We investigate how the availability of traded credit default swaps (CDSs) affects the referenced firms' voluntary disclosure choices. CDSs enable lenders to hedge their credit risk exposure, weakening their incentives to monitor borrowers. We predict that reduced lender monitoring in turn leads...

This study examines whether firms' disclosure decisions are affected by the presence of activist hedge funds. Using a large sample of firms that experienced increases in ownership by activist hedge funds, we find that firms are more likely to cease providing financial guidance or reduce the...

Investor relations officers (IROs) play a central role in corporate communications with Wall Street. We survey 610 IROs at U.S. public companies and conduct 14 follow-up interviews to deepen our understanding of the role of IROs in corporate disclosure events. Three important themes emerge from...

Global outsourcing has become an economic imperative for many major corporations worldwide, but at the same time, it has brought substantial risks and uncertainties to these firms. In this study, we examine whether global outsourcing of goods or services shapes U.S. corporate disclosure...

This study tests whether voluntary disclosure affects stock liquidity. I argue that index funds fit the profile of nonstrategic traders who, according to theory, are unambiguously more likely than managers and strategic investors to prefer high stock liquidity and thus high disclosure. This...

We employ a quasi-natural experiment to examine the effect of investor inattention on firms' voluntary disclosure. While prior research focuses on when managers make mandatory disclosures within a given quarter, we examine whether investor inattention influences what managers voluntarily...

Investor relations officers (IROs) play a central role in corporate communications with Wall Street. We survey 610 IROs at publicly traded U.S. companies and conduct 14 follow-up interviews to gain insights into the nature of their interactions with sell-side analysts and institutional...

There is a debate on whether company visits, an important channel of analysts’ information acquisition, should be regulated similar to management disclosure under Regulation Fair Disclosure. Exploiting a Shenzhen Stock Exchange regulation, this study examines the impact of forcing the timely...

This study presents novel evidence that mutual fund liquidity management affects stock liquidity. Exploiting a proposal by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an exogenous shock to mutual fund liquidity management, I find that mutual fund liquidity management improves stock...

We document peer effect as an important factor in determining corporate voluntary disclosure policies. Our identification strategy relies on a discontinuity in the distribution of institutional ownership caused by the annual Russell 1000/2000 index reconstitution. Around the threshold of the...