IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/advacc/v68y2025ics0882611025000057.html

Social capital and firm voluntary disclosure

Author

Listed:
  • Cready, William M.
  • Hu, Yaqin

Abstract

This study examines the effects of social capital on firm voluntary disclosure. We find that firms headquartered in the U.S. counties with higher levels of social capital provide more management forecasts than firms in the counties with lower levels of social capital. We further find that this positive effect is driven mainly by two factors in social capital, which are the social associations, especially those actively seeking their preferential policies, and voter turnout. The positive effect of social capital is more pronounced in firms of smaller size, firms with more local employees, higher sales growth rates, and good earnings performance. Overall, these results suggest that social capital, especially social associations and community proactivity, promotes firm voluntary disclosure.

Suggested Citation

  • Cready, William M. & Hu, Yaqin, 2025. "Social capital and firm voluntary disclosure," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:68:y:2025:i:c:s0882611025000057
    DOI: 10.1016/j.adiac.2025.100810
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882611025000057
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.adiac.2025.100810?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McCleary, Rachel & Barro, Robert, 2003. "Religion and Economic Growth across Countries," Scholarly Articles 3708464, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    2. Billings, Mary Brooke & Jennings, Robert & Lev, Baruch, 2015. "On guidance and volatility," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 161-180.
    3. Larcker, David F. & So, Eric C. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2013. "Boardroom centrality and firm performance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 225-250.
    4. Atiase, Rk, 1985. "Predisclosure Information, Firm Capitalization, And Security Price Behavior Around Earnings Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 21-36.
    5. Youngsoon Susan Cheon & Theodore E. Christensen & Linda Smith Bamber, 2001. "Factors Associated with Differences in the Magnitude of Abnormal Returns Around NYSE Versus Nasdaq Firms' Earnings Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(9&10), pages 1073-1108.
    6. La Porta, Rafael, et al, 1997. "Trust in Large Organizations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 333-338, May.
    7. Imhof, Michael J & Seavey, Scott E., 2018. "How investors value cash and cash flows when managers commit to providing earnings forecasts," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 74-87.
    8. Coller, M & Yohn, TL, 1997. "Management forecasts and information asymmetry: An examination of bid-ask spreads," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(2), pages 181-191.
    9. Waymire, G, 1984. "Additional Evidence On The Information-Content Of Management Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 703-718.
    10. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    11. Lobo, Gj & Mahmoud, Aaw, 1989. "Relationship Between Differential Amounts Of Prior Information And Security Return Variability," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 116-134.
    12. Grant, Eb, 1980. "Market Implications Of Differential Amounts Of Interim Information," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 255-268.
    13. Westlund, Hans & Bolton, Roger, 2003. "Local Social Capital and Entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 77-113, September.
    14. Christopher A. Parsons & Johan Sulaeman & Sheridan Titman, 2018. "The Geography of Financial Misconduct," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(5), pages 2087-2137, October.
    15. Scott E. Yonker, 2017. "Do Managers Give Hometown Labor an Edge?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(10), pages 3581-3604.
    16. Glaeser, Stephen, 2018. "The effects of proprietary information on corporate disclosure and transparency: Evidence from trade secrets," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 163-193.
    17. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 1999. "Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2045-2073, December.
    18. Albring, Susan M. & Xu, Xiaolu, 2018. "Management earnings forecasts, managerial incentives, and risk-taking," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 48-69.
    19. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 2001. "The Geography of Investment: Informed Trading and Asset Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(4), pages 811-841, August.
    20. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    21. Nemit Shroff & Amy X. Sun & Hal D. White & Weining Zhang, 2013. "Voluntary Disclosure and Information Asymmetry: Evidence from the 2005 Securities Offering Reform," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 51(5), pages 1299-1345, December.
    22. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher Malloy, 2008. "The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 951-979, October.
    23. Frank, Robert H, 1992. "Melding Sociology and Economics: James Coleman's Foundations of Social Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(1), pages 147-170, March.
    24. Nagar, Venky & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter, 2003. "Discretionary disclosure and stock-based incentives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-3), pages 283-309, January.
    25. Li, Feng & Minnis, Michael & Nagar, Venky & Rajan, Madhav, 2014. "Knowledge, compensation, and firm value: An empirical analysis of firm communication," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 96-116.
    26. Diamond, Douglas W & Verrecchia, Robert E, 1991. "Disclosure, Liquidity, and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1325-1359, September.
    27. Dane M. Christensen & Keith L. Jones & David G. Kenchington, 2018. "Gambling Attitudes and Financial Misreporting," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(3), pages 1229-1261, September.
    28. Rupasingha, Anil & Goetz, Stephan J. & Freshwater, David, 2006. "The production of social capital in US counties," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 83-101, February.
    29. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Habib, Ahsan, 2020. "Social capital and payout policies," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    30. Ajinkya, Bb & Gift, Mj, 1984. "Corporate Managers Earnings Forecasts And Symmetrical Adjustments Of Market Expectations," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 425-444.
    31. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2006. "Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 23-48, Spring.
    32. Lijun Ma & Min Zhang & Jingyu Gao & Tingting Ye, 2020. "The Effect of Religion on Accounting Conservatism," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 383-407, March.
    33. Trueman, Brett, 1986. "Why do managers voluntarily release earnings forecasts?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 53-71, March.
    34. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    35. Ahsan Habib & Mabel D' Costa & Ahmed Khamis Al‐Hadi, 2023. "Consequences of local social norms: A review of the literature in accounting, finance, and corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 3-45, March.
    36. García, Diego & Norli, Øyvind, 2012. "Geographic dispersion and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(3), pages 547-565.
    37. Noh, Suzie & So, Eric C. & Weber, Joseph P., 2019. "Voluntary and mandatory disclosures: Do managers view them as substitutes?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1).
    38. Julie Cotter & Irem Tuna & Peter D. Wysocki, 2006. "Expectations Management and Beatable Targets: How Do Analysts React to Explicit Earnings Guidance?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 593-624, September.
    39. Bipin Ajinkya & Sanjeev Bhojraj & Partha Sengupta, 2005. "The Association between Outside Directors, Institutional Investors and the Properties of Management Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 343-376, June.
    40. Leuz, C & Verrecchia, RE, 2000. "The economic consequences of increased disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38, pages 91-124.
    41. Shores, D, 1990. "The Association Between Interim Information And Security Returns Surrounding Earnings Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 164-181.
    42. Youngsoon Susan Cheon & Theodore E. Christensen & Linda Smith Bamber, 2001. "Factors Associated with Differences in the Magnitude of Abnormal Returns Around NYSE Versus Nasdaq Firms’ Earnings Announcements," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(9‐10), pages 1073-1108, November.
    43. Rogers, Jonathan L. & Van Buskirk, Andrew, 2009. "Shareholder litigation and changes in disclosure behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 136-156, March.
    44. Chen, Shuping & Matsumoto, Dawn & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2011. "Is silence golden? An empirical analysis of firms that stop giving quarterly earnings guidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 134-150, February.
    45. S. P. Kothari & Susan Shu & Peter D. Wysocki, 2009. "Do Managers Withhold Bad News?," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 47(1), pages 241-276, March.
    46. Dyer, Travis A., 2021. "The demand for public information by local and nonlocal investors: Evidence from investor-level data," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1).
    47. Yaqin Hu, 2023. "Local CEOs, career concerns and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 565-597, March.
    48. Hasan, Iftekhar & Hoi, Chun Keung & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2017. "Social Capital and Debt Contracting: Evidence from Bank Loans and Public Bonds," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 1017-1047, June.
    49. Lamia Chourou & Luo He & Ligang Zhong, 2020. "Does religiosity enhance the quality of management earnings forecasts?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 910-948, July.
    50. Iftekhar Hasan & Chun‐Keung (Stan) Hoi & Qiang Wu & Hao Zhang, 2017. "Does Social Capital Matter in Corporate Decisions? Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 55(3), pages 629-668, June.
    51. Qiang Cheng & Kin Lo, 2006. "Insider Trading and Voluntary Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(5), pages 815-848, December.
    52. Chen, Shuping & Matsumoto, Dawn & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2011. "Is silence golden? An empirical analysis of firms that stop giving quarterly earnings guidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 134-150.
    53. Iftekhar Hasan & Chun‐Keung (Stan) Hoi & Qiang Wu & Hao Zhang, 2017. "Does Social Capital Matter in Corporate Decisions? Evidence from Corporate Tax Avoidance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 629-668, June.
    54. Boone, Audra L. & White, Joshua T., 2015. "The effect of institutional ownership on firm transparency and information production," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 508-533.
    55. Scott D. Dyreng & William J. Mayew & Christopher D. Williams, 2012. "Religious Social Norms and Corporate Financial Reporting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(7-8), pages 845-875, September.
    56. Harrison Hong & Jeffrey D. Kubik & Jeremy C. Stein, 2005. "Thy Neighbor's Portfolio: Word‐of‐Mouth Effects in the Holdings and Trades of Money Managers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2801-2824, December.
    57. Lerner, Josh, 1995. "Venture Capitalists and the Oversight of Private Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 301-318, March.
    58. Anand Jha, 2019. "Financial Reports and Social Capital," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 567-596, March.
    59. Field, Laura & Lowry, Michelle & Shu, Susan, 2005. "Does disclosure deter or trigger litigation?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 487-507, September.
    60. Imhof, Michael J. & Seavey, Scott E., 2014. "Corporate risk-taking, firm value and high levels of managerial earnings forecasts," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 328-337.
    61. Joseph E. Engelberg & Christopher A. Parsons, 2011. "The Causal Impact of Media in Financial Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 67-97, February.
    62. Umit G. Gurun & Alexander W. Butler, 2012. "Don't Believe the Hype: Local Media Slant, Local Advertising, and Firm Value," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(2), pages 561-598, April.
    63. Ball, Ray & Jayaraman, Sudarshan & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2012. "Audited financial reporting and voluntary disclosure as complements: A test of the Confirmation Hypothesis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 136-166.
    64. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    65. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maryam Arif & Soban Saeed, 2025. "Machine Learning Predictive Analytics for Social Media Enabled Women's Economic Empowerment in Pakistan," Papers 2512.12685, arXiv.org.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Call, Andrew C. & Hribar, Paul & Skinner, Douglas J. & Volant, David, 2024. "Corporate managers’ perspectives on forward-looking guidance: Survey evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2).
    2. Thomas Bourveau & Yun Lou & Rencheng Wang, 2018. "Shareholder Litigation and Corporate Disclosure: Evidence from Derivative Lawsuits," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 56(3), pages 797-842, June.
    3. Imhof, Michael J & Seavey, Scott E., 2018. "How investors value cash and cash flows when managers commit to providing earnings forecasts," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 74-87.
    4. Tuo, Ling & Rezaee, Zabihollah & Gao, Lei, 2024. "Is there a tradeoff between management earnings forecasts and sustainability reporting?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    5. Kristian D. Allee & Theodore E. Christensen & Bryan S. Graden & Kenneth J. Merkley, 2021. "The Genesis of Voluntary Disclosure: An Analysis of Firms’ First Earnings Guidance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1914-1938, March.
    6. Bozanic, Zahn & Roulstone, Darren T. & Van Buskirk, Andrew, 2018. "Management earnings forecasts and other forward-looking statements," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 1-20.
    7. Schoenfeld, Jordan, 2017. "The effect of voluntary disclosure on stock liquidity: New evidence from index funds," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 51-74.
    8. Thorsten Knauer & Christian Ledwig & Andreas Wömpener, 2012. "Zur Wertrelevanz freiwilliger Managementprognosen in Deutschland," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 166-204, March.
    9. Seo, Hojun, 2021. "Peer effects in corporate disclosure decisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1).
    10. Yongtae Kim & Lixin (Nancy) Su & Xindong (Kevin) Zhu, 2017. "Does the cessation of quarterly earnings guidance reduce investors’ short-termism?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 715-752, June.
    11. Liu, Xiaofeng & Feng, Hua & Tian, Gaoliang & Zhang, Ting, 2024. "Environmental legal institutions and management earnings forecasts: Evidence from the establishment of environmental courts in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 545-573.
    12. Ahsan Habib & Mabel D' Costa & Ahmed Khamis Al‐Hadi, 2023. "Consequences of local social norms: A review of the literature in accounting, finance, and corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 3-45, March.
    13. Ole-Kristian Hope & Congcong Li & Mark Shuai Ma & Xijiang Su, 2023. "Is silence golden sometimes? Management guidance withdrawals during the COVID-19 pandemic," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 2319-2360, December.
    14. Huang, Wenxuan & Xu, Weidong & Li, Donghui & (Duncan) Liu, Jiancheng, 2024. "Expanded auditor’s reports and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3).
    15. Qiang Cheng & Young Jun Cho & Jae B. Kim, 2021. "Managers’ pay duration and voluntary disclosures," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(7-8), pages 1332-1367, July.
    16. Stephan Hollander & Maarten Pronk & Erik Roelofsen, 2010. "Does Silence Speak? An Empirical Analysis of Disclosure Choices During Conference Calls," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 48(3), pages 531-563, June.
    17. Elaine Ying Wang & Hun‐Tong Tan, 2013. "The Effects of Guidance Frequency and Guidance Goal on Managerial Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 51(3), pages 673-700, June.
    18. Albert Tsang & Yi Xiang & Miao Yu, 2023. "Cross‐border regulatory enforcement and corporate voluntary disclosure," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 482-523, March.
    19. Guay, Wayne & Samuels, Delphine & Taylor, Daniel, 2016. "Guiding through the Fog: Financial statement complexity and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 234-269.
    20. Wang, Fengrong & Mbanyele, William & Muchenje, Linda, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and stock liquidity: The mitigating effect of information disclosure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:68:y:2025:i:c:s0882611025000057. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/advances-in-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.