COST STICKINESS IN LATIN AMERICAN OPEN COMPANIES FROM 1997 TO 2012

Abstract

This study aims to analyze whether open company costs in Latin America countries do vary asymmetrically. We used a 669 open companies sample in nine countries of that region from 1995 to 2012. We applied log linear regressions estimated by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) for panel data, assembling time series to transversal data (cross-section). The results suggest that the behavior of selling, general and administrative (SGA) expenses is asymmetric with respect to changes in sales revenue (SR). This research shows that on average, when sales revenue increases by 1%, SGA 0.56% increase, but when the SR decreases by 1%, SGA decrease only 0.45%. The study confirmed the hypothesis of a possible reversal of the asymmetry when considering lags. However, this asymmetry seems to decrease when considering longer than one year. The results partially corroborate the results of the research of Anderson et al. (2003) performed with U.S. companies; He, Teruya and Shimizu (2010) who analyzed Japanese companies, and Costa, Medeiros and Silva (2005) that investigated Brazilian companies.