This paper studies the causal effect of a reduction in firm opacity on asset liquidity and corporate expenditures. We employ the discontinuous requirement of financial reporting introduced by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Section 404, as a measure of the change in the firm's information environment. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that firms that comply with Section 404 exhibit higher stock liquidity and increased access to external financing compared to observationally similar firms. Furthermore, compliant firms hold less liquid assets and exhibit higher R&D expenditures relative to noncompliant firms. This difference sheds light on the impact of SOX 404 on firm opacity and the magnitude of the opportunity costs of holding cash.

本文研究了减少公司不透明度对资产流动性和公司支出的因果关系。我们采用《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》（Sarbanes-Oxley Act）第404条引入的对财务报告的不连续要求，以衡量公司信息环境的变化。使用回归不连续性设计，我们显示与观察相似的公司相比，符合404节的公司表现出更高的股票流动性和更多的获得外部融资的机会。此外，与不合规的公司相比，合规的公司持有的流动资产更少，并且研发支出更高。这种差异揭示了SOX 404对公司不透明性的影响以及持有现金的机会成本的大小。