We construct a novel measure of disclosure choice by firms. Our measure is computed using linguistic analysis of conference calls to identify whether a manager's response to an analyst question is a “non-answer.” Using our measure, about 11% of analyst questions elicit non-answers from managers, a rate that is stable over time and similar across industries. A useful feature of our measure is that it enables an examination of disclosure choice within a call. Analyst questions with a negative tone, greater uncertainty, greater complexity, or requests for greater detail are more likely to trigger non-answers. We find performance-related questions tend to be associated with non-answers, and this association is weaker when performance news is favorable. We also find analyst questions about proprietary information are associated with non-answers, and this association is stronger when firm competition is more intense.

中文翻译：

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电话会议期间无人接听

我们构建了一个新的公司披露选择的衡量标准。我们的衡量标准是使用电话会议的语言分析来计算的，以确定经理对分析师问题的回答是否为“未回答”。使用我们的衡量标准，大约 11% 的分析师问题会导致经理不回答，这个比率随着时间的推移是稳定的，并且在各行业中都相似。我们衡量的一个有用的特点是，它能够公开选择的检查中一个电话。带有否定语气、更大不确定性、更大复杂性或要求更详细信息的分析师问题更有可能引发未答复。我们发现与绩效相关的问题往往与非答案相关，而当绩效新闻是有利的时，这种关联较弱。我们还发现分析师关于专有信息的问题与不回答有关，当公司竞争更加激烈时，这种关联会更强。