Voluntary Disclosure and Information Asymmetry: Evidence from the 2005 Securities Offering Reform

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Shroff, Nemit; Sun, Amy X.; White, Hal D.; Zhang, Weining
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of Houston System; University of Houston; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-8456
• DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12022
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 1299-1345
• 关键词: earnings management; MARKET; performance; ask; liquidity; forecasts; issues; FIRMS; cost

摘要

In 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission enacted the Securities Offering Reform (Reform), which relaxes gun-jumping restrictions, thereby allowing firms to more freely disclose information before equity offerings. We examine the effect of the Reform on voluntary disclosure behavior before equity offerings and the associated economic consequences. We find that firms provide significantly more preoffering disclosures after the Reform. Further, we find that these preoffering disclosures are associated with a decrease in information asymmetry and a reduction in the cost of raising equity capital. Our findings not only inform the debate on the market effect of the Reform, but also speak to the literature on the relation between voluntary disclosure and information asymmetry by examining the effect of quasi-exogenous changes in voluntary disclosure on information asymmetry, and thus a firm's cost of capital.