喻园管理论坛2024年第18期(总第950期)
演讲主题: The Freedom of Information Act and Government Financing Costs
主 讲 人: 苏黎新，香港理工大学会计及金融学院院长、教授
主 持 人: 钟宇翔，会计与财税系讲师
活动时间: 2024年3月29日（周五）9:00-11:00
活动地点: 管院大楼119室
主讲人简介：
苏黎新教授是香港理工大学会计及金融学院院长、全职教授。苏教授研究兴趣广泛，涵盖信息披露、财务报告和审计等话题，在会计、供应链和社会网络等领域建树颇丰。苏教授研究成果丰硕，曾在《JourmalofAccounting andEconomics》、《The《Management Science》等UTD24期刊以及《Contemporar.Accounting Review》、Accounting Research》《Review ofAccounting Studies》、《Journal of Business Ethics)等FT50期刊发表数十篇论文。苏教授目前担任《JouialofContemporary Accounting andEconomics》的联合编辑，曾担任《China Accounting and Finance Review》的执行编辑和《Accounting Horizons》的特刊编辑。
活动简介：
Each U.S. state has implemented an information openness law, commonly known as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), granting any person or organization the right to request access to records from any government agency. However, the level of government transparency offered under the FOIA varies across states and over time. We contend that by offering access to government records, FOIA mitigates information asymmetry between municipal bond investors and the municipal government and facilitates the public monitoring of governments, reducing municipal borrowing costs. Using staggered FOIA revisions and a stacked regression design, we find that municipal bond offering yield and offering yield spread decrease (increase) following revisions that strengthen (weaken) state-level FOIA. The FOIA effect on municipal borrowing costs is more pronounced in municipalities with fewer alternative information sources or weaker external monitoring and for riskier bonds. Collectively, the evidence suggests the significant benefits of FOIA in public finance.
