Disclosure quality and market liquidity

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the quality of information disclosure of listed companies and stock market liquidity. I employ the effective spreads and total quoted depths as proxies for market liquidity. The quality of information disclosure is measured by disclosure scores obtained from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange official website. The empirical results display that disclosure quality is inversely related to total quoted depths and that disclosure quality possesses an insignificant relationship with effective spreads. The results imply that high-quality disclosure companies may attract investors who own constraint capital or are more risk-averse. However, if the trading cost for stocks of those companies is low, market liquidity still likely improves. Another explanation is that the high cost of processing disclosure information or more negative information in high-quality disclosure persuades traders to exit the market. Thus, regulators need to enact tighter regulation of company disclosures to increase investor confidence.