A firm provides voluntary disclosures to the financial market in order to guide the valuation of its shares by mitigating adverse selection. However, voluntary disclosures could cause detriment to the disclosing firm's prospects, as the firm's competitors in the product market observe the disclosures. Prior analytical research has conflicting positions about the role of product market competition in voluntary disclosure. One view (Verrecchia 1983) is that competitive disadvantage resulting from the existence of proprietary costs discourages firms in high competition industries from providing voluntary disclosures. Another view (Darrough and Stoughton 1990) is that firms provide voluntary disclosures to deter potential rivals from entering the industry. This paper examines the association between voluntary disclosure and product market competition after controlling for firm size, analyst following, firm performance, and access to external financing. It looks at disclosures in press releases, an issue that is relatively unexplored, even though press releases have become one of the most important channels of communication in the United States. A total of 5,587 press releases by 156 U.S. firms in 1998 are studied. Product market competition is measured by the Herfindahl- Hirschman Index. It is found that the firms in high competition industries provide, on average, greater voluntary disclosures than the firms in low competition industries. The results are found to be robust to revisions in the specification of the model and modifications in the sample.

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The preoperational stage of a new venture is characterized by concept definition, idea enhancement, and strategy formulation. Entrepreneurs consult advisors in knowledge sharing activities. Trust is dominant in these entrepreneur-advisor relationships as entrepreneurs rely on an advisor's judgment to keep venture ideas away from competitors. However, the relationships between trust, knowledge sharing, and knowledge security during the preoperational stage of a new high-tech venture are not directly examined in many research studies. Concerning types of trust, McAllister (1995) defines two types of interpersonal trust: affective trust, which develops from emotional bonds between individuals, and calculative trust, which is based on an individual's level of competence and reliability. The present study applies McAllister's (1995) theory of types of trust to Kale, Singh, and Perlmutter (2000) findings to examine how trust relationships between entrepreneurs and advisors affect knowledge sharing and an entrepreneur's use of NDAs. This dissertation's research primary question is, "How does trust between an entrepreneur and advisors affect knowledge sharing and choices of knowledge security mechanisms during the preoperational stage of a new high-tech venture?" I used de Koning and Muzyka's (1999) classification of the entrepreneur's social context to define three advisor types: Close Friends, Business Associates, and Licensed Professionals. Linking these types with literature on trust and knowledge, I hypothesize seven relationships dealing with trust, knowledge sharing, and knowledge security. I used structured and non-structured interview formats to collect data on 143 entrepreneur/advisor relationships in South Florida. / The results confirmed that relationship length significantly contributed to affective trust and entrepreneurs were more likely to share knowledge with Business Associates than with Close Friends or Licen found t o be the dominant form of trust driving knowledge sharing but affective trust was not significantly found to impact the use of NDAs. Entrepreneurs expected all advisor types to be competent, experienced, and skilled, reporting nonsignificant differences in calculative trust across advisor types. I did not find the use of NDAs to be associated with any particular advisor type. Rather, NDAs were seldom used during the preoperational stage for reasons such as the entrepreneurs' desires to maintain positive relationships with advisors, along with their reliance on a strong institutional background. / by Abiola Omoyeni Fanimokun. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze a number of auditor change and other peripheral issues from two related perspectives. Empirical data were gathered from publicly available Forms 8-K and 10-K to first assess whether meaningful differences existed between NYSE, AMEX, and OTC registrants regarding disclosures required in those documents. Secondly, the data were analyzed to determine whether differences existed with respect to the accounting firms (Big Eight or non-Big Eight) involved in the auditor changes. In most of the tests designed to achieve these purposes, statistically defensible results were obtained using the nonparametric chi-square test for significance of observed differences and the McNemar test for significance of changes, at the .05 level.

This empirical study is concerned with the usefulness of proposed supplementary disclosures for oil and gas producers to financial analysts in valuing a company. It is concerned with what supplementary information is being used, to what extent it is being used and which type of information is used most. Three main research procedures are employed. In the first procedure, the Mann-Whitney U Test is applied to determine any significant difference between valuing an oil and gas producing company using basic financial statements and ratio data, and valuing the same company with this information plus the proposed disclosures. The second procedure involves applying the chi-square and Cramer's V statistics to determine whether the disclosure information caused switching in valuation method used for each of the cases. The third procedure tests for significant differences between financial ratios used for each case by employing the test of differences between two proportions. Additional evaluation attempts to determine analysts' perceived usefulness of each of the schedules of the proposed disclosures

This empirical study is concerned with whether the oil and gas reserve value data reported by petroleum producers have been utilized by investors. Reporting reserve value data based on a present value approach is the initial step toward the development of the Securities and Exchange Commission's new accounting method called "Reserve Recognition Accounting" (RRA) for oil and gas producers. Experimentation with this new accounting concept in the oil and gas industry has been adopted as a tentative resolution of the long-standing controversy over valuation of oil and gas reserves and the measure of income from oil and gas exploration. Evidence gathered in this research will be valuable to the SEC in its efforts to assess the usefulness of RRA. This dissertation assumes capital market efficiency and address two specific questions. First, do investors behave as if the reported end-of-year reserve value data are effective signals for pricing securities of oil and gas producers? Second, has the SEC-mandated reserve value disclosures induced any response in the capital market? Two research designs were employed to permit extensive investigation of these two questions.