Publications
Publications
- 2017
- HBS Working Paper Series
The Benefits of Selective Disclosure: Evidence from Private Firms
By: Joan Farre-Mensa
Abstract
Private firms’ ability to communicate confidentially with selected investors implies that valuation disagreements between firms and investors are larger at public firms than at private ones. Consistent with the notion that misvaluation concerns lead public firms to hoard cash to be able to optimize the timing of their equity issues, I show that small and medium public firms hold substantially more cash than similar-sized private ones. This difference is driven by public firms with high misevaluation exposure, which use their cash to avoid raising equity when they are hit by a cash flow shock and their equity is likely undervalued.
Keywords
Finance; Equity; Private Companies; Corporate Cash; Precautionary Motives; Share Issuance; IPOs; Selective Disclosure; Private Ownership; Cash; Market Timing; Corporate Finance; Public Ownership; Corporate Disclosure; United States
Citation
Farre-Mensa, Joan. "The Benefits of Selective Disclosure: Evidence from Private Firms." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-095, April 2014. (Revised March 2017.)