Abstract:The purpose of this paper is to provide some new evidence on the relationship between disclosure and the cost of equity capital. We propose a new specification for the empirical test based on the idea that in the previous models one crucial variable was missing: accounting policy choice. We test our theoretical hypothesis using a sample of Spanish firms quoted on the Spanish continuous market from 1999 to 2002. We adopt the ex-ante approach to measure the cost of equity capital, taking analysts predictions as a proxy for expected earnings. As an explanatory variable we use an index measuring annual report disclosure quality. This measure of disclosure is combined with a proxy for the accounting policy choice of the firm. We measure firms' conservatism using the modified Jones model of Dechow et al. (1995) to estimate discretionary accruals. Our results confirm that the relationship between disclosure and cost of capital is affected by the choice of accounting policy.

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Earlier research on non-US companies has documented that listing an American Depositary Receipt results in an increase in US institutional investor holdings. It is suggested that this result arises because US cross listing, with the related US GAAP financial reporting reconciliation requirements, improves the monitoring of management in the principal agent relationship with US investors. However, for companies in some industries, greater attention to financial reporting is of limited value since market value is highly dependent upon intangibles. Non-financial performance indicators, not covered by US GAAP, are critical for valuation when intangibles make up a significant part of economic firm value. This research restricts attention to the BioTech-Pharma sector and tests to see whether US institutional investors accept enhanced disclosure of key non-financial performance indicators, as a partial substitute for non-adoption of US financial reporting standards. Specifically, tests are conducted to see whether US institutional investors are more or less sensitive to the non-financial disclosures of non-adopters. Results from the econometric analysis provide support for the hypothesis that US institutional investors respond more to the non-financial disclosures of non-adopters suggesting that US institutional investors do see enhanced disclosure of non-financial performance indicators in an intangibles intensive industry as a partial substitute for full compliance with US financial reporting standards.

Este documento presenta un escenario de transformaciones sectoriales que permitiría a Colombia alcanzar la carbono neutralidad en el 2050 y cuantifica los costos asociados y los beneficios económicos derivados de implementar estas transformaciones. Las alternativas presentadas no pretenden ser prescriptivas, reconociendo que existen múltiples opciones disponibles para lograr las metas climáticas definidas por el país. La contribución más relevante de este análisis tiene que ver con estimar el nivel de cambios requeridos y los costos y beneficios asociados. Se evaluaron los siguientes sectores: agricultura, energía, transporte y gestión de residuos. Se identificó que los primeros tres sectores logran beneficios netos al implementar trayectorias de descarbonización si no solo se contabilizan los costos de implementación sino también los ahorros asociados a, por ejemplo, menores costos operativos, mayor productividad, ahorros en daños a la salud o costos evitados por el cambio climático en la economía. El análisis de costo-beneficio se realizó utilizando tres niveles diferentes de la tasa de descuento, y en todos los casos, la neutralidad de carbono se alcanza con beneficios económicos netos (superando los costos asociados).