The Impact of Disclosure Quality on Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia

This study aims to examine whether an increased disclosure has a positive impact on firm performance and whether the opposite impact of increased disclosure on firm performance can occur in certain conditions – high proprietary information and competition. The sample for this study consists of Indonesian firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The data were selected based on purposive sampling and panel data spanned eleven years (2006–2016). A panel GLS regression using moderated regression analysis (MRA) was adopted. The results of this study reveal that an increased disclosure has a positive effect on firm performance, but an increased disclosure has a negative impact on firm performance when proprietary information is high, and vice versa. Also, if the disclosure is increased, the negative impact of proprietary information on firm performance will get exacerbated in conditions where the competition level is high. The findings of this study suggest that, since the positive effect of continuously-increased disclosure on firm performance leads to the reversal (negative) impact when certain conditions occur (high proprietary information and competition), the level of disclosure quality is most likely to tap an ‘optimal’ point. In this regard, however, a broader investigation of all firms across countries still needs to be conducted.