Corporate governance and the information environment: Evidence from state antitakeover laws

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Armstrong, Christopher S.; Balakrishnan, Karthik; Cohen, Daniel
• 署名单位: University of Texas System; University of Texas Dallas; University of Pennsylvania
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING & ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0165-4101
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2011.06.005
• 发表日期: 2012
• 关键词: financial accounting information; MARKET; earnings; RISK; COMPENSATION; acquisition; OWNERSHIP; asymmetry; prices

摘要

We examine the relation between corporate governance and firms' information environments. We use the passage of state antitakeover laws in the U.S. as a source of exogenous variation in an important governance mechanism to identify changes in firms' information environments. We find that information asymmetry and private information gathering decreased and that financial statement informativeness increased following the passage of the antitakeover laws. Cross-sectional analyses indicate that the increased level of financial statement informativeness is attributable to firms that are most likely to access equity markets rather than managerial entrenchment, managerial career concerns, or managers' pursuit of the quiet life. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.