The Relevance of Accounting Information in the Process of Valuation of Companies in the New and Old Economy – An Analysis of Asset Investments and their Effects on the Value Relevance of Earnings and Book Value

Brazilian accounting principles permit companies to capitalize expenditures on research and development, specifically as deferred charges. Therefore, the objective of this article is to analyze the effects of (deferred) investments on the value-relevance of the earnings and net equity of companies operating in the so-called new and old economies, with the sectors of the old economy chosen as comparison. The more specific objective is to examine: (i) the explanatory power of earnings and net equity; (ii) the incremental explanatory power of deferred charges, in which the stock price is a function the net earnings plus net equity less deferred charges. This study does not seek to refute or prove a specific model, but rather only to gather evidence to permit accepting or rejecting the hypotheses formulated and to offer a response to the research question. The results show that accounting information, for both sectors, is relevant to value the price of shares. However, the results on the explanatory power of deferred charges run counter to the expected results.