Transparent Peers: How Improved Access to Private Firm Data Enhances Public Stock Liquidity?
Prof. Jiancheng (Duncan) LIU
Assistant Professor in Accounting
FBA, UM
Date: 04 May 2026 (Monday)
Time: 13:00 to 14:00
Venue: FBA Lobby
Abstract
We investigate how improved information dissemination of unlisted private firms affects the stock liquidity of their public peer firms. Exploiting the staggered implementation of centralized Electronic Business Registers (EBRs) across Europe as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that enhanced access to private firm disclosures significantly improves public firm liquidity. This effect represents an average liquidity increase of 9.52%. The improvement is primarily driven by sophisticated investors—including institutional investors, inside traders, and analysts—who leverage private firm data for trading decisions. Further analyses reveal that private firm information serves as a complementary industry-wide information set rather than a substitute for public firm disclosure. While capital reallocations into the private sector amplify these benefits by drawing investor attention, operational frictions such as registration requirements and lack of English language support diminish the effectiveness of dissemination. Our findings provide novel evidence on the positive externalities of mandatory private firm disclosure for public capital markets.
About the speaker
Dr. Duncan Liu is an Assistant Professor in Accounting at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau. His research interest centers around unlisted private firms, focusing on their financial disclosure, ESG and voluntary audit. Dr. Liu’s work has been published or accepted by top accounting journals, such as Journal of Accounting Research and Review of Accounting Studies. His research has also been accepted by leading international conferences hosted by American Accounting Association (AAA), Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA), and European Accounting Association (EAA), among others.
All are welcome!
