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The Effect of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act on Analyst Forecast Properties: The Impact of Firm Size and Growth Opportunities

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  • Sidney Leung
  • Bin Srinidhi

Abstract

We provide evidence that the effect of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (the Act) of 1995 on analyst forecast properties is conditional on firm size and growth opportunities. We show that analyst coverage, frequency of forecast revisions, forecast errors and dispersion after the Act decreased for large firms and for firms with low growth opportunities but increased for small firms and for firms with high growth opportunities. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the Act results in additional high quality disclosures in large firms, which face higher litigation risk and tighter scrutiny from investors but not in smaller firms. Our findings of increases in analyst coverage and revision but deterioration in accuracy and precision of analyst forecasts for firms with high growth opportunities after the Act suggest that in spite of increased corporate disclosures, the information environment for analysts deteriorated in those firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Sidney Leung & Bin Srinidhi, 2006. "The Effect of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act on Analyst Forecast Properties: The Impact of Firm Size and Growth Opportunities," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5‐6), pages 767-792, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:33:y:2006:i:5-6:p:767-792
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5957.2006.00020.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Tristan Roger, 2018. "The coverage assignments of financial analysts," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 651-673, September.
    2. Craig W. Holden & Pamela S. Stuerke, 2008. "The Frequency of Financial Analysts' Forecast Revisions: Theory and Evidence about Determinants of Demand for Predisclosure Information," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7‐8), pages 860-888, September.
    3. Liu, Sun, 2017. "The impact of equity incentive plans on analysts’ earnings forecasts and stock recommendations for Chinese listed firms: An empirical study," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Craig W. Holden & Pamela S. Stuerke, 2008. "The Frequency of Financial Analysts' Forecast Revisions: Theory and Evidence about Determinants of Demand for Predisclosure Information," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7-8), pages 860-888.
    5. Jie Hao & Viet T. Pham, 2022. "COVID‐19 Disclosures and Market Uncertainty: Evidence from 10‐Q Filings," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(2), pages 238-266, June.
    6. Derrick W. H. Fung & Charles C. Yang & Jason J. H. Yeh, 2024. "The market price to embedded value gap: an analysis of European life insurers," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 69-96, January.
    7. Jie Hao & Viet Tuan Pham, 2023. "The ASC 606 standard, revenue informativeness, and analysts forecast quality," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2621-2652, June.
    8. Boone, Jeff P. & Khurana, Inder K. & Raman, K.K., 2009. "Litigation reform, accounting discretion, and the cost of equity," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 80-94.
    9. Cao, June & Li, Wenwen & Bilokha, Alona, 2022. "Low-carbon city initiatives and analyst behaviour: A quasi-natural experiment," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).

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