Debt maturity determinants in Brazil: evidence from private and public corporate borrowings

This study provides an empirical investigation of the determinants of long-term debt maturity in Brazil. We built a unique database that includes privately placed debt and public debt for 308 publicly traded, non-financial Brazilian companies, from 2009 to 2013. We perform GMM panel analyses using as dependent variables the amount of long-term debt payable in more than one, three, and five years for total debt, BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank) debt and corporate bonds. The results show that the BNDES finances less risky firms, i.e., those that are larger, older, more tangible and more transparent. We also find support for information asymmetry theories, as companies with higher transparency levels have similar leverage levels relative to others but higher proportions of long-term debt in their capital structures. Regarding debt levels, we find that more levered companies are larger, less profitable, more tangible and have fewer growth opportunities. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to address the determinants of long-term debt maturity in Brazil that uses various specifications of long-term debt and that examines different types of debt.

Assessing the maturity levei of an organization in its adoption of collaboration technologies

Nowadays there are many information technologies that can make a significant difference to support collaborative efforts in the workspace. The role of IT is to support group collaboration by empowering team members with the right capabilities. One way to assess capabilities is through a maturity model. This paper proposes a first version of the Collaboration-Technology Maturity model (CTMM), aiming to serve as a strategic instrument for IT managers to control and manage the adoption of Collaboration Technologies (CITs) among their organizations. Our contribution is both theoretical and practical as we propose a descriptive maturity model. Nevertheless, it is also an application method and assessment instruments. We also completed an empirical evaluation by conducting 89 assessments at Latin American companies of all sizes and industries. This extensive field exercise allowed us to not only evaluate the usefulness of the model and instruments but also investigate CIT adoption patterns in Latin America in an attempt to collect historical data to further evolve CTMM into a comparative model. Responses were used to provide conclusions on CIT adoption in Latin America with respect to three specific backgrounds: the country of origin (region), size (in number of employees) and industry type. The implications of our findings are discussed for practitioners and researchers.

Speculative attacks, openness and crises

In this paper we propose a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to evaluate financial adjustments that some emerging market economies went through to overcome external crises during the latest decades, such as default and local currency devaluation. We assume that real devaluation can be used to avoid external debt default, to improve trade balance and to reduce the real public debt level denominated in local currency. Such effects increase the government ability to deal with external crisis, but also have costs in terms of welfare, related to expected inflation, reductions in private investments and higher interest to be paid over the public debt. We conclude that openness improves expected welfare as it allows for a better devaluation-response technology against crises. We also present results for 32 middle-income countries, verifying that the proposed model can indicate, in a stylized way, the preferences for default-devaluation options and the magnitude of the currency depreciation required to overcome 48 external crises occurred as from 1971. Finally, as we construct our model based on the Cole-Kehoe self-fulfilling debt crisis model ([7]), adding local debt and trade, it is important to say that their policy alternatives to leave the crisis zone remains in our extended model, namely, to reduce the external debt level and to lengthen its maturity.

A hipótese de Samuelson no mercado futuro brasileiro: um estudo empírico

A pesquisa objetivou testar a existência, no mercado futuro brasileiro, do fenômeno que a literatura batizou como a Hipótese de Samuelson, que postula que a volatilidade dos retornos de preços futuros aumenta à medida que o vencimento do contrato respectivo se aproxima. Para testar a hipótese em foco, foram utilizados dados dos seguintes contratos futuros, negociados na BM&F - Bolsa de Mercadorias & Futuros : contrato futuro de Ibovespa, contrato futuro de dólar comercial, contrato futuro de boi gordo e contrato futuro de café arábica. O período abrangido estendeu-se de 30 de junho de 1994 a 30 de abril de 1998. Aplicação de quatro testes distintos a cada contrato não autoriza afirmar-se que a Hipótese de Samuelson se observa no mercado futuro brasileiro.

Mapas de Conhecimento: Em Busca de um Instrumento de Aplicação nas Organizações para Operacionalização da Gestão do Conhecimento

The present work consists on the development and exploration of a knowledge mapping model. It is aimed in presenting and testing that model in an exploratory manner for the operationalization in theoretical terms and its practical application. For this proposal, it approaches ¿knowledge management¿ by three dimensions of management: processes control, results control and leadership. Assuming the inherently personal character of knowledge and admitting the impossibility for the management to command the individuals knowledge mental processes, this study states the possibility for management to control the organizations information processes, to state and to monitor the objectives and to lead people. Therefore, the developed tool searches to graphically represent the people¿s knowledge, which becomes, consequently, information. Also it evaluates the individual¿s maturity against the identified knowledge and prescribes, according to the Situational Leadership Theory, a style of leadership in compliance with the respective maturities. The knowledge map considered here translates the graphical representation of the relevant knowledge that is said to reach the objectives of the organization. That fact allows the results management for two reasons: first, the knowledge items are directly or indirectly connected to an objective and second, the knowledge map developed indicates a importance grade of the identified knowledge for the main objective stated. The research strategy adopted to explore the model of knowledge mapping and to test its applicability, also identifying its possible contributions and limitations, is the Actionresearch. Following the research strategy¿s prescribed stages, the knowledge map, as considered by this study, was applied in a software development company to hospitals, clinics and restaurants management which is called ¿Tergus Systems and Consulting¿. More precisely, the knowledge map was applied in the customer support company¿s area for hospitals. The research¿s empirical evidences had concluded that the model is applicable with low level of complexity, but with great demand of time. The more important contributions are related to the identification of the relevant knowledge to the department objectives in set with a prescription of the knowledge capture and transference necessities, as well as, the orientation for the appropriate leadership style for each subordinate related to the knowledge item in question.

A influência da maturidade do CRM no desempenho organizacional

A importância do tema relacionamento com clientes tem sido crescentemente reconhecida pelo mercado, enquanto alternativa para diferenciação estratégica e mesmo sobrevivência competitiva. Este estudo objetiva avaliar a influência do nível de maturidade da implementação da estratégia de Customer Relationship Management no desempenho organizacional. O nível de maturidade é estudado em função de capacidades (Analítica e de Consistência na Comunicação), compostas por diversas atividades, e o desempenho em função de suas componentes financeira e não-financeira. O presente trabalho contribui para o estudo da gradação de atividades e capacidades de CRM enquanto critério para mensuração dos resultados de sua implementação. Para isso é analisado um modelo de equações estruturais utilizando-se o software LISREL. Os resultados evidenciaram um modelo final com bom grau de adequação, permitindo constatar que a Capacidade Analítica da organização tem influência em seus desempenhos financeiro e não-financeiro e que, por sua vez, a Consistência na Comunicação influencia somente este último tipo de desempenho. Ao final são apresentadas as implicações gerenciais, limitações e sugestões para pesquisas futuras.