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Short, Disclose, and Distort

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  • Jinzhi Lu
  • Pingyang Gao

Abstract

We investigate the voluntary disclosure decision of activist speculators under uncertainty about information endowment (Dye 1985). In our model, a speculator first uncovers initial evidence about the target firm and then seeks additional information to help interpret the initial evidence. The speculator takes a position in the firm's stock, then voluntarily discloses some or all of their findings, and finally closes their position after the disclosure. We present three main findings. First, the speculator will always disclose the initial evidence, even though the market is uncertain about whether the speculator possesses such evidence. Second, the speculator's disclosure strategy of the additional information increases stock price volatility: they disclose extreme news and withhold moderate news. Third, this distortion in disclosure enables the speculator to engage in market manipulation, whereby they take a short (long) position despite having good (bad) news. Keywords: activist speculators, short and distort, voluntary disclosure, complex information, market manipulation JEL Classifications: D82, D83, G14, M41

Suggested Citation

  • Jinzhi Lu & Pingyang Gao, 2024. "Short, Disclose, and Distort," Papers 2404.07630, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2404.07630
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    activist speculators; short and distort; voluntary disclosure; complex information; market manipulation jel classifications: d82; d83; g14; m41;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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