Determinants and Consequences of Risk Disclosure: Evidence from Chinese Stock Markets during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

This study examines the determinants and consequences of firms' disclosures related to the COVID-19 pandemic in annual financial reports in China. First, we find that firms with high growth opportunity or low stock liquidity tended to disclose COVID-19 pandemic information to mitigate information asymmetry. Second, our results show that voluntary risk disclosure significantly decreased stock risks due to the reduction of information asymmetry. We further find that stock price crash risks decreased for firms that reported risk information compared with those that did not. Our results suggest that detailed voluntary risk disclosure is needed to mitigate stock risks, especially in extreme situations.