Does annual report complexity really impair a firm’s information environment?
研究发现，发布复杂年报的公司后续信息环境反而更好，在盈余公告日信息不对称程度更低，说明评估复杂性影响时需考虑时间跨度。
Abstract Motivated by recent disagreement in the academic literature on how disclosure “complexity” affects market participants, we investigate the long-term effects of complex disclosures on a firm’s information environment. We find that firms with complex disclosures are characterized by a relatively better information environment than firms with less complex disclosures. While prior research has primarily focused on investor reactions to the initial filing of a complex disclosure, such as to the filing of a firm’s 10-K, we examine the investor response to future firm disclosures. We show that firms that issue complex 10-Ks have lower levels of information asymmetry at subsequent earnings announcement dates. Our study has two important implications. First, we help resolve disagreement in the academic literature by showing that the time horizon used in the evaluation process is critical in assessing the consequences of complexity on a firm’s information environment. Second, through supplemental tests we provide evidence on the mechanisms that lead to higher quality information environment for firms with complex 10-Ks.