Although idiosyncratic return volatility has been used in a number of studies to capture the informativeness of stock prices, the relation between the two is still under controversy. Researchers raise more questions about the existence of such a relation in emerging markets since the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) may not sustain in these markets. Therefore, use idiosyncratic return volatility estimated from the common asset pricing models as a measure of stock price informativeness becomes questionable. The first part of this thesis serves to validate the use of idiosyncratic return volatility as a stock price informativeness measure in the China settings. In particular, using a battery of information flow proxies, I empirically test the relation between stock price informativeness and idiosyncratic return volatility; the empirical evidence supports the existence of such a relation. However, there exists an inverse U-shape relation between firm-specific information and idiosyncratic return volatility. Therefore, in the second essay, when using idiosyncratic return volatility as a measure of informativeness of stock prices, I truncate the sample as Morek et al. (2000) do in their study. / From an institutional perspective, my dissertation attempts to explain why firms operating in emerging markets such as China have inferior information environments. The main theme of this thesis is to provide firm-level evidence that the institutional settings in China change firms' incentives to provide firm-specific information to the stock market and thus impair the information environments and lower the idiosyncratic return volatilities of these firms. / Keywords: Institutions; information environments; performance hiding / The second part of this thesis addresses the research question on how firms' information environments are shaped by a country's institutions. Morek et al. (2000) document that more developed countries usually have better information environments, and vice versa. The authors offer an "institutional explanation" that attributes the poor information environments in emerging markets to the lack of property rights protections in these markets. However, previous literature provides only limited evidences on how institutions affect the supply of firm-specific information to the market. Hence, this paper uses China as case to investigate how extensive government interventions in China generate incentives for firms to hide their information. I find that, first, excessive local government in a region increases firms' incentives to hide their true performance, after controlling for firm characteristics. A further analysis shows that the directions of firms' hiding activities vary across firms and are contingent on the nature of the firms' ultimate owners, because of different political pressures exerted. In particular, I find that family firms are more likely to suppress good news to avoid governments' "grabbing hands", while State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) are more likely to hide their bad performances to protect local governments' image from being damaged. Second, firms' hiding activities do impair firms' information environment, resulting in lower idiosyncratic stock return volatilities. To strengthen this argument, I test the "information link" between firms' hiding activities and their information environments. I find that firms' incentives to hide their performances reduce market participants' motives to acquire private information, evident by fewer analyst following. Moreover, my results show that involvement of information intermediaries alleviates the negative effects of firms' hiding activities on the information environments. / pt. 1. Information environments in China: availability of firm-specific information to the capital market -- pt. 2. Government intervention, firms' hiding activities and information environments: evidence from China. / Lin, Jingrong. / Adviser: T. J. Wong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-04, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.