RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE: AN ANALYSIS FOR COMPANIES IN THE BRAZILIAN ELECTRIC SECTOR

Objective: The objective of this work is to empirically verify the relationship between corporate and capital structure for 43 electric energy companies listed on the Bolsa, Brasil, Balcao (B3), dur-ing the period 2015-2019. Background: In recent years, several companies have turned their attention and concentrated ef-forts on improving their operations in terms of corporate governance. In addition to encouraging transparency and bringing benefits to investors, higher levels of corporate governance can posi-tively impact financial indicators, including indebtedness. Method: As a method, multiple linear regressions were performed and Ordinary Least Squares estimators and standard errors robust to autocorrelation and heteroscedasticity were used. Results: Results showed that companies that belong both to the Novo Mercado and to Nivel 1 of Corporate Governance are characterized by a negative relationship between governance and in-debtedness. In other words, companies that adhere to the best Corporate Governance practices tend to have lower levels of indebtedness, compared to companies that do not adhere to them. However, no evidence was found that belonging to Nivel 2 of Corporate Governance interferes with companies' indebtedness. Contributions: It is characteristic of companies operating in the electricity sector to have higher levels of debt due to the high need for capital to develop projects. In this sense, there are inputs to substantiate the fact (and, eventually, even the business strategies of the companies themselves) that higher levels of corporate governance are attractive not only for investors, but also for the companies themselves.