Research report 2004 - Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law
Corporate information and competition
Authors
Link, Simon
Departments
Rechnungslegung und Steuern (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Wolfgang Schön)
MPI für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht, München
Summary
Expanding the amount of information corporations are legally required to publish has become a popular means of regulation. Economically, there are many reasons why this makes good sense. But mandatory publications may lead to competitive disadvantages for firms if the information turns out to be valuable to competitors or other players in the market. Balancing these aspects of information regulation is difficult because information once publicised can no longer be controlled. In this situation lawmakers can either try to restrict the distribution of sensitive information or mitigate the danger of competitive disadvantage by varying scope and detail of mandatory publications.