<p>I investigate whether changes in derivative and hedging footnote disclosures required by SFAS 161 affect investor and analyst uncertainty. My study is motivated by accounting standard setters' and researchers' interest in disclosure effectiveness, and by prior research linking investors' interpretations of public information to measures of uncertainty. For a broad sample of firms, I use textual analysis to measure changes in the amount and salience of derivative and hedging information caused by SFAS 161. Using a difference-in-differences design to study the effects of these changes, I find that investor uncertainty is reduced for firms adopting SFAS 161. In addition, I find that for some uncertainty proxies this reduction is greater for firms whose disclosures were more affected by SFAS 161, consistent with the new disclosures improving investor understanding. I also find evidence of a decreased association between bid-ask spread and movements in risk factors, indicating that SFAS 161 reduced uncertainty stemming from these movements.</p> / Dissertation

Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-01T23:39:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_9343_Dissertação Rodolfo 03.05.16.pdf: 835991 bytes, checksum: f387821ea04800c1e15011b83ea71c41 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-03 / Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar a relação entre o nível de disclosure das informações contábeis e as características contábeis das organizações de direito privado situadas no Espírito Santo, além de descobrir a percepção do elaborador das demonstrações contábeis quanto sua importância. Utilizando como plataforma teórica para sua fundamentação a relevância da informação contábil e a teoria da divulgação, adotou-se uma metodologia quantitativa, na qual buscou verificar se as características das organizações como tamanho, alavancagem, o fato de ser auditada e, especificamente, auditada por uma Big Four poderiam influenciar na quantidade de demonstrações publicadas (proxy de disclosure). Para complementar os dados, foi elaborado um questionário com o objetivo de realizar uma pesquisa exploratória e descobrir qual é a percepção do elaborador da demonstração contábil quanto sua importância, ou seja, a visão do usuário interno quanto ao disclosure. A amostra coletada foi composta por publicações de organizações de natureza jurídica privada, que divulgaram suas demonstrações contábeis em edições do Diário Oficial do Espírito Santo entre o período de 1º de janeiro de 2012 a 31 de dezembro de 2014, perfazendo um total de 736 observações. O questionário foi enviando para todas as empresas da amostra por e-mail (que foi coletado acessando o cartão CNPJ da empresa no site da Receita Federal do Brasil) e ligado para todas elas. Pelas evidências encontradas através da regressão linear múltipla pooled, foi aceito as hipóteses de que as variáveis tamanho da empresa, o fato dela ser audita e ser audita uma companhia Big Four influenciam positivamente no disclosure da companhia. Já a variável alavancagem influenciou negativamente no nível de disclosure, o oposto do esperado para a pesquisa. Em relação aos resultados obtidos através do questionário pode ser notado que não há muitos incentivos para as empresas publicaram suas demonstrações contábeis. Atualmente, muitas tem feito devido a obrigação com a legislação, destacando-se o fato da publicação ter um alto custo e não considerar relevante a publicação das demonstrações contábeis. / This paper aims to identify the relationship between the level of disclosure of accounting information and the accounting characteristics of the private organizations located in Espírito Santo, as well as to discover the accounting firm's perception of its importance. Using as a theoretical platform for its foundation the relevance of accounting information and the theory of disclosure, a quantitative methodology was adopted, in which it sought to verify if the characteristics of organizations such as size, leverage, the fact of being audited and, specifically, audited by a Big Four could influence the amount of published statements (proxy disclosure). In order to complement the data, a questionnaire was elaborated with the objective of conducting an exploratory research and discovering the perception of the elaborator of the accounting statement as to its importance, that is, the internal user's view of disclosure. The collected sample was composed of publications of private organizations, which published their financial statements in editions of the Official Newspaper of Espírito Santo between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014, making a total of 736 observations. The questionnaire was sent to all companies in the sample by e-mail (which was collected by accessing the company's CNPJ card at the Federal Revenue Service website) and linked to all of them. From the evidences found through multiple pooled linear regression, the hypothesis was accepted that the variables size of the company, the fact that it is audited and audited by a Big Four company positively influence the disclosure of the company. The leverage variable had a negative influence on the level of disclosure, the opposite of that expected for the research. Regarding the results obtained through the questionnaire it can be noted that there are many incentives for companies to publish their financial statements. Currently, many have done so due to the obligation with the legislation, highlighting the fact that the publication has a high cost and does not consider relevant the publication of the financial statements.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-01T23:39:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_9343_Dissertação Rodolfo 03.05.16.pdf: 835991 bytes, checksum: f387821ea04800c1e15011b83ea71c41 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-03 / Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar a relação entre o nível de disclosure das informações contábeis e as características contábeis das organizações de direito privado situadas no Espírito Santo, além de descobrir a percepção do elaborador das demonstrações contábeis quanto sua importância. Utilizando como plataforma teórica para sua fundamentação a relevância da informação contábil e a teoria da divulgação, adotou-se uma metodologia quantitativa, na qual buscou verificar se as características das organizações como tamanho, alavancagem, o fato de ser auditada e, especificamente, auditada por uma Big Four poderiam influenciar na quantidade de demonstrações publicadas (proxy de disclosure). Para complementar os dados, foi elaborado um questionário com o objetivo de realizar uma pesquisa exploratória e descobrir qual é a percepção do elaborador da demonstração contábil quanto sua importância, ou seja, a visão do usuário interno quanto ao disclosure. A amostra coletada foi composta por publicações de organizações de natureza jurídica privada, que divulgaram suas demonstrações contábeis em edições do Diário Oficial do Espírito Santo entre o período de 1º de janeiro de 2012 a 31 de dezembro de 2014, perfazendo um total de 736 observações. O questionário foi enviando para todas as empresas da amostra por e-mail (que foi coletado acessando o cartão CNPJ da empresa no site da Receita Federal do Brasil) e ligado para todas elas. Pelas evidências encontradas através da regressão linear múltipla pooled, foi aceito as hipóteses de que as variáveis tamanho da empresa, o fato dela ser audita e ser audita uma companhia Big Four influenciam positivamente no disclosure da companhia. Já a variável alavancagem influenciou negativamente no nível de disclosure, o oposto do esperado para a pesquisa. Em relação aos resultados obtidos através do questionário pode ser notado que não há muitos incentivos para as empresas publicaram suas demonstrações contábeis. Atualmente, muitas tem feito devido a obrigação com a legislação, destacando-se o fato da publicação ter um alto custo e não considerar relevante a publicação das demonstrações contábeis.

Submitted by Suethene Souza (suethene.souza@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-03T19:41:46Z No. of bitstreams: 2 DISSERTAÇÃO_VERSÃOFINAL_revisão Carolina.pdf: 753470 bytes, checksum: 0e66814d66ccd1d461b5e7ab5f2ebe27 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-03T19:41:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 DISSERTAÇÃO_VERSÃOFINAL_revisão Carolina.pdf: 753470 bytes, checksum: 0e66814d66ccd1d461b5e7ab5f2ebe27 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / O presente estudo teve como objetivo precípuo o delineamento de um panorama evolutivo dos níveis evidenciação das informações de caráter ambiental nas demonstrações financeiras padronizadas(DFP’s), de uma empresa de capital aberto do setor elétrico de representatividade econômica e social na região, a Companhia de Energia Elétrica do Estado de Pernambuco (CELPE), do grupo Neoenergia. Para execução dessa pesquisa, utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo em 11 anos de demonstrativos, referentes aos anos de 2001 a 2011; sendo assim, trata-se de uma pesquisa documental direta, desenvolvimentista e longitudinal com natureza qualitativa. Para realização desta análise foi necessário a utilização de um arcabouço desenvolvido para a classificação das sentenças em diferentes categorias: a)Políticas Ambientais; b)Sistemas de Gerenciamento Ambiental; c)Impactos dos Produtos e Processos; d)Políticas de Energia; e)Educação, Pesquisa e Treinamento; f)Mercado de Créditos de Carbono; g)Informações Financeiras Ambientais; h)Outras Informações Ambientais)Foram identificadas 407 sentenças que, após a categorização, foram classificadas quanto à forma de evidenciação (unidade de registro) e aos tipos de informações (quanto à geração de crédito para a imagem de empresa.). As categorias com maiores percentuais de evidenciação foram as “Políticas Ambientais” e “Informações Financeiras Ambientais”. Quanto à forma de evidenciação, predominou informações “Declarativas”, ou seja, são em sua maioria descritivas e qualitativas. A maioria das sentenças ao serem classificadas quanto ao tipo, tentam passar uma imagem “boa” da empresa. Diante dos achados evidencia-se que, de fato, houve um aumento no nível de evidenciação de informações com caráter ambiental nos 11 anos estudados.

This dissertation consists of two essays in the area of corporate voluntary disclosure of predecision information. The first essay entitled, "Disclosure Choice in a Duopoly", focusses on the phenomenon of partial disclosure, where the manager of the firm discloses selected signals and withholds the rest. The manager may or may not receive private information which is related to both firm-specific and industry-wide common factors. The motivation for disclosure (non-disclosure) is derived from the proprietary nature of the manager's private information. The cost (benefit) of disclosure is modelled in an imperfectly competitive product market, where an uninformed opponent’s reaction to a disclosure affects the manager's expected profit. Our results indicate that the nature of the manager's optimal disclosure policy is crucially dependent on whether the signal is more informative about firm-specific or industry-wide common factors. Unfavourable news is disclosed and favourable news withheld if the signal is more informative about common factors. On the other hand, favourable news is disclosed and unfavourable news is withheld if the signal is more informative about firm-specific factors. Comparative statics show that the sensitivity of the optimal disclosure policy and the probability of disclosure to some key parameters are also dependent on this characteristic of a signal. The empirical implications of our results suggest that when testing hypotheses involving voluntary disclosures, failure to take the above characteristic into account may confound the results. The second essay entitled, "Disclosure and Reputation in Credit Markets", deals with a different aspect of voluntary disclosures. A reputation game is modelled in the absence of credible disclosure. The manager's ability with respect to obtaining predecision information is of interest to the firm's creditors. The manager's future nominal interest charges depend on the creditors' belief about the manager's ability, i.e., on his reputation. Hence, the manager attempts to communicate this ability through sub-optimal production choice and creditors learn about the manager by observing the end of period revenue realization. If credible disclosures are possible the manager may make direct disclosures to communicate his information gathering ability to the creditors. This alternative mechanism avoids the cost of reputation building incurred by selecting a suboptimal project. However, it is shown that if these two mechanisms for reputation acquisition are not "independent", then the possibility of disclosure increases the manager's incentive to select a sub-optimal action. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

The purpose of this research is to explore how people make sense of the word feel in their communication across different social relationships and contexts. Assuming the use of the word feel is linked to the act of emotional expression, a secondary purpose is to examine how the perceived management of the word feel may be linked to well-being. Fifteen individual participants shared their perceptions about how they use the word feel over eight types of interpersonal relationships. Discourse analysis revealed that the function of the word feel was to self-disclose emotions or to inquire about them in others. The word feel emerged as a tool that can be wielded to achieve catharsis, intimacy, or social support while framing several subject positions within a discourse of emotional disclosure. When the word feel was reciprocated with others, participant perceptions showed how social status influenced how it was managed in relationships. In particular, the vulnerable disclosing parties were required to take risks in order to achieve the benefits of disclosure. Ruptures in the discourse occurred when participants who did not have opportunities to self-disclose experienced an unwanted emotional tension, an interest in receiving social support, or a drive to find closeness. These instances led to a use of the word feel outside of its emergent social rules. Finally, the beliefs of participants showed it was not just status that played a role in its management but gender as well. The findings show that although the deployment of feel requires judicious management of the risks inherent in emotional self-disclosure, the use of this can indicate the exchange of social resources known to have positive effects on well-being.

This work concerns the evaluation of statistical disclosure control risk by adopting the position of the data intruder. The underlying assertion is that risk metrics should be based on the actual inferences that an intruder can make. Ideally metrics would also take into account how sensitive the inferences would be, but that is subjective. A parallel theme is that of the knowledgeable data intruder; an intruder who has the technical skills to maximally exploit the information contained in released data. This also raises the issue of computational costs and the benefits of using good algorithms. A metric for attribution risk in tabular data is presented. It addresses the issue that most measures for tabular data are based on the risk of identification. The metric can also take into account assumed levels of intruder knowledge regarding the population, and it can be applied to both exact and perturbed collections of tables. An improved implementation of the Key Variable Mapping System (Elliot, et al., 2010) is presented. The problem is more precisely defined in terms of categorical variables rather than responses to survey questions. This allows much more efficient algorithms to be developed, leading to significant performance increases. The advantages and disadvantages of alternative matching strategies are investigated. Some are shown to dominate others. The costs of searching for a match are also considered, providing insight into how a knowledgeable intruder might tailor a strategy to balance the probability of a correct match and the time and effort required to find a match. A novel approach to model determination in decomposable graphical models is described. It offers purely computational advantages over existing schemes, but allows data sets to be more thoroughly checked for disclosure risk. It is shown that a Bayesian strategy for matching between a sample and a population offers much higher probabilities of a correct match than traditional strategies would suggest. The Special Uniques Detection Algorithm (Elliot et al., 2002) (Manning et al., 2008), for identifying risky sample counts of 1, is compared against Bayesian (using Markov Chain Monte Carlo and simulated annealing) alternatives. It is shown that the alternatives are better at identifying risky sample uniques, and can do so with reduced computational costs.

South Africa is a country burdened by the overhang of apartheid and recent state capture, and desperately trying to balance economic growth with well-being of all stakeholders. This has opened the door for ESG practices to provide holistic solutions for both society and business. This is made particularly relevant by applying business resources to the most relevant ESG issues facing companies, the focus of this study. To achieve the objective of promoting positive societal outcomes through better corporate engagement with ESG, the study analysed 22 asset managers, 25 companies and 25 earnings call transcripts for the opinions of asset managers, companies and analysts on which issues were material to them across five industries. Alongside this analysis, asset managers were interviewed for their opinion of ESG as it is currently practiced in the South African market, where they saw barriers to its practice and where potential improvements could be made. The study found alignment between asset managers and companies on the majority of material issues, but little alignment with analysts, suggesting a break-down in conversation between investors and companies. In particular, the issue of governance was stressed as the most important issue category by asset managers across all industries, but was given little air-time by both companies and analysts. These findings were consistent with the literature on investor perspectives of ESG, company ESG disclosure and materiality. The author suggests a model for materiality be developed to gauge company response to material ESG issues more consistently and aide engagement. Key words: ESG, sustainability, materiality, decoupling, disclosure

Facebook provides adolescents with multiple opportunities to self-disclose information about themselves, one of the most prominent ones being a status update. This qualitative study expanded on existing research related to adolescent self-disclosure on Facebook by exploring ten adolescents\' experiences of self-disclosing on a Facebook status when upset or distressed. Using thematic analysis, prominent themes emerged which included the decision making process in making such a post, concerns of privacy, impacts on peer relationships, perceptions and feelings of others, sense of community and support systems. Limitations of the study, clinical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed. / Master of Science

Background: HIV prevalence is increasing and more people are being infected despite the messages and the advertising.1 Namibia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world of 21.3% as at end of 2002. Two hundred and ten thousand people were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS, more than one in five adults.2 Disclosure is very important for the prevention and control of HIV infection and is an essential part of behaviour modification, access and adherence to treatment. Aim: To determine knowledge, attitudes, and practices of HIV positive patients regarding disclosure of HIV results at Betesda clinic in Namibia. Objectives: To determine the participant profile, reasons for disclosure and non disclosure, to explore attitudes, knowledge and to understand practices of HIV positive patients with regard to disclosure of HIV results. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study done at Betesda clinic a private clinic in Katutura a high density suburb of Windhoek. Two hundred and sixty three HIV positive patients tested after 2004 were entered into the study. Convenience sampling of all willing HIV positive patients was done. A questionnaire was used; a professional interpreter and a counsellor were available. Permission to conduct the study was obtained from Betesda management; ethical clearance was obtained from the Post Graduate Committee and Human Research Committee of the University of the Witwatersrand. Epi Info statistical software package version 3.4.1 July 3 2007 was used to analyze data. An expert statistician was utilized to assist with analyzing data. Results: Two hundred and sixty three respondents were entered into the study. Sixty four percent were males, 41% were married, 28% were single, and 27% were cohabitating. 68% responded positively to what they thought about disclosure. Reasons for disclosure were 32% needed help, 25% partner to go for testing and 20% to let relatives know. Reasons for non disclosure were mainly fear of gossiping 79%. Seventy three percent had disclosed 60% within one week of knowing the results. Seventy three percent had disclosed to their partners, 23% had disclosed to more than one person. People’s reactions were 43% supportive, 29% understood, 9% accepted and 6% angry. Upon disclosure 40% received help, 24% partners were tested, 23% received psychological support and 5% were stigmatized. Disclosure was found to be higher among the married and cohabitating. Conclusion: Knowledge of disclosure was positive; most thought disclosure was important and good. Attitudes and practices towards disclosure were encouraging; people were disclosing but to trusted individuals in the society and fear of stigma was still there but actual stigma was very low.