Does XBRL Adoption Reduce the Cost of Equity Capital?

Abstract:     
XBRL filing reduces investors’ information processing cost. We find that XBRL adoption results in a significant reduction in firms’ cost of equity capital and that this effect is stronger in firms with small size, high growth, low analyst coverage and illiquid stocks. We also show that firms experience an increase in analyst coverage, forecast accuracy and a decrease in forecast dispersion after XBRL adoption. Further, XBRL adoption improves firms’ stock liquidity. Finally, the effect of XBRL adoption on the cost of equity capital, analyst behavior and stock liquidity is weaker for voluntary filers than for mandatory filers. In sum, we provide strong evidence supporting the argument that information processing cost significantly affects the cost of equity capital.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 47

Keywords: XBRL, cost of equity capital, analyst forecast, liquidity

working papers series