Financial statement comparability and qualitative disclosures

We examine how low financial statement comparability with industry peers affects textual disclosures—specifically length, complexity, forward-looking content, and hard information (presented by the number of tables)—in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and in the notes to the financial statements of 10-K filings. We find that lower comparability with industry peers is associated with higher information quantity and complexity in the MD&A and the notes to the financial statements. Moreover, we discover that the quantity of forward-looking information in the MD&A, as well as numerical information in the notes to the financial statements, is higher when financial statement comparability is lower. Capital market tests show that adjusted disclosures are associated with reduced information asymmetry between managers and investors, greater analyst following, and lower analyst dispersion. Furthermore, lower financial statement comparability is associated with a higher frequency of voluntary disclosures and a higher quantity of disclosures in 8-K filings. Overall, our findings support the argument that, when financial statement comparability is low and, consequently, information asymmetry between firms and market participants is heightened, managers adjust their textual disclosures to reduce information asymmetry.