Comparative analysis of voluntary information disclosed: the social disclosure of Latin American companies listed on NYSE

Abstract

The process of decision making must be supported by accounting information that reflect the actual situation of companies (SCOTT, 1941; HENDRIKSEN, Van BREDA, 1999). Thus, the discussion about the extent of voluntary information, particularly the social ones, raises doubts about what and how much should be disclosed since there are no pre-defined parameters (VANSTRAELEN; ZAZERSKI; ROBB, 2003). In that sense, this article examines what are the social asymmetries in the social disclosure of Latin American companies listed on the NYSE. The research methodology is descriptive, documental and quantitative and qualitative (GIL, 1999). Forty-eight companies from seven Latin American countries were examined. The results show a significant asymmetry in the level of social disclosure among the companies examined, especially when comparing the Brazilian companies that had the highest level of disclosure with the other countries. We conclude that the path of a possible harmonization of social disclosure between companies in the countries examined is a big challenge, particularly in order to get minimum parameters to guide report makers to produce information to assist in decision making.