01248nas a2200169   4500008004100000245006000041210006000101260000900161300001200170490000800182520070900190653001500899100002500914700002000939700001900959856010000978       2020                        eng d00aInformation flows among rivals and corporate investment0 aInformation flows among rivals and corporate investment  c2020  a760-7790 v1363 aUsing a novel pairwise measure of firms’ acquisition of rivals’ disclosures, we show that investment opportunities drive interfirm information flows. We find that these flows predict subsequent mergers and acquisitions as well as how and how much firms invest, relative to rivals. Moreover, firms’ use of rivals’ information often hinges on the similarities of their products. Our results suggest that rivals’ public information, far from being unusable, helps facilitate investment and product decisions, including acquisitions and product differentiation strategies. The findings also support a learning mechanism that could partly underlie the emerging literature on peer investment effects.10aAccounting1 aBlackburne, Terrence1 aBernard, Darren1 aThornock, Jake  u/biblio/information-flows-among-rivals-and-corporate-investment