When Does Information Asymmetry Affect the Cost of Capital?

Journal of Accounting Research, Forthcoming

56 Pages Posted: 25 Oct 2010 Last revised: 9 Mar 2015

See all articles by Chris Armstrong

Chris Armstrong

Stanford Graduate School of Business

John E. Core

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Daniel J. Taylor

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Robert E. Verrecchia

University of Pennsylvania - Accounting Department

Date Written: October 24, 2010

Abstract

This paper examines when information asymmetry among investors affects the cost of capital in excess of standard risk factors. When equity markets are perfectly competitive, information asymmetry has no separate effect on the cost of capital. When markets are imperfect, information asymmetry can have a separate effect on firms’ cost of capital. Consistent with our prediction, we find that information asymmetry has a positive relation with firms’ cost of capital in excess of standard risk factors when markets are imperfect and no relation when markets approximate perfect competition. Overall, our results show that the degree of market competition is an important conditioning variable to consider when examining the relation between information asymmetry and cost of capital.

Keywords: information asymmetry, cost of capital, market competition, expected returns

Suggested Citation

Armstrong, Chris S. and Core, John E. and Taylor, Daniel and Verrecchia, Robert E., When Does Information Asymmetry Affect the Cost of Capital? (October 24, 2010). Journal of Accounting Research, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1697344

Chris S. Armstrong

Stanford Graduate School of Business ( email )

655 Knight Way
E316
Stanford, CA 94305-5015
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/christopher-s-armstrong

John E. Core (Contact Author)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

100 Main Street
E62-416
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Daniel Taylor

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania ( email )

3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States

Robert E. Verrecchia

University of Pennsylvania - Accounting Department ( email )

3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States
215-898-6976 (Phone)
215-573-2054 (Fax)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
1,984
Abstract Views
8,433
Rank
15,041
PlumX Metrics