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Communication of soft information: Reputation and imperfect enforcement of reporting quality

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  • Choi, Jay Pil
  • Kristiansen, Eirik Gaard
  • Nahm, Jae

Abstract

Entrepreneurs report unverifiable soft information to investors. The credibility of soft information depends on the entrepreneur's reputation concern. In equilibrium, high-talent entrepreneurs, who are better at developing profitable projects in the future and therefore have stronger reputation concerns, signal their talents by producing honest reports on current projects. We show how probabilistic third-party monitoring of reporting quality changes some firms’ reporting strategies, which again spill over to the financing costs of firms not directly affected by improved monitoring. In some cases, improved monitoring of reporting quality can reduce firms’ reputation concerns and result in less efficient communication of information.

Suggested Citation

  • Choi, Jay Pil & Kristiansen, Eirik Gaard & Nahm, Jae, 2017. "Communication of soft information: Reputation and imperfect enforcement of reporting quality," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 91-106.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:136:y:2017:i:c:p:91-106
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2017.02.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Sotirakopoulos, Panagiotis & Mount, Matthew P. & Guven, Cahit & Ulker, Aydogan & Graham, Carol, 2023. "A tale of two life stages: The imprinting effect of macroeconomic contractions on later life entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cheap talk; Investments; Credibility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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