The majority view of the executives interviewed is that disclosure reduces the cost of equity up to the point at which a good-practice level of communication has been reached, after which there is little further effect. Greater disclosure to rating agencies and lenders reduces the cost of debt....

Research on the cost of capital and on the social discount rate (SDR) has developed largely along separate paths. This paper offers an overview and comparison of both concepts. The consumption-based theory of discount rates is common to both, but there are striking differences in how the cost of...