IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v68y2022i6p4435-4453.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Language Commonality and Sell-Side Information Production

Author

Listed:
  • Ruishen Zhang

    (Institute of Accounting and Finance, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China)

Abstract

I study the effects of language commonality (i.e., sharing a native language) on information production in financial markets. Using a hand-collected data set on the prevalent dialects for 2,091 cities (counties) in China, I identify the effects of language commonality separately from those of shared hometown and geographic proximity. In in-sample tests, language commonality between analysts and CEOs increases the return of trading on analysts’ recommendations by 5.5%. The results mainly stem from less intelligible dialects. Broadly speaking, language commonality can alleviate communication frictions when nonnative languages are used in professional settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruishen Zhang, 2022. "Language Commonality and Sell-Side Information Production," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(6), pages 4435-4453, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:6:p:4435-4453
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4059
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4059
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4059?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher Malloy, 2010. "Sell‐Side School Ties," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(4), pages 1409-1437, August.
    2. Womack, Kent L, 1996. "Do Brokerage Analysts' Recommendations Have Investment Value?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 137-167, March.
    3. Engelberg, Joseph & Gao, Pengjie & Parsons, Christopher A., 2012. "Friends with money," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 169-188.
    4. Qiang Cheng & Fei Du & Xin Wang & Yutao Wang, 2016. "Seeing is believing: analysts’ corporate site visits," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1245-1286, December.
    5. Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh & Laura Veldkamp, 2009. "Information Immobility and the Home Bias Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1187-1215, June.
    6. Daniel, Kent, et al, 1997. "Measuring Mutual Fund Performance with Characteristic-Based Benchmarks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1035-1058, July.
    7. Raymond Fisman & Daniel Paravisini & Vikrant Vig, 2017. "Cultural Proximity and Loan Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(2), pages 457-492, February.
    8. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2009. "Cultural Biases in Economic Exchange?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1095-1131.
    9. Daniel Bradley & Sinan Gokkaya & Xi Liu, 2020. "Ties That Bind: The Value of Professional Connections to Sell-Side Analysts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 4118-4151, September.
    10. Klaus Desmet & Ignacio Ortuño-Ortín & Romain Wacziarg, 2017. "Culture, Ethnicity, and Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(9), pages 2479-2513, September.
    11. Harrison Hong & Jeffrey D. Kubik, 2003. "Analyzing the Analysts: Career Concerns and Biased Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(1), pages 313-351, February.
    12. Yonca Ertimur & Jayanthi Sunder & Shyam V. Sunder, 2007. "Measure for Measure: The Relation between Forecast Accuracy and Recommendation Profitability of Analysts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(3), pages 567-606, June.
    13. Raymond Fisman & Jing Shi & Yongxiang Wang & Rong Xu, 2018. "Social Ties and Favoritism in Chinese Science," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(3), pages 1134-1171.
    14. Francis, J & Soffer, L, 1997. "The relative informativeness of analysts' stock recommendations and earnings forecast revisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 193-211.
    15. Du, Qianqian & Yu, Frank & Yu, Xiaoyun, 2017. "Cultural Proximity and the Processing of Financial Information," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(6), pages 2703-2726, December.
    16. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:3:p:1083-1124 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Casey Dougal & Christopher A. Parsons & Sheridan Titman, 2015. "Urban Vibrancy and Corporate Growth," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(1), pages 163-210, February.
    18. Brad Barber & Reuven Lehavy & Maureen McNichols & Brett Trueman, 2001. "Can Investors Profit from the Prophets? Security Analyst Recommendations and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(2), pages 531-563, April.
    19. Takao Kato & Cheryl Long, 2006. "Executive Turnover and Firm Performance in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 363-367, May.
    20. Michael Firth & Peter M. Y. Fung & Oliver M. Rui, 2006. "Firm Performance, Governance Structure, and Top Management Turnover in a Transitional Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(6), pages 1289-1330, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hao Dong & Tao Li, 2023. "Climate Economics and Finance: A Literature Review," Climate Economics and Finance, Anser Press, vol. 1(1), pages 29-45, November.
    2. Tam, Lewis H.K. & Tian, Shaohua, 2023. "Language barriers, corporate site visit, and analyst forecast accuracy," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 68-83.
    3. Song, Jie & Liang, Shangkun & Zhen, Yuhan, 2023. "Does CEO-auditor dialect sharing affect stock price crash risk? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    4. Ding, Guolei & Lei, Jin & Liu, Yunxiao & Wang, Zhen, 2024. "Supplier–customer cultural similarity and supplier performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vesa Pursiainen, 2022. "Cultural Biases in Equity Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(1), pages 163-211, February.
    2. Brian Gibbons & Peter Iliev & Jonathan Kalodimos, 2021. "Analyst Information Acquisition via EDGAR," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 769-793, February.
    3. Lily Fang & Ayako Yasuda, 2014. "Are Stars’ Opinions Worth More? The Relation Between Analyst Reputation and Recommendation Values," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 46(3), pages 235-269, December.
    4. Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2015. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on investment recommendations: Analysts' perceptions and shifting institutional logics," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7), pages 1053-1081, July.
    5. Bai, John Jianqiu & Tang, Yuehua & Wan, Chi & Yüksel, H. Zafer, 2022. "Fund manager skill in an era of globalization: Offshore concentration and fund performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 18-40.
    6. Cheolwoo Lee, 2013. "Analyst firm parent–subsidiary relationship and conflict of interest: evidence from IPO recommendations," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(3), pages 763-789, September.
    7. Ambrus Kecskés & Roni Michaely & Kent L. Womack, 2017. "Do Earnings Estimates Add Value to Sell-Side Analysts’ Investment Recommendations?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1855-1871, June.
    8. Hassan Tehranian & Mengxing Zhao & Julie L. Zhu, 2014. "Can Analysts Analyze Mergers?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(4), pages 959-979, April.
    9. Li, Fengfei & Lin, Chen & Lin, Tse-Chun, 2021. "Salient anchor and analyst recommendation downgrade," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Dan Palmon & Bharat Sarath & Hua C. Xin, 2020. "Bold Stock Recommendations: Informative or Worthless?†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 773-801, June.
    11. Lawrence D. Brown & Andrew C. Call & Michael B. Clement & Nathan Y. Sharp, 2015. "Inside the “Black Box” of Sell‐Side Financial Analysts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 1-47, March.
    12. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy, 2012. "Hiring Cheerleaders: Board Appointments of "Independent" Directors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1039-1058, June.
    13. Hess, Dieter & Kreutzmann, Daniel & Pucker, Oliver, 2011. "Projected earnings accuracy and the profitability of stock recommendations," CFR Working Papers 10-17 [rev.], University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    14. Hsieh, Wen-liang Gideon & Lee, Chin-Shen, 2021. "Who reacts to what information in securities analyst reports? Direct evidence from the investor trade imbalance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Thabang Mokoaleli-Mokoteli & Richard J. Taffler & Vineet Agarwal, 2009. "Behavioural Bias and Conflicts of Interest in Analyst Stock Recommendations," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3-4), pages 384-418.
    16. Ramnath, Sundaresh & Rock, Steve & Shane, Philip, 2008. "The financial analyst forecasting literature: A taxonomy with suggestions for further research," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 34-75.
    17. Cheng‐tsu Huang & Chu‐hsuan Chang & Hsiou‐wei Lin, 2021. "Do current‐year forecasts deserve investors' exclusive attention among analyst estimates?," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 714-723, June.
    18. Guo, Yongzhen & Wang, Yinghuan, 2024. "It is a small world: The effect of analyst-media school ties on analyst performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    19. Nerissa C. Brown & Kelsey D. Wei & Russ Wermers, 2014. "Analyst Recommendations, Mutual Fund Herding, and Overreaction in Stock Prices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(1), pages 1-20, January.
    20. Mei-Chen Lin, 2020. "When analysts encounter lottery-like stocks: lottery-like stocks and analyst stock recommendations," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 327-353, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:6:p:4435-4453. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.