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The superiority and disciplining role of independent analysts

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  • Gu, Zhaoyang
  • Xue, Jian

Abstract

We show that although forecasts of independent analysts are less accurate ex post, they yield forecast errors that are more strongly associated with abnormal stock returns. This suggests that forecasts of independent analysts are superior to those of nonindependent analysts in representing ex ante market expectations. We also show that forecasts of nonindependent analysts become more accurate and less biased, and produce forecast errors more strongly associated with abnormal stock returns when independent analysts are following the same firms than when they are not. This suggests that the presence of independent analysts disciplines the behavior of nonindependent analysts.

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  • Gu, Zhaoyang & Xue, Jian, 2008. "The superiority and disciplining role of independent analysts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 289-316, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaecon:v:45:y:2008:i:2-3:p:289-316
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    Cited by:

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    2. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    3. Sébastien Galanti & Anne-Gaël Vaubourg, 2020. "Unbundling financial services: The case of brokerage and investment research," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(1), pages 473-484.
    4. Lim, Youngdeok & Kim, Hyungtae, 2019. "Market reaction to optimistic bias in the recommendations of chaebol-affiliated analysts," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 224-242.
    5. Lys, Thomas Z. & Sunder, Jayanthi, 2008. "Endogenous entry/exit as an alternative explanation for the disciplining role of independent analysts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 317-323, August.
    6. Chen, Tao & Harford, Jarrad & Lin, Chen, 2015. "Do analysts matter for governance? Evidence from natural experiments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 383-410.
    7. Jeremy Burke & Angela A. Hung & Jack Clift & Steven Garber & Joanne K. Yoong, 2015. "Impacts of Conflicts of Interest in the Financial Services Industry," Working Papers WR-1076, RAND Corporation.
    8. Elizabeth Devos & Erik Devos & Seow Eng Ong & Andrew C. Spieler, 2019. "Are REIT Investors Overly Optimistic after Equity Offerings?: Evidence from Analyst Forecast Errors," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 148-165, August.
    9. Andreas Charitou & Irene Karamanou, 2020. "Sleeping with the enemy: should investment banks be allowed to engage in prop trading?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 513-557, June.
    10. Lin, Karen Jingrong & Karim, Khondkar E. & Carter, Clairmont, 2015. "Why does China's stock market have highly synchronous stock price movements? An information supply perspective," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 68-79.
    11. Zhongwei Huang & Thomas Jeanjean & Daphne Lui, 2023. "Analyst independence and earnings management," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 598-621, March.
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