Abstract
We calculate a risk disclosure index (RDI) from annual reports by applying textual analysis and study how it affects investment efficiency in firms. The results show that the higher the frequency of risk disclosure in sections of MD&A is, the higher the corporate investment efficiency will be. In further analysis, we find that the effect of risk disclosure on corporate investment efficiency is more prominent when the tone of MD&A is more positive, when there are more keywords about investment in MD&A and when investors have more demand of information or better ability of information processing. Our results support the convergence argument on risk disclosure, and our findings advance the literature of both risk disclosure and investment efficiency.
1. Introduction
Risk expectation influences investing managers’ behavior (Slovic, 1981). Therefore, any information regarding the risk of a firm is useful for investors. We contend that while information disclosure improves corporate investment efficiency by reducing information asymmetry and agency problems between investors and firms, the specificity of risk disclosure matters. This is because the specific risk disclosure affects corporate investment efficiency of a firm through two channels: providing overall risk information and revealing previous unknown specific risk factors.
7. Conclusion
We study how risk disclosure influences corporate investment efficiency using risk disclosure data in annual reports of A-share during the period of 2007-2015. The results show that (1) the higher the frequency of risk disclosure in sections of “Significant Risk Factors and MD&A” is, the higher the corporate investment efficiency will be, which is solid under a series of robustness tests. It is indicated that the heterogeneity of risk information in annual reports is weak in our country. The disclosures are sufficient explanation for known risks, which increase information transparency rather than risk perception. (2) In further analysis, we find that the effect of risk disclosure on corporate investment efficiency is more prominent in the more positive disclosure tone, or when there are more keywords about an investment category, more demands of information and better ability of information processing from investors. Our results support the convergence argument on risk disclosureand indicate that disclosure characteristics and investor characteristics may adjust the relationship between risk disclosure and investment efficiency.
