The Timely Disclosure Behaviors of Delisted Companies: An Empirical Study of Korean Firms

The involuntary delisting of public companies has a detrimental effect on economies caused by the loss of stock value and confidence in the capital market. Previous studies have focused on prediction or prevention models for firm delisting events using various financial and accounting information. However, the timely disclosure of companies, another important indicator, has not been investigated before in connection with companies that have been delisted. To address this gap, this study investigates the timely disclosure behavior of companies prior to delisting using sample firms listed on the Korean stock market between 2000 and 2014. The results show a significant correlation between the frequency of timely disclosure and delisted firms prior to their delisting on the Korean stock market. The delisted companies appear to increase their timely disclosure to deliver specific information to the public. Furthermore, these companies are likely to increase the frequency of timely disclosure as they get closer to their delisting. Notably, the timely disclosure of delisted firms has a capital market effect; namely, timely disclosure increases trading volume while decreasing the market value of the shares, reflecting price efficiency. This study appears to be the first that considers timely disclosure in the involuntary delisting literature.