Financial Reporting Opacity and Informed Trading by International Institutional Investors

44 Pages Posted: 13 Mar 2011 Last revised: 19 Aug 2016

See all articles by Mark G. Maffett

Mark G. Maffett

University of Miami - Department of Accounting

Date Written: July 30, 2012

Abstract

Using cross-country data on trading by international mutual funds, I find that firms with more opaque information environments, as captured by firm- and country-level measures of the availability of financial reporting information, experience more privately informed trading by institutional investors. The association between firm-level opacity and informed trading is most pronounced where country-level disclosure infrastructures are less developed and for those investors for whom the incentives and opportunities to acquire private information are greatest. A difference-in-differences analysis of the returns earned by institutions in opaque stocks suggests that this information advantage is economically significant.

Keywords: Transparency, Informed Trading, Institutional Investors, International Accounting

JEL Classification: G15, G30, M41

Suggested Citation

Maffett, Mark G., Financial Reporting Opacity and Informed Trading by International Institutional Investors (July 30, 2012). Journal of Accounting and Economics 54, no. 2 (2012): 201-220., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1783072 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1783072

Mark G. Maffett (Contact Author)

University of Miami - Department of Accounting ( email )

Coral Gables, FL 33146-6531
United States

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