Credit ratings and corporate disclosure behaviour: evidence from regulation fair disclosure in Korea

Abstract

This article provides evidence that firms with high market expectations disclose more information to investors, utilizing the fair disclosure regulation in Korea to proxy for their disclosure choices. This finding is consistent with the argument that in order to retain their dominant positions, highly evaluated firms are more concerned about the market's perception of them as providers of timely and detailed disclosure. We also find that the impact of market expectations on disclosure is more pronounced for chaebol firms. Combined with prior research on the relationship between firm performance and voluntary disclosure, we provide important implications for the determinants of corporate disclosure