A Review of Firms’ Voluntary Disclosure Decisions With a Focus on Cheap-Talk Models

Abstract

This paper reviews managers’ decisions to voluntarily disclose information. The unraveling result is described, which suggests that managers would disclose all information under certain conditions. In particular, the paper focuses on managers’ choice of non-verifiable voluntary disclosure in the light of cheap-talk models. Newman and Sansing (1993), Gigler (1994) and Stocken (2000), among others, have attempted to apply Crawford and Sobel’s (1982) concept of cheap-talk models in disclosure settings. Assuming conditions when there are no apparent costs of misreporting, these studies examined the extent to which managers disclose truthfully and precisely, their incentives for doing so, and the resulting affects on disclosure quality, credibility and managerial reputation.

Keywords: voluntary disclosure, non-verifiable disclosure, disclosure principle, cheap-talk models