Do Unverifiable Disclosures Matter? Evidence from Peer-to-Peer Lending

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Michels, Jeremy
• 署名单位: University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder
• 刊物名称: ACCOUNTING REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4826
• DOI: 10.2308/accr-50159
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 1385-1413
• 关键词: CORPORATE DISCLOSURE; information-content; trading volume; auctions; credit; cost

摘要

The role of disclosure in attenuating market inefficiencies has been the subject of extensive research. While costless, voluntary, and unverifiable disclosures are unlikely to be credible sources of information, prior research demonstrates that individuals' decisions can be influenced by uninformative content. I use a unique dataset from a peer-to-peer lending website, Prosper.com, to demonstrate an economically large effect of voluntary, unverifiable disclosures in reducing the cost of debt. My results show an additional unverifiable disclosure is associated with a 1.27 percentage point reduction in interest rate and an 8 percent increase in bidding activity.