The impacts of product market competition on the quantity and quality of voluntary disclosures∗

This study examines how firms’ voluntary disclosure decisions are influenced by the product market competition. Using separate measures to capture different dimensions of competition, I show that competition from potential entrants increases disclosure quantity while competition from existing rivals decreases disclosure quantity. I also find that competition enhances disclosure quality mainly through reducing the optimism in profit-forecasts and reducing the pessimism in investment-forecasts. Moreover, I find that the above association is less pronounced for industry leaders, consistent with industry leaders facing less competitive pressures than industry followers.