Peer effect of proprietary information: A cost-benefit analysis of customer information disclosure

This study examines how industry peer firms' information disclosures affect firms' customer disclosure. Using samples of Chinese A-share companies from 2007 to 2019, our results show the following: first, the peer firms' customer disclosures have a positive and significant effect on firms' customer disclosures. The results remain robust after the instrumental variable alleviates the endogeneity problem. Second, firms refer to peer firms' disclosure decisions only when it is difficult to weigh the disclosure benefits and costs. Third, firms tend to imitate the disclosure decisions of industry leaders. The cost-benefit hypothesis of proprietary information disclosure proposed in this study contributes to the literature.