Meta-Frontier Analysis of Disclosing Sustainable Development Information: Evidence from China’s AI Industry

China currently adopts voluntary principles to disclose sustainable development information, and so considerable numbers of listed companies have chosen not to disclose such information. Since disclosure and non-disclosure groups face different production opportunities, this research uses the meta-frontier framework to completely analyze sustainable development practices of China’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Empirical results show that the disclosure group outperforms the non-disclosure group in operating scales, efficiencies, and technologies, while the superior efficiency of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) comes entirely from the non-disclosure group. Hence, the government should mandate or actively encourage capable corporations, especially SOEs, to disclose sustainable development information, as doing so improves the overall sustainable development of society and also enhances these firms’ performance. Finally, the authority can formulate a nationwide disclosure policy regardless of the existing differences in regional development.

Harnessing beliefs to optimally disclose contestants’ types

A contestant’s effort depends on her knowledge of her rival’s type. This knowledge is often limited in real-life contests. We propose a model where the principal of a contest has commitment power to verifiably disclose contestants’ types. We investigate the optimal disclosure policy to stimulate contestants’ efforts. Full disclosure stimulates more (less) effort than full concealment if high-types are more (less) likely than low-types. However, regardless of the likelihood of types, the optimal policy is that of contingent disclosure; it is optimal to commit to disclosing if both contestants are high types and concealing otherwise.

EXPRESS: Information Disclosure Policy and Its Implications: Ratcheting in Supply Chains

Fear of escalating input prices in response to retail success is a commonly-discussed phenomenon affecting supply chains. Such a ratchet effect arises when a retailer feels compelled to modify his investments to better serve the end customers in order to hide positive prospects and restrain future wholesale price hikes. In a two-period model of supply chain interactions, the authors demonstrate that such an endogenous ratchet effect can have multi-faceted reverberations. A retailer fearing price hikes may be tempted to curtail near-term profits to ensure favorable long-term pricing. In response, the supplier can use deep discounts in its initial wholesale prices to convince the retailer to focus on its short-run profits rather than long-run pricing concerns. These deep discounts not only encourage mutually beneficial investments but also alleviate double-marginalization inefficiencies along the supply chain. In light of these results, the authors demonstrate that the mandatory information disclosure policy to reduce the ratchet effect decreases total channel efficiency compared to the case without information disclosure, precisely because mandatory disclosure interrupts the healthy tension among supply chain partners. Thus, the model presents a scenario where ratcheting concerns can create a degree of self-enforcing cooperation that results in socially beneficial responses in supply chains.

Can Mandatory Disclosure Policies Promote Corporate Environmental Responsibility?—Quasi-Natural Experimental Research on China

Corporate environmental responsibility (CER) is an important component of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) report, and an important carrier for enterprises to disclose environmental protection information. Based on the corporate micro data, this paper evaluates the effect of a mandatory CSR disclosure policy on the fulfillment of corporate environmental responsibility by adopting the difference-in-differences model (DID) with the release of a mandatory disclosure policy of China in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment. The study draws the following conclusions: First, a mandatory CSR disclosure policy can promote the fulfillment of CER. Second, after the implementation of a mandatory CSR disclosure policy, enterprises can improve their CER level through two channels: improving the quality of environmental management disclosure and increasing the number of patents. Third, the heterogeneity of the impacts of mandatory CSR disclosure on CER is reflected in three aspects: different CER levels, different corporate scales and a different property rights structure. In terms of the CER level, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the CER level and mandatory CSR disclosure effect. In terms of the corporate scale, mandatory disclosure of CSR plays a greater role in large-scale enterprises. In terms of the structure of property rights, mandatory CSR disclosure has a greater effect on non-state-owned enterprises.

Litigation-Disclosure Modifications in the 10-K: Large-Sample Evidence

This study is the first to examine the litigation-disclosure modifications of legal proceedings (i.e., Item 103) and contingency-note disclosures (i.e., Accounting Standards Codification [ASC] 450) in the 10-K. Litigation-disclosure modifications are defined as the amount of litigation content disclosed in year t but not in year t– 1. I first confirm the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) concern that firms are providing less litigation-disclosure modifications. I then find firms with higher proprietary cost, higher litigation risk, and non-Big 4 auditors to be associated with more litigation-disclosure modifications. I also find that although firms are providing less litigation-disclosure modifications in the two litigation sections, such disclosures do predict future occurrence of litigation cases and are complementary in providing litigation information to investors. Results indirectly support the FASB’s 2012 decision to not precede with disclosure policy changes in contingency-note disclosures.

Is there any heterogeneous impact of mandatory disclosure on corporate social responsibility dimensions? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China

<abstract> <p>The corporate social responsibility (CSR) report is an important carrier of non-financial information disclosure of enterprises and an important bridge of communication between enterprises and interested parties. Compulsory disclosure has promoted the improvement of CSR levels to some extent. While, for interested parties, their attention to various dimensions of CSR has significant differences, which leads to the heterogeneous impact of mandatory disclosure policy on its different dimensions. Through regression discontinuity design model (RDD), as well as using quasi-natural experiments of Chinese mandatory disclosure policies issued in 2008, we are going to get the following conclusions by analyzing the heterogeneous impact of mandatory disclosure on CSR with the environment (CER), social (SOC) and economic (ECO) three-dimension on the basis of verifying that mandatory disclosure policy has a positive impact on CSR. (1) The effects of mandatory disclosure on the three dimensions of CSR are heterogeneous, that is, the significant effects and directions are significantly different in the three dimensions. (2) The heterogeneity of mandatory disclosure on CSR is reflected in the changing trend, and there is no significant difference at the turning point of the trend. (3) The heterogeneity of the impact mechanism of mandatory disclosure on CSR is reflected in the different mediating variables of policy on different dimensions impact, that is, the mediating variables of CER and ECO are the environmental disclosure information and return on assets. (4) The impact of mandatory disclosure on different dimensions of CSR is heterogeneous when the nature of industries and property rights are different.</p> </abstract>