Economic policy uncertainty, information production, and transparency

Abstract

This paper investigates how Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) influences corporate information environments in Chinese stock markets from 2005 to 2022. Using multiple measures of information transparency based on bid-ask spreads, price impact, and trading illiquidity, we document that elevated EPU leads to enhanced information transparency in the subsequent year. We identify asymmetric effects of EPU on information production: while firms respond to high EPU by increasing disclosure intensity and adopting a more optimistic tone, analysts and media coverage significantly decline. Additionally, EPU weakens the link between firms' information production and transparency outcomes. These findings are robust to an instrumental variable approach that addresses endogeneity concerns, as well as to alternative measures of both EPU and information transparency. Our findings contribute to the literature by revealing the complex mechanisms through which policy uncertainty shapes information environments in emerging markets.