The target population of this research are Brazilian publicly held equity companies
based on the period from 1995 to the first quarter of 2015, which included 446 active firms. In
order to reach the sample of this research, we applied the following filters:
1. To have sufficient data in order to calculate the variables;
2. To have continuous data between 1995 and the first quarter of 2015 (20 years and
1 quarter or 81 quarters);
3. Not being a company from the financial sector, given the different regulations that
they had for the change in accounting standards.