The Association between Disclosure, Distress, and Failure

Abstract

ethics, disclosure, Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A), distress,

Different Talks with Different Folks: A Comparative Survey of Stakeholder Dialog in Germany, Italy, and the U.S.

“…Content analysis (Weber, 1988) has been widely used in research dealing with social reporting (e.g., Adams and Harte, 1999;Adams et al, 1995;Farrell and Cobbin, 1996;Gray et al, 1995;Hackston and Milne, 1996;Holder-Webb and Cohen, 2007;Maignan and Ralstons, 2002;Tonkin and Skerratt, 1991). The final sample of 73 firms resulted in 294 SD initiatives.…”

Determinants and consequences of financial distress: review of the empirical literature

“…For distressed firms, information about the source of the distress and plans for recovery are narrated primarily in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section of the annual reports (Beller, ). Holder‐Webb and Cohen () document that, in the first year of distress, distressed firms, on average, increase MD&A disclosure quality . However, only those firms eventually recovering from the distress exhibited sustainable increases in disclosure quality.…”

“… Holder‐Webb and Cohen () employ a proprietary index, developed based on the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines, a practitioner checklist and a review of the internal practitioner guidelines of a large public accounting firm. …”

Understanding the Determinants of RiskMetrics/ISS Ratings of the Quality of UK Companies' Corporate Governance Practice

“…Healthy firms are likely to disclose more information than distressed firms to signal good news to stakeholders, although these firms will be less optimistic in describing their financial and operational situations (Carcello & Neal, 2003). Holder-Webb and Cohen (2007) argue that the arrival of financial distress changes the nature and costs of the information asymmetries between corporate managers and stakeholders. In financial distress situations, current and potential investors face problems in estimating risk, as future cash flows become more uncertain.…”