The Moderating Effect of COVID-19 on the Relationship Between Corporate Risk Disclosure and Investor Perceived Confidence

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected a multifaceted human existence and investors who have to deal with the uncertainty of the stock market is not exempted. Therefore, the study aims to investigate to what extent corporate risk disclosure affects the investors' perceived confidence and trust. Our study employed partial least square analysis on the research framework and hypotheses through Smart-PLS software using data collected from 108 Malaysian individual investors. This study examined three theories, namely Stakeholder, Signalling and Prospect theories, representing the respective variables of investor perceived confidence and trust, corporate risk disclosures, and COVID-19. Based on the theories, the assumption is that investors (as part of stakeholders) will have an increased perception of more losses in times of crisis if they are not given any assurance and transparent disclosure signals. The extant study revealed a direct positive relationship between financial, operations and strategic risk disclosure to perceived investor confidence and trust. The results also indicated that most investors concurred that COVID-19 significantly impacts investor perceived confidence and trust in relation to the three stated risks.