Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May 2022
  • Article
  • Management Science

Complex Disclosure

By: Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca and Daniel Martin
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:62
ShareBar

Abstract

We present evidence that unnecessarily complex disclosure can result from strategic incentives to shroud information. In our lab experiment, senders are required to report their private information truthfully, but can choose how complex to make their reports. We find that senders use complex disclosure over half the time. This obfuscation is profitable because receivers make systematic mistakes in assessing complex reports. Regression and structural analysis suggest that these mistakes could be driven by receivers who are naïve about the strategic use of complexity or overconfident about their ability to process complex information.

Keywords

Disclosure; Experiments; Naiveté; Overconfidence; Corporate Disclosure; Policy; Information; Complexity; Strategy; Consumer Behavior

Citation

Jin, Ginger Zhe, Michael Luca, and Daniel Martin. "Complex Disclosure." Management Science 68, no. 5 (May 2022): 3236–3261.
  • SSRN
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Michael Luca

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Shanty Real Estate: Teaching Note

    By: Michael Luca, Jesse M. Shapiro and Nathan Sun
    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Getting on the Map: The Impact of Online Listings on Business Performance

    By: Michael Luca, Abhishek Nagaraj and Gauri Subramani
    • November 23, 2022
    • Wall Street Journal (online)

    The Sinister Logic of Hidden Online Fees

    By: Michael Luca
More from the Authors
  • Shanty Real Estate: Teaching Note By: Michael Luca, Jesse M. Shapiro and Nathan Sun
  • Getting on the Map: The Impact of Online Listings on Business Performance By: Michael Luca, Abhishek Nagaraj and Gauri Subramani
  • The Sinister Logic of Hidden Online Fees By: Michael Luca
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College