Limited Attention, Information Disclosure, and Financial Reporting

Abstract

This paper models firms' choices between alternative means of presenting information, and the effects of different presentations on market prices when investors have limited attention and processing power. In a market equilibrium with partially attentive investors, we examine the effects of alternative: levels of discretion in pro forma earnings disclosure, methods of accounting for employee option compensation, and degrees of aggregation in reporting. We derive empirical implications relating pro forma adjustments, option compensation, the growth, persistence, and informativeness of earnings, short-run managerial incentives, and other firm characteristics to stock price reactions, misvaluation, long-run abnormal returns, and corporate decisions.

Keywords: limited attention, behavioral accounting, investor psychology, capital markets, accounting regulation, disclosure, market efficiency

JEL Classification: G12, G14, G18, G28, G38, M41