Rates Changes and Earnings Management in the Domestic Energy Suppliers

Abstract

Objective: To verify whether the concessionaires of electric energy adopt earnings management (EM) practices, before and after the Periodic Tariff Review (PTR), in order to obtain better rates and attract investors and/or pay bonuses to their managers. Method: The sample of this study contains all electric power utility companies of B3, covering the period of 2010-2016. We analyzed the impact of PTR using the panel data method. Originality/Relevance: It was analyzed whether the EM is related to PTR, since the interest of the consumer, the government and the investors is different of the concessionary's interest with respect to the value of the tariff. Notice that investors can make better decisions on how and when to allocate their resources to a specific PTR event. Theoretical/Methodological Contributions: The findings indicate that in the years of tariff review, there is a greater generation of accruals and dimishments 2 years after the PTR. On the other hand, in EM (operational) the cyclical behavior is similar, but the PTR is negative in the year of the tariff review and positive two periods ahead. Social contributions to management: These results are understood as long as the concessionaires know that the result of the year of PTR will not influence the Regulatory Agency in the determination of the present revision and reverse them 2 periods ahead, in order to anticipate for the next PTR.