ohlson (1995) valuation model, based on previous literature. Intangible assets were classified as "relationship assets" (RA), "innovation assets" (AII), and "structural assets" (AE), and their value relevance was analyzed separately. Furthermore, concession contracts (CC), which are fundamental to the execution of the activities of public utility companies, were also analyzed individually. To measure the quality of corporate governance, the Corporate Governance Index (CGI) was developed for the companies in the sample. The results indicate that intangible assets are considered relevant information for investors, positively correlating with market value. Regarding classifications, AR, AII, and CC were identified as relevant, but only AR and CC had a positive relationship with market value, while AI showed a negative sign. The IGC proved relevant to investors, but with a negative relationship with market value. In the interaction between variables, only the models with intangible assets, AR, and CC were statistically significant and positively correlated with market value. The models with AI and AE, which were significant, have a negative sign with market value. The study concludes that corporate governance affects the value relevance of intangible assets, but there is a certain level of best practices that is viewed positively by investors.