Analyst coverage and stock return synchronicity: evidence from regulation changes in China’s IPO market

This article investigates the relation between analyst coverage and stock return synchronicity in the IPO market. Using a unique data set in China from 2005 to 2012, we find a significantly different effect of analyst coverage on synchronicity before and after the implementation of important 2009 IPO regulation changes in China. Specifically, we document that analyst coverage reduces synchronicity but that this effect is significant only after 2009. In addition, we extend this research to further distinguish the information production role of underwriter and independent analysts. We find that prior to 2009, underwriter analysts’ coverage decreases synchronicity but independent analysts’ coverage does not. However, in the post-2009 period, both types of analyst coverage are significantly and inversely associated with synchronicity. Overall, our results support analysts’ role as producers of firm-specific information in an emerging IPO market and shows that this role depends on the institutional environment.     

明星VS非明星： 分析师评级调整与信息属性

本文以2001—2010年明星及非明星分析师对中国A股上市公司的4 643次评级调整为样本，研究不同分析师在提供公司特质信息及行业层面信息方面是否存在差异。结果表明：（1）明星分析师向市场提供了更多公司特质信息，而在行业信息层面，两类分析师并无区别；（2）专注程度越高，明星分析师与市场反应中公司特质信息成分的正向关系越显著，表明专注程度是其挖掘更多公司特质信息的一个重要因素。在进一步的研究中，本文对明星分析师的“名气”假说进行了排除，同时考察了牛市、熊市对两类分析师提供信息属性的影响。本文的结论既丰富了分析师报告信息属性的文献，对理解明星分析师的荐股评级行为也具有一定的积极意义。     

政商关系、分析师预测与股价同步性——基于腐败官员落马的准自然实验

关系型交易会影响分析师的信息传递效率,进而对企业的信息环境产生影响.文章基于腐败官员落马这一准自然实验对上述假说进行了检验.文章以2005?2011年与24位省部级以上落马高官有关联的企业为样本,研究了政商关系的外生变化对分析师行为和企业信息环境的影响.文章基于双重差分模型,发现腐败官员落马后,与之关联企业的分析师预测准确性提高,预测分歧度降低,分析师跟踪数量增加,企业股价同步性降低.进一步检验发现,在官员落马影响关联企业股价同步性的过程中,分析师发挥了中介作用.可见,反腐能够降低分析师获取信息的门槛,提高分析师传递信息的效率,进而改善企业信息环境.     

Does director affiliation lead to analyst bias?

This study examines the ability of security analysts to provide objective earnings forecasts for firms with which the analyst’s brokerage firm has a director affiliation. The affiliation that we examine is where the brokerage firm has, on its board of directors, a director or an upper management individual from the firm which an analyst at the brokerage firm provides coverage. We find that affiliated analysts tend to provide earnings forecasts that are insignificantly different from unaffiliated analysts in terms of accuracy. However, we also find that forecasts provided by affiliated analysts tend to be significantly more pessimistic than those provided by their unaffiliated counterparts. This pessimistic bias in their earnings forecast will more easily allow the covered firm to beat earnings expectations when earnings are realized. We find that this bias surfaced after the Global Settlement decision, an enforcement agreement between large investment banks and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding issues surrounding conflicts of interest.     

我国承销商利用分析师报告托市了吗?

学术界对于我国IPO市场是否存在承销商托市行为一直存在争议。本文通过搜集新股上市一年之内的分析师报告数据,系统考察了我国承销商利用分析师报告进行托市的行为特征,以及投资者对于承销商分析师具有托市性质报告的市场反应。结果发现:(1)承销商会利用乐观、但偏颇的分析师报告为市场表现不佳的新股进行托市,但这一现象在新股上市90天后消失;(2)声誉机制在新股解禁期后才能有效约束承销商利用分析师报告托市的利益冲突行为;(3)市场投资者总体上能够识别承销商的托市意图,并对承销商分析师报告的系统偏误进行自我调整。本文的研究不仅为我国承销商是否存在托市行为提供了新的直接性经验证据,而且有助于市场各方洞悉分析师报告背后的利益冲突,同时也为监管部门出台相关的规范政策提供了新的决策参考。     

信息不对称、分析师关注度与增发折价

以2006—2010年间实施新股增发的我国沪深A股上市公司为样本,研究分析师关注度对增发折价的影响。研究发现:分析师关注度较高的上市公司具有较低的投资者间估值分歧和增发折价;分析师能力和盈余预测分歧对增发折价没有显著影响;分析师关注度的提高给分析师能力强的公司带来的增发折价降低幅度大于给分析师能力不强的公司带来的效果。     

Security analyst firm reputation and investors’ response to forecasted stocks in the biotechnology sector

ABSTRACT

Stock analyst reputation bridges the gap between technical knowledge of the high-technology and the investor's response to its stock, implying that the reputation of the stand-alone analyst serves this purpose. However, global firms have a stronger influence on their stock analysts than do small firms with 2 personnel. Does firm reputation affect the individual analyst and attract investor attention to forecasted stocks? Evidence from SAFs (security analyst firms) in the biotechnology sector supports this question and proposition. Four moderators (interactive predictors of organisational reputation) show positive correlations. They are the SAF's age, size, performance, and media coverage. These organisational level measures contribute to the institutional theory compared to the literature that focuses on the individual analyst without their organisations. In line with institutional theory, we make three explicit points. First, high uncertainty in the biotechnology sector turns investors to the organisational legitimacy and reputation of the analyst. Second, the organisational age, size, performance and media coverage of the security firm reduces uncertainty of the investor in the biotechnology sector. Third, the reputation of security firm flow to its individual analysts as well as from the individual analyst to the security firm. Thus, the organisational context matters in a social setting.     

Analyst Recommendations and Regulation: Scopes for European Policy Makers to Enhance Investor Protection

Investors rely on analyst recommendations when making investment decisions. Over the last few years, however, sell-side analysts have caught the attention of the supervisory authorities given their vulnerability to numerous conflicts of interest. In this paper, we empirically examine relevant regulatory measures that have an impact upon analysts’ activities, namely the market abuse directive and markets in financial instruments directive. We find that European regulators have primarily focused on mitigating conflicts of interest. However, to establish an environment of more sophisticated investor protection additional regulatory effort is required. Therefore, in this paper, we provide related empirical evidence and discuss proposals to correct regulatory shortcomings in order to strengthen investor protection in the European Union.     

Analyst following and pay-performance sensitivity: evidence from China

We examine whether analyst following is associated with pay-performance sensitivity in China. Based on our analyses of 17,020 Chinese firm-years from 2007 to 2015, we find that pay-performance sensitivity is higher when companies are followed by financial analysts. We also find that the analyst following/pay-performance sensitivity relationship is stronger for non-state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than for SOEs. Overall, our results indicate that companies followed by financial analysts exhibit more pay-performance-sensitivity, which is consistent the notion that financial analysts can serve an external monitoring role.     

分析师利益冲突、乐观偏差与股价崩盘风险

"股价崩盘风险"是当前金融危机背景下财务学的一个研究热点。本文使用2003-2010年中国A股上市公司的数据,研究分析师乐观偏差是否影响上市公司股价崩盘风险,并考察分析师面临的"利益冲突"是否会加剧乐观偏差对股价崩盘风险的影响。研究发现:(1)分析师乐观偏差与上市公司未来股价崩盘风险之间显著正相关,且此关系在"牛市"更为显著;(2)机构投资者持股比例越高,机构投资者数量越多,公司存在再融资行为,以及来自前五大佣金收入券商的分析师比例越高,分析师乐观偏差与崩盘风险之间的正向关系就更为显著,说明"利益冲突"会加剧两者的关系。本文的研究对于全面认识分析师在资本市场中的作用,以及如何降低我国股价崩盘风险、促进股市平稳发展具有重要的理论和现实意义。     

分析师的估值模型会影响评级的信息含量吗?

本文基于2014—2018年发布的沪深两市A股上市公司深度研究报告,考察了分析师报告中关于估值方法的描述,探究分析师估值模型的选择是否会对其投资意见的信息含量产生影响。研究发现,分析师采用绝对估值模型能够提高评级调整的市场反应,具有一定的增量价值。进一步分组检验发现,在公司成长性较高、不确定性较大、券商实力较弱、分析师之间的竞争程度较高的情况下,使用绝对估值模型对于提高分析师评级调整的信息含量作用更大。本文的研究结论对于理解分析师估值过程的价值和有效性以及分析师研究报告信息含量的影响因素具有重要意义,并为投资者如何使用和评价分析师研究报告提供了一定的参考。     

证券分析师关注与上市公司成本黏性*

本文以2002-2014年沪、深A股上市公司为样本,研究了证券分析师关注对成本黏性的影响。研究发现,越多分析师关注的公司,其成本黏性显著越低,并且这种关系受公司内部股权结构和外部市场化水平的影响;在国有企业、第一大股东持股比例较低及市场化水平较低的上市公司中,分析师关注对成本黏性的影响更显著。进一步的研究发现,明星分析师及团队分析师的关注能更好地抑制成本黏性。本文不仅有助于全面认识分析师发挥监督作用的机制和情境,而且有助于深化成本黏性影响因素的研究,对于降低企业的成本黏性以提高资源配置效率具有启示意义。     

Labour unions and leverage: evidence from firm-level union data

ABSTRACT

Using firm-level labour union data from Japan, this paper investigates the effect of labour unions on firm leverage. We find that as union coverage increases, both the level of and extent of change in leverage decreases. These relations remain robust when a firm falls into deficit. We also find that firms with higher union coverage have a higher interest coverage ratio. In addition, we find that firms with higher union coverage are less likely to choose issuing debt compared to issuing equity when they face financial distress. Our results imply that significant employee influence enhanced by labour unions increases fixed costs, crowds out the firm’s debt capacity and consequently reduces the firm’s leverage.     

Corporate environmental disclosure, financial markets and the media: An international perspective

In this study, we analyze the information dynamics between corporate environmental disclosure, financial markets (as proxied by financial analysts' earnings forecasts) and public pressures (as proxied by a firm's media exposure). We adopt a comprehensive view of disclosure that encompasses environmental information that is both print-based as well as web-based. The sample comprises firms from both continental Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, and Netherlands) as well as North America (Canada and the United States). Relying on a system of equations that controls for endogeneity between environmental disclosure determination and financial analysts' work, we show that enhanced environmental disclosure translates into more precise earnings forecasts by analysts. Such effect is reduced for firms with extensive analyst following and in environmentally sensitive industries. However, these relationships are shown to be starker in Europe than in North America, i.e., environmental disclosure has a greater impact on analysts' forecasts but is also more greatly attenuated by analyst following and membership in an environmentally sensitive industry. Most observed relationships hold for either print- or web-based disclosure, except for North America in which web-based disclosure seems to have no impact on analysts' forecasting work.     

Mandated disclosures under IAS 36 Impairment of Assets and IAS 38 Intangible Assets: value relevance and impact on analysts’ forecasts

Drawing on a large sample of European firms, we examine whether variant compliance levels with mandated disclosures under IAS 36 Impairment of Assets and IAS 38 Intangible Assets are value relevant and affect analysts’ forecasts. Our results indicate a mean (median) compliance level of about 84% (86%) but high variation among firms and disclosure levels regarding IAS 36 being much lower than those regarding IAS 38. In depth, analysis reveals that non-compliance relates mostly to proprietary information and information that reveals managers’ judgment and expectations. Furthermore, we find a positive (negative) relationship between average disclosure levels and market values (analysts’ forecast dispersion). Results, however, hold more specifically for disclosures related to IAS 36, and these also improve analysts’ forecast accuracy. Our findings add knowledge regarding the economic consequences of mandatory disclosures, have an appeal to regulators and financial statement preparers and reflect on the IASB’s concerns to increase the guidance and principles on presentation and disclosure.     

分析师跟进决策的影响因素

证券分析师是资本市场不可缺少的组成部分。他们通过收集及传递各种对投资者决策有用的信息在投资者与公司间架起重要的信息桥梁。鉴于其在资本市场发挥的重要作用，学术界对分析师影响的研究由来已久，研究也较为系统和深入。相对而言，分析师跟进决策方面的研究较为欠缺且文献较为零散。与此同时，在我国，随着资本市场的不断发展以及机构投资者的不断壮大，分析师在资本市场中的影响日益增长，但分析师相关的研究却相当欠缺，弥补这一领域的空缺成为当务之急。本文的目的在于对国外这一领域的相关研究进行系统的梳理。文章在对分析师跟进活动的各流派的理论解释基础上，结合投资者法律保护等前沿研究结果，分别从宏观、中观、微观三个层面对分析师跟进决策的影响因素进行阐述，通过全面系统的文献梳理，为分析师行为在我国的研究开展提供一些参考。     

Analyst Behavior: The Geography of Social Interaction

In this paper, I provide empirical evidence that an analyst working in Germany is more likely to publish a high (low) price target regarding a DAX30 stock when other Germany based analysts are also optimistic (pessimistic) about the same stock. This effect of geographical proximity is not biased by the fact that DAX30 companies are headquartered in Germany. Shedding light on how influence takes place, I show that influence through communication and the exchange of opinion within small groups of analysts plays a vital role. This mainly applies during a bullish market environment. When markets are bearish, analysts' incentives induce them not to deviate too much from the overall average, such that then observational learning has a greater impact.     

Financial Analysts,Firm Quality,and Social Responsibility

We suggest that financial analysts have an incentive to follow the stocks of socially responsible companies, because such stocks meet the growing demands and psychology of the investment community, who want to combine the usual investment goals with social responsibility. Socially responsible investors prefer to hold stocks of companies they perceive as socially responsible or of high quality. Financial analysts then help brokers' marketing efforts by supplying investors with more analysis for stocks of socially responsible or high-quality companies. Using scores from Fortune surveys on perceptions of community and environmental responsibility as a measure of social responsibility and Fortune survey measures of quality as a measure of company quality, we find evidence that stocks of socially responsible and high-quality companies are indeed followed by more financial analysts. The positive relationship among social responsibility, company quality, and analyst following remains significant even after controlling for the effects on analyst following of firm size, share price, the volatility of stock returns, and market-to-book value of equity.     

分析师预测信息来源的新发现:会计师事务所

文章通过检验券商与公司聘任同一家会计师事务所对券商旗下分析师预测行为的影响,研究了证券分析师的预测信息是否可能来源于会计师事务所.研究发现:(1)分析师更愿意跟踪与所属券商聘任同一家会计师事务所的上市公司,对其发布的盈余预测更准确,也更倾向于额外发布现金流预测.(2)券商与公司从非同聘会计师事务所变更为同聘会计师事务所,其分析师预测的准确性提高,反之则降低.分析师对与所属券商聘任同一家会计师事务所的公司在年报披露前最后一次盈余预测的准确性有更大幅度的提高.(3)同聘会计师事务所对预测准确性的促进作用集中在分析师跟踪少和收入变化大的公司以及非明星分析师发布的预测.文章的研究有助于理解同聘会计师事务所对分析师预测行为的影响,也有助于资本市场上的投资者更好地利用同聘会计师事务所的券商旗下分析师发布的预测报告,拓展了分析师预测信息来源的研究.     

行业分析师盈利预测偏差的新解释

对于卖方行业分析师(简称分析师)盈利预测偏差的现象,本文提出一个新假说,即作为理性投资的代表者——分析师的盈利预测偏差会受到投资者情绪或噪音交易的影响,并通过我国的数据证实了该假说。首先,通过实证研究,发现国内行业分析师盈利预测存在系统性的偏差。其次,构造月度投资者情绪指数,通过非参数和参数的统计方法,针对盈利预测偏差的时间序列和面板数据两组数据,证明了情绪是分析师盈利预测偏差的一个重要因素。国际文献中对分析师偏差的绝大多数理论解释通常是基于经典金融学的框架,即假设分析师是完全理性的,其偏差主要来自利益驱动(他们供职的机构或个人利益最大化)。而本文认为情绪和利益驱动因素相结合才能更好地解释分析师预测的偏差。