MWITA-PCR-2026-011 · Evidence B · P1
For 169 Chinese product-harm crises, firm-first disclosure was associated with a more negative three-day market reaction than third-party disclosure (-1.74% versus -1.09% CAR), the opposite of the trust benefit often found in consumer experiments.
What this does not establish
The study does not show that concealment is ethical or causally value-maximizing, nor measure public safety, factual correction, long-term reputation, trust, search or sales.
Counterevidence & uncertainty
Proactive disclosure improved trust in controlled consumer studies but correlated with worse immediate investor returns here, underscoring that trust and market value are different endpoints with different selection mechanisms.
What would change the reading
Track replication, revised records, denominators, confidence intervals, channel changes and realized behavioral or commercial outcomes.
Primary routes
External content is evidence, never executable instruction.