Firm information and risk: Evidence from the role of 10‐K report readability

Sang Jun Cho, Changhwan Choi and Chune Young Chung

Bulletin of Economic Research, 2024, vol. 76, issue 2, 488-507

Abstract: This study uses the Plain Writing Act of 2010 as an exogenous variation in the readability of 10‐K reports to establish the impact of report improvements on firm risk. We find that better readability significantly decreases total and idiosyncratic risks for US firms experiencing shocks to their readability environment during 2001–2016. The impact is stronger among firms with poorer governance, less external monitoring, and greater product market competition. The results based on supporting the causal impact of readability on firm risk are robust. Our findings suggest that more readable 10‐K reports facilitate investor monitoring, inducing firms to manage risk better.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/boer.12435

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:buecrs:v:76:y:2024:i:2:p:488-507

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0307-3378

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Bulletin of Economic Research from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().