Effects of economic growth in the behavior of sticky costs of companies belonging to BRICS countries

Costs tend to increase more when activities are still in the ascendant. The behavior of costs to business needs to be controlled and managed, so there is the maintenance of competitiveness organizational capacity, whether in times of economic crisis or during boom times. Despite that, few studies are dedicated to evaluate the effects of economic growth on the behavior of costs. This study investigates the effects of economic growth in the behavior of sticky costs of companies belonging to the BRICS countries, noting periods of prosperity and recession. The research population comprises companies listed on the stock exchange of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa. The survey sample comprised 66 companies in Brazil, 19 in Russia, 150 in China and 25 in South Africa, totaling 260 companies. The study period was from 2004 to 2013, in which criteria have been established to delineate the effects of economic growth in the behavior of the costs of companies in periods of economic growth and recession. The results indicate that the costs have asymmetric behaviors in certain accounts and also vary in relation to different economic environments related companies located in the BRICS countries. This evidence support the conclusion that the asymmetric costs behavior occurs differently between BRICS, indicating that the costs of asymmetry level can vary systematically between the cost accounts, business, different industries and countries. It was noted that in economic prosperity period the cost increase is less than in a decrease in response to changes in demand in the same proportion. In the period of economic recession the decrease of costs is less than its increase.