Disaggregation in Mandatory Risk Disclosure, Audit Conservatism and Implied Cost of Equity Capital

Abstract

This research investigates the association between discretionary disaggregation in mandatory risk disclosures, audit conservatism and the implied cost of capital (ICOE). Based on a sample of 141 financial firms from six GCC countries over the 2007-2011 period, we find that the ICOE is significantly negatively associated with discretionary disaggregation in mandatory market risk disclosures after controlling for firm-specific characteristics and country-specific institutional factors. Further, our interaction term between audit conservatism and firms’ disaggregation in mandatory risk disclosures is negatively associated with the ICOE, particularly for small to medium size firms. These findings are robust to a series of sensitivity tests. Collectively, these results demonstrate that more discretionary disaggregation in risk disclosure provides more private information to investors.