The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the World Bank's governance indicators and the socioeconomic development indicators of the Brics countries. The databases of a number of international organizations corresponding to the 2005-12 period were assessed using panel data analysis. The results suggested a positive relationship between the HDI and the Government Effectiveness and Control of Corruption indicators, and between GDP and the Control of Corruption indicator, as well as a negative relationship between GDP and the Voice and Accountability and the Political Stability indicators. The explanatory power of the governance indicator dimensions in relation to the HDI is greater when compared to that of the dimensions of governance indicators related to GDP, which can be understood by the fact that the latter index only deals with the economic dimension whereas the HDI takes other factors into account. Rev. Adm. Pública -Rio de Janeiro 50 (5) Pal av r a s -c h av e : indicadores de governança; desenvolvimento socioeconômico; Brics. Indicadores mundiales de gobernabilidad: relación con los indicadores socioeconómicos de los países del BricsEl estudio tiene como objetivo investigar la relación entre los indicadores mundiales de gobernabilidad del Banco Mundial y los indicadores de desarrollo socioeconómico en los países del Brics. Se utilizaron bases de datos de organizaciones internacionales del período de 2005 a 2012, aplicándose el análisis de datos de panel. Los resultados indican relaciones positivas entre el IDH y los indicadores Efectividad del gobierno y Control de la corrupción y entre el PIB y el Control de la corrupción, además de una relación negativa entre el PIB y los indicadores Participación y monitoreo y Efectividad del gobierno. La capacidad explicativa de las dimensiones de los indicadores de gobernanza en relación al IDH es mayor cuando se compara con las dimensiones de los indicadores de gobernanza relacionados con el PIB, lo que puede ser entendido por el hecho de que el PIB trata apenas de la dimensión económica, mientras que el IDH engloba otros factores.Pal a b r a s c l av e : indicadores de gobernanza; desarrollo socioeconómico; Brics.

Purpose-This paper evaluates the influence of the institutional environment on the extent of social and environmental disclosure of companies from institutionally distant countries. Design/methodology/approach-We analyze basic materials, oil and gas, and public utility companies with shares traded on the Brazilian stock exchange (BM&FBovespa) and Canadian stock exchange (Toronto Stock Exchange) from 2007 to 2015. Quantitative methods are adopted through descriptive statistics and panel data analysis. The econometric modeling considers environmental and social disclosure as dependent variables, independent variables that represent the political, financial, educational and labor systems, and firm size, ROA, and indebtedness as control variables. Findings-In the case of the companies operating in Brazil, the extent of environmental and social disclosure is positively related to the political and labor systems, and negatively related to the financial system. In Canada, disclosure is negatively influenced by the financial system and the education system. The control variables, which represent characteristics of financial performance, were not significant. Originality/value-The study shows that isomorphic forces operate in the institutional field and affect the adoption of socially responsible behavior. By basing the study on institutionally distinct countries, such as Brazil and Canada, it reinforces the influence of the national business system on the extent of disclosure of environmental and social practices.

This study aims to identify the effect of board diversity on environmental policy in Latin American companies. This research focuses on 11 industrial sectors in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile that took into consideration a broader extension of environmental policy, involving practices regarding resource use, emissions reduction, and innovation. Drawing on corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) relationships, a regression analysis was conducted with 1214 firm-year observations from 181 companies. Our results indicate that the predominantly weak CG in Latin America might favour the use of manipulative environmental policy decisions. Board diversity does not have a relevant influence on CSR activities, as environmental issues are only taken into account so far as the cost of natural resources, while issues such as environmental innovation and reducing emission are not part of the agenda.In Brazil and Chile, independent directors have no significant effect on environmental policy decisions, while in Mexico, a less independent board grants managers greater discretion to establish an environmental policy, whereas in all three countries, board gender diversity has no significant effect. The theoretical insights drawn from this study reinforce that board composition, as an internal CG mechanism, is insufficient to overcome the institutional voids and give protagonist to sustainability issues in Latin America, reiterating the need for more robust CG mechanisms to coerce CSR.

RESUMOO estudo avalia a influência do sistema financeiro da Austrália, do Brasil, do Canadá e da Índia sobre a extensão da divulgação de informações de responsabilidade social corporativa (RSC) de empresas de setores ambientalmente sensíveis. Para esse fim, foram selecionadas empresas dos setores de utilidade pública, materiais básicos e de operações de petróleo e gás presentes na lista da Forbes 2000 do ano de 2008. A pesquisa é quantitativa e o período analisado compreendeu os anos de 2007 a 2014. A variável dependente é a extensão da evidenciação, divididas em três dimensões: ambiental, social e total. As variáveis independentes utilizadas relacionam-se com o sistema financeiro, além de variáveis de controle relativas às características das empresas (tamanho e adoção das diretrizes da GRI). Essas variáveis tiveram como fonte os bancos de dados do World Bank, do World Economic Forum, das bolsas de valores da Austrália, do Brasil, do Canadá e da Índia, além das informações existentes nos relatórios anuais e de sustentabilidade. A análise é feita por meio de estatísticas descritivas, ANOVA e regressão linear múltipla. Os resultados apontam que a extensão da divulgação de RSC se relaciona positivamente com as características do sistema financeiro. O trabalho conclui que,nos países onde empresas captam mais recursos financeiros do mercado de capitais, os gestores devem dar atenção ao ambiente institucional ao estabelecerem suas estratégias de evidenciação socioambiental.Palavras-chave: Ambiente Institucional; Sistema Financeiro; Responsabilidade Social Corporativa; Evidenciação.Financial system effectson social and environmental disclosureby companies in emerging and developed countries ABSTRACTThe study evaluates the influence of financial systems in Australia, Brazil, Canada and India on the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in environmentally sensitive industries. In order to achieve this goal, companies from the utility, materials and oil and gas operations were selected from the Forbes