Effects of prior voluntary disclosure on earnings announcements in an environment with low information and regulation

• Published in: Pacific-Basin finance journal 2011-06, Vol.19 (3), p.308-329
• Main Authors: Cheng Chee Mun, Eugene, Courtenay, Stephen M., Rahman, Asheq R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analyst following; Earnings announcement; Level of voluntary disclosure; Level of voluntary disclosure Earnings announcement Market reaction Preannouncement information Analyst following Precision; Market reaction; Preannouncement information; Precision
• ISSN: 0927-538X; 1879-0585
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2010.12.004

This study examines the association between levels of annual report voluntary disclosure and the market reaction to the next interim earnings announcement in a market with both low regulation and analyst following. We examine the first order effects of voluntary disclosure by using direct measures for both the level of voluntary disclosure, and the market effects of such disclosure. The results show that preannouncement voluntary disclosure significantly reduces the price and volume reactions in the earnings announcement period, and is consistent with the Kim and Verrecchia (1991a) framework and the Atiase and Bamber (1994) empirical findings. We extend the analysis to investigate trading behavior during the earnings announcement period, and observe the trading behavior predicted by Kim and Verrecchia (1991b, 1994). We conclude that voluntary disclosure in annual reports can be regarded as an important determinant of preannouncement information precision in markets with low regulation and analyst following, and observe the expected trading behavior as modeled in Kim and Verrecchia (1991a), and extended in Kim and Verrecchia (1991b, 1994).