IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jbfnac/v37y2010i1-2p27-59.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reporting Frequency, Information Precision and Private Information Acquisition

Author

Listed:
  • Rick Cuijpers
  • Erik Peek

Abstract

This study examines whether the choice between quarterly and semiannual reporting affects the precision of investors' information and their private information acquisition activities. In the first part of this study, we show that a firm's reporting frequency has no effect on the average precision of investors' information. However, our analysis of announcement‐period price variance and share turnover shows that an increase in reporting frequency does make interim and annual financial reports a more important component of investors' information set, relative to other sources of information. In particular, the results of this analysis suggest that investors of semiannual reporters hold more precise pre‐announcement information than investors of quarterly reporters. In the second part of our study, we test one explanation for this finding. We argue that an increase in a firm's reporting frequency reduces investors' incentives to acquire private information between consecutive announcement dates and, consequently, should reduce information asymmetry among investors, increase share liquidity, and stimulate trading. Consistent with this reasoning, we find that quarterly reporters have lower average bid‐ask spreads and higher abnormal share turnover than semiannual reporters.

Suggested Citation

  • Rick Cuijpers & Erik Peek, 2010. "Reporting Frequency, Information Precision and Private Information Acquisition," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1‐2), pages 27-59, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:37:y:2010:i:1-2:p:27-59
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02180.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02180.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-5957.2009.02180.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vineet Agarwal & Richard Taffler, 2007. "Twenty‐five years of the Taffler z‐score model: Does it really have predictive ability?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 285-300.
    2. Bailey, Warren & Andrew Karolyi, G. & Salva, Carolina, 2006. "The economic consequences of increased disclosure: Evidence from international cross-listings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 175-213, July.
    3. Butler, Marty & Kraft, Arthur & Weiss, Ira S., 2007. "The effect of reporting frequency on the timeliness of earnings: The cases of voluntary and mandatory interim reports," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 181-217, July.
    4. Brennan, Michael J. & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 1996. "Market microstructure and asset pricing: On the compensation for illiquidity in stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 441-464, July.
    5. Philip Brown & Victor Niederhoffer, 1968. "The Predictive Content of Quarterly Earnings," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41, pages 488-488.
    6. Kim, O & Verrecchia, Re, 1991. "Trading Volume And Price Reactions To Public Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 302-321.
    7. DeFond, Mark & Hung, Mingyi & Trezevant, Robert, 2007. "Investor protection and the information content of annual earnings announcements: International evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 37-67, March.
    8. McNichols, Maureen & Manegold, James G., 1983. "The effect of the information environment on the relationship between financial disclosure and security price variability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 49-74, April.
    9. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:2:p:921-938 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Leftwich, Rw & Watts, Rl & Zimmerman, Jl, 1981. "Voluntary Corporate Disclosure - The Case Of Interim Reporting," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19, pages 50-77.
    11. Karuna, Christo, 2007. "Industry product market competition and managerial incentives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 275-297, July.
    12. Korajczyk, Robert A. & Sadka, Ronnie, 2008. "Pricing the commonality across alternative measures of liquidity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 45-72, January.
    13. Doidge, Craig & Andrew Karolyi, G. & Stulz, Rene M., 2007. "Why do countries matter so much for corporate governance?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 1-39, October.
    14. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    15. Wayne R. Landsman & Edward L. Maydew, 2002. "Has the Information Content of Quarterly Earnings Announcements Declined in the Past Three Decades?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 797-808, June.
    16. Leuz, C & Verrecchia, RE, 2000. "The economic consequences of increased disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38, pages 91-124.
    17. Paul Brockman & Dennis Y. Chung, 2003. "Investor Protection and Firm Liquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(2), pages 921-937, April.
    18. Lawrence D. Brown & Arianna Spina Pinello, 2007. "To What Extent Does the Financial Reporting Process Curb Earnings Surprise Games?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 947-981, December.
    19. M. Gietzmann & J. Ireland, 2005. "Cost of Capital, Strategic Disclosures and Accounting Choice," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3‐4), pages 599-634, April.
    20. Barth, Mary E. & Kasznik, Ron, 1999. "Share repurchases and intangible assets," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 211-241, December.
    21. Glosten, Lawrence R. & Milgrom, Paul R., 1985. "Bid, ask and transaction prices in a specialist market with heterogeneously informed traders," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 71-100, March.
    22. Gigler, F & Hemmer, T, 1998. "On the frequency, quality, and informational role of mandatory financial reports," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36, pages 117-147.
    23. M. Gietzmann & J. Ireland, 2005. "Cost of Capital, Strategic Disclosures and Accounting Choice," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3-4), pages 599-634.
    24. Darren T. Roulstone, 2003. "Analyst Following and Market Liquidity," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(3), pages 552-578, September.
    25. Boehmer, Ekkehart & Masumeci, Jim & Poulsen, Annette B., 1991. "Event-study methodology under conditions of event-induced variance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 253-272, December.
    26. Ray Ball & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2008. "How Much New Information Is There in Earnings?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 975-1016, December.
    27. Bamber, Linda Smith & Barron, Orie E. & Stober, Thomas L., 1999. "Differential Interpretations and Trading Volume," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 369-386, September.
    28. McNichols, Maureen & Trueman, Brett, 1994. "Public disclosure, private information collection, and short-term trading," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 69-94, January.
    29. Alford, A & Jones, J & Leftwich, R & Zmijewski, M, 1993. "The Relative Informativeness Of Accounting Disclosures In Different Countries," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31, pages 183-223.
    30. Mary E. Barth & Ron Kasznik & Maureen F. McNichols, 2001. "Analyst Coverage and Intangible Assets," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 1-34, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jeff L. McMullin & Brian P. Miller & Brady J. Twedt, 2019. "Increased mandated disclosure frequency and price formation: evidence from the 8-K expansion regulation," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-33, March.
    2. Fujiyama, Keishi & 藤山, 敬史 & Kagaya, Tetsuyuki & 加賀谷, 哲之 & Suzuki, Tomohiro & 鈴木, 智大 & Takahashi, Yukari, 2014. "Quarterly Earnings Management Around The World: Loss Avoidance Or Earnings Decrease Avoidance?," Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 48(1), pages 1-30, October.
    3. Haga, Jesper & Högholm, Kenneth & Sundvik, Dennis, 2022. "Peer firms’ reporting frequency and stock price synchronicity: European evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    4. Małgorzata Janicka & Aleksandra Pieloch-Babiarz & Artur Sajnóg, 2020. "Does Short-Termism Influence the Market Value of Companies? Evidence from EU Countries," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, November.
    5. Thomas Schleicher & Martin Walker, 2015. "Are interim management statements redundant?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 229-255, February.
    6. Robert Stoumbos, 2023. "The Growth of Information Asymmetry Between Earnings Announcements and Its Implications for Reporting Frequency," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(3), pages 1901-1928, March.
    7. Hsiang-Tsai Chiang & Shu-Lin Lin, 2012. "Effect Of Auditor’S Judgment And Specialization On Their Differential Opinion Between Semiannual And Annual Financial Reports," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 6(4), pages 1-22.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rick Cuijpers & Erik Peek, 2010. "Reporting Frequency, Information Precision and Private Information Acquisition," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1-2), pages 27-59.
    2. Andrew Buskirk, 2012. "Disclosure frequency and information asymmetry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 411-440, May.
    3. Thomas Schleicher & Martin Walker, 2015. "Are interim management statements redundant?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 229-255, February.
    4. Butler, Marty & Kraft, Arthur & Weiss, Ira S., 2007. "The effect of reporting frequency on the timeliness of earnings: The cases of voluntary and mandatory interim reports," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 181-217, July.
    5. Tsao, Shou-Min & Lu, Hsueh-Tien & Keung, Edmund C., 2016. "Voluntary monthly earnings disclosures and analyst behavior," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 37-49.
    6. Marks, Joseph M. & Shang, Chenguang, 2024. "Business seasonality and stock liquidity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    7. Fu, Renhui & Kraft, Arthur & Zhang, Huai, 2012. "Financial reporting frequency, information asymmetry, and the cost of equity," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 132-149.
    8. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    9. Christine Botosan, 2006. "Disclosure and the cost of capital: what do we know?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(S1), pages 31-40.
    10. Kajüter, Peter & Klassmann, Florian & Nienhaus, Martin, 2016. "Do Reviews by External Auditors Improve the Information Content of Interim Financial Statements?," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 23-50.
    11. Pevzner, Mikhail & Xie, Fei & Xin, Xiangang, 2015. "When firms talk, do investors listen? The role of trust in stock market reactions to corporate earnings announcements," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 190-223.
    12. Ray Ball & Lakshmanan Shivakumar, 2008. "How Much New Information Is There in Earnings?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 975-1016, December.
    13. Rahman, Asheq Razaur & Tay, Teck Meng & Ong, Beng Teck & Cai, Shiyun, 2007. "Quarterly reporting in a voluntary disclosure environment: Its benefits, drawbacks and determinants," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 416-442, December.
    14. Mark Lang & Karl V. Lins & Mark Maffett, 2012. "Transparency, Liquidity, and Valuation: International Evidence on When Transparency Matters Most," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 729-774, June.
    15. Boujelbene, Mohamed, 2013. "The impact of intellectual capital disclosure on cost of equity capital: A case of French firms," Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Universidad ESAN, vol. 18(34), pages 45-53.
    16. Jennifer Francis & Dhananjay Nanda & Per Olsson, 2008. "Voluntary Disclosure, Earnings Quality, and Cost of Capital," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 53-99, March.
    17. Vanessa Behrmann & Lars Hornuf & Daniel Vrankar & Jochen Zimmermann, 2021. "The Deregulation of Quarterly Reporting and Its Effects on Information Asymmetry and Firm Value," CESifo Working Paper Series 9344, CESifo.
    18. Devos, Erik & Hao, Wei & Prevost, Andrew K. & Wongchoti, Udomsak, 2015. "Stock return synchronicity and the market response to analyst recommendation revisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 376-389.
    19. Landsman, Wayne R. & Maydew, Edward L. & Thornock, Jacob R., 2012. "The information content of annual earnings announcements and mandatory adoption of IFRS," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 34-54.
    20. Carlos Alves & F. Teixeira Dos Santos, 2008. "Do First and Third Quarter Unaudited Financial Reports Matter? The Portuguese Case," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 361-392.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:37:y:2010:i:1-2:p:27-59. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0306-686X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.