Law, Share Price Accuracy and Economic Performance: The New Evidence

70 Pages Posted: 8 Oct 2003

See all articles by Merritt B. Fox

Merritt B. Fox

Columbia University - Law School

Art Durnev

University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie College of Business

Randall Morck

University of Alberta - Department of Finance and Statistical Analysis; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research

Bernard Yin Yeung

National University of Singapore - Business School

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 20, 2003

Abstract

The value of mandatory securities disclosure is intensely debated. Two big questions occupy much of the attention: Do more accurate share prices contribute to the efficient provision of goods and services in the economy? Even if they do, will mandatory disclosure effectively contribute to share price accuracy? To date, the debate has been largely theoretical. This Article sheds much needed empirical light on the matter. After introducing a new technique from financial economics - R2 - to measure share price accuracy, the Article starts by discussing recent R2 studies by ourselves and others addressing the first question. Using both cross country and cross industry comparisons, the results show that more accurate share prices improve capital allocation and thus do in fact contribute to the efficient provision of goods and services in the economy. The Article then presents a new R2 study that we have conducted addressing the second question. The study examines the effect of a December 1980 change in the SEC's disclosure rule requiring every issuer's filings to contain a section with management's discussion and analysis of the issuer's financial results (the "MD&A" rule). The change required managers to disclose any material information suggesting that the issuer's most recent results are not necessarily indicative of future results. Our study shows that share prices became more accurate a result of the changed rule, suggesting that mandatory disclosure can in fact be effective.

Keywords: Capital Allocation, Stock Price Informativeness, Disclosure, Regulation

JEL Classification: G2, G3

Suggested Citation

Fox, Merritt B. and Durnev, Artyom and Morck, Randall K. and Yeung, Bernard Yin, Law, Share Price Accuracy and Economic Performance: The New Evidence (August 20, 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=437662 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.437662

Merritt B. Fox

Columbia University - Law School ( email )

435 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10025
United States

Artyom Durnev (Contact Author)

University of Iowa - Henry B. Tippie College of Business ( email )

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HENRICO, VA Henrico 23233-7848
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Randall K. Morck

University of Alberta - Department of Finance and Statistical Analysis ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

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Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research ( email )

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Bernard Yin Yeung

National University of Singapore - Business School ( email )

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BIZ 1 Level 6
Singapore, 119245
Singapore
65 6516 3075 (Phone)
65 6779 1365 (Fax)

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