Seemingly Self-Sabotaging Disclosures
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT Firm disclosures are observed by multiple audiences with diverse interests. Recognizing this practical feature, studies have examined how conflicting incentives provided by the multiple recipients of the information affect disclosure outcomes. Understandably, studies have not examined scenarios wherein disclosure incentives from recipients align in the same direction. With aligned incentives, disclosure incentives are presumably “additive.” This paper challenges such thinking. We model a firm that faces a potential entrant and a scrutinizing regulator so each individually incentivizes the firm to withhold favorable market news. However, we show that their joint presence can drastically change the disclosure equilibrium: the firm may voluntarily disclose good news seemingly in self-sabotage. Such disclosures attract entry, compelling the firm to yield its monopoly position. However, by ceding market power, the firm boosts consumer surplus and soothes regulatory concerns. The ensuing reduction in regulatory costs borne by the firm can then increase the firm’s overall value.
Source: The Accounting Review
Authors: Anil Arya, Ram Ramanan
Institutions: The Ohio State University, Indian School of Business
Language: English
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4405301802