No News is Bad News : Strategic Disclosure on Online Interactive Platforms

This paper investigates how firms disclose information on online interactive platforms. We analyze over 6 million answers provided by firms to investors' questions on two platforms established by Chinese stock exchanges. Our machine learning algorithms reveal that firms provide a significant number of non-answer responses --- answers containing no clear, specific, or useful information. Consistent with strategic information hoarding, non-answers are typically followed by unfavorable news. Moreover, firms with higher non-answer rates tend to have lower price efficiency, higher return volatility, and higher stock price crash risk. Our findings suggest firms react to modern regulation technologies by engaging in strategic disclosure behavior