Informative or Competitive: Peer MD&A Risk Disclosure and Stock Price Crash Risk

Using Chinese A-share listed firms, we examine the impact of peer Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) risk disclosure on stock price crash risk. The empirical results show that peer MD&A risk disclosure significantly reduces the focal firm’s stock price crash risk. The inhibitory effect is primarily achieved by improving the focal firm’s MD&A risk disclosure, enhancing analyst forecast accuracy, and increasing investor rationality. Peer information comparability and reliability strengthen this effect. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the inhibitory effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned, highly competitive, and high-public-attention firms. These findings offer insights into how external information mitigates stock price crash risk.