Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Market participants continue to demand greater transparency from boards of directors, yet little is known about the effect of increased transparency on board member decisions. We provide initial evidence that increased transparency via disclosure can license board members to make biased decisions that they may otherwise not make in the absence of disclosure. We find no evidence that increasing the level of disclosure (disclosure to the auditor versus disclosure to the auditor and public) had an impact beyond a base level of disclosure. An important implication of these findings, relevant to current projects at both the PCAOB and the SEC, is that increased transparency via disclosure of board member decisions may result in the unintended consequence of greater bias in financial reporting. The knowledge gained form this study may help to improve regulations surrounding targeted transparency disclosures in financial reporting.
Language: English
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2784512559