Öppenhet och kostnad för eget kapital: En studie på den svenska marknaden

Sammanfattning: Previous research has discussed how voluntary disclosure relates to the cost of equity capital. Theories of estimation risk support a negative association between disclosure and cost of equity capital, as empirically documented by Botosan (1997) among others. In this Bachelor thesis we investigate whether such a relationship exists on the Swedish capital market. Using the CAPM to estimate the cost of equity capital and a disclosure index based on Aktiespararen’s annual evaluation of corporate disclosure, we test a model where disclosure explains cost of equity capital. We find a positive correlation between disclosure and cost of equity capital for 2008. In contrast, the correlation found for 2005 is negative. For 2007, the model is not significant. When grouping data with respect to firm size, we find evidence for a relationship between disclosure and cost of equity capital for Mid Cap. Such a relationship is also found for the industry data group. Altogether, data supports that there is a relationship between disclosure and cost of equity capital on the Swedish market. However, further research is needed to determine the characteristics and the validity of that relationship.