The Influences of CEO IT Expertise and Board-Level Technology Committees on Form 8-K Disclosure Timeliness

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent research documents the improvement of Form 8-K disclosure timeliness in the post-Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) era. However, it remains unclear why disclosure timeliness overall has improved, but disclosure timeliness for certain events has not improved. We examine firms' information technology (IT) management and IT governance in order to investigate their potential positive impacts on 8-K reporting timeliness. We find that, on average, IT-expert Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and firms with board-level technology committees file Form 8-Ks in a timelier manner. Specifically, firms with IT-expert CEOs file a half-day sooner and firms with technology committees file a full-day sooner. Additional analyses show that firms with technology committees file 8-Ks in a timelier manner than firms without technology committees, even when the events are complicated or surprising. In aggregate, our evidence suggests that IT-expert CEOs and IT expertise on the board facilitates efficient IT utilization and is associated with timely disclosure. Data Availability: The data used are publicly available from the sources cited in the text.