The effects of disclosure regulation on innovative firms: private values

Firms in an R&D race actively manage rivals’ beliefs by disclosing and concealing information on their cost of investment. The firms’ disclosure strategies affect their incentives to invest in R&D, and to acquire information. We compare equilibria under voluntary disclosure with those under mandatory disclosure in a model where the firms’ cost of investment are identically independently distributed. Under voluntary disclosure firms conceal bad news, and disclose good news only if little knowledge spills over to their rival. Under mandatory disclosure firms expect higher profits for given information acquisition investments, but they may acquire less information.