DIVULGAÇÃO DE DESPESAS COM P&D VERSUS INOVAÇÃO: UM ESTUDO NAS EMPRESAS LISTADAS NA B3

In this study we investigated the relation between disclosure of spending on R&D and the level of innovation in Brazilian firms traded on B3. We also analyzed the relation between corporate governance and the disclosure of spending on R&D, and the relation of this disclosure and the market value. Our sample included all 350 firms listed on B3 in the period 2015-2017. Innovation was proxied by the number of patents filed by each firm, according to the Espacenet website. Corporate governance was proxied by participation in special corporate governance listing segments, and market value was proxied by Tobin’s Q. The results of the Mann-Whitney test revealed that sampled firms making disclosure of spending on R&D filed more patents and had higher market value than non-disclosing firms, but in the regression analysis, in most firms in the sample, disclosure of spending on R&D was not significantly associated with the level of innovation. The logistic regression model showed that firms in corporate governance listing segments were more likely to disclose spending on R&D than non-listed firms. In regressions with the ordinary least squares method, disclosure of spending on R&D had no significant impact on market value. Our findings provide regulators, investors and brokers with evidence that disclosure of spending on R&D has no measurable effect on the level of innovation in the sampled firms and suggest that innovation may come through channels other than internal R&D activities and/ or that in many firms disclosure is of poor quality.