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  • Journal of Finance

Does the Scope of the Sell-Side Analyst Industry Matter? An Examination of Bias, Accuracy, and Information Content of Analyst Reports

By: Kenneth Merkley, Roni Michaely and Joseph Pacelli
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Abstract

We examine changes in the scope of the sell-side analyst industry and whether these changes impact information dissemination and the quality of analysts’ reports. Our findings suggest that changes in the number of analysts covering an industry impact analyst competition and have significant spillover effects on other analysts’ forecast accuracy, bias, report informativeness, and effort. These spillover industry effects are incremental to the effects of firm level changes in analyst coverage. Overall, a more significant sell-side analyst industry presence has positive externalities that can result in better functioning capital markets.

Keywords

Analyst Industry; Sell-side Analysts; Analyst Reports; Finance; Analysis; Information; Reports; Quality; Financial Services Industry

Citation

Merkley, Kenneth, Roni Michaely, and Joseph Pacelli. "Does the Scope of the Sell-Side Analyst Industry Matter? An Examination of Bias, Accuracy, and Information Content of Analyst Reports." Journal of Finance 72, no. 3 (June 2017): 1285–1334.
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About The Author

Joseph Pacelli

Accounting and Management
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