The Effect of Financial Reporting on Strategic Investments: Evidence from Purchase Obligations
研究美国SEC要求披露表外采购义务的规定如何影响企业投资，发现企业会根据与竞争对手的产品市场策略是替代还是互补来调整投资，且主导企业影响更大。
ABSTRACT I examine whether mandating the disclosure of investments influences firms’ strategic interactions. I exploit an SEC regulation requiring firms to report off-balance sheet purchase obligations, such as commitments to inventory purchases, CAPEX, R&D, and advertising. Motivated by theory on strategic investments, I predict and find that firms increase investments if they have substitutive product market strategies with competitors and decrease investments if they have complementary strategies. This two-way finding is consistent with firms strategically using investments to influence competitors’ behavior. I show that changes in investments are concentrated among dominant firms (i.e., oligopolistic firms with large market shares), especially those with more irreversible investments, which have a greater ability to influence competitors’ actions. I also show that such changes in investments have real effects on firms’ sales growth, profit margins, and market share. Collectively, my results illustrate a novel channel through which financial reporting shapes firms’ investments and competition. JEL Classifications: G31; L11; L13; M40; M48.