IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v62y2022i5p4727-4753.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysts' knowledge structure and performance

Author

Listed:
  • Sheng Cao
  • Shuang Xue
  • Hongjun Zhu

Abstract

This article examines the effect of financial analysts' knowledge structure on their forecast performance based on manually collected data of 1590 sell‐side financial analysts' educational background. The longer the period of higher education in one major, the profounder the knowledge in a specific area (Ng & Feldman, Personnel Psychology, 62, 2009, 89), and the less likely it is grasped by self‐education outside university. Thus, we argue that analysts who study the same (different) major in undergraduate and postgraduate periods have deeper (wider) knowledge and better (poorer) understanding to a major‐related industry (Brown et al., Journal of Accounting Research, 53, 2015, 1). Our results show that financial analysts with deeper knowledge tend to release more accurate earnings forecasts and their earnings revisions evoke larger market reactions. The forecast advantage of analysts with deeper knowledge is more pronounced when firms' business is more concentrated or more relevant to analysts' knowledge. We conclude that the knowledge structure cultivated by higher education can partially explain analysts' job performance and deeper knowledge can bring better industry understanding besides work experience (Bradley et al., The Journal of Finance, 72, 2017, 751).

Suggested Citation

  • Sheng Cao & Shuang Xue & Hongjun Zhu, 2022. "Analysts' knowledge structure and performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(5), pages 4727-4753, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:62:y:2022:i:5:p:4727-4753
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.13026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.13026
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.13026?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. Dechow, Patricia M. & Sloan, Richard G., 1991. "Executive incentives and the horizon problem : An empirical investigation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-89, March.
    2. Xu, Yan & Xu, Nianhang & Chan, Kam C. & Li, Zhe, 2021. "Generalists vs. specialists: Who are better acquirers?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Danling Jiang & Alok Kumar & Kelvin K. F. Law, 2016. "Political contributions and analyst behavior," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 37-88, March.
    4. Wang, Long & Keith Murnighan, J., 2013. "The generalist bias," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 47-61.
    5. Christopher J. Malloy, 2005. "The Geography of Equity Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 719-755, April.
    6. Ashenfelter, Orley & Krueger, Alan B, 1994. "Estimates of the Economic Returns to Schooling from a New Sample of Twins," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1157-1173, December.
    7. Xu, Nianhang & Chan, Kam C. & Jiang, Xuanyu & Yi, Zhihong, 2013. "Do star analysts know more firm-specific information? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 89-102.
    8. Custódio, Cláudia & Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro, 2013. "Generalists versus specialists: Lifetime work experience and chief executive officer pay," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 471-492.
    9. Bartov, Eli & Givoly, Dan & Hayn, Carla, 2002. "The rewards to meeting or beating earnings expectations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 173-204, June.
    10. Mikhail, MB & Walther, BR & Willis, RH, 1997. "Do security analysts improve their performance with experience?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35, pages 131-157.
    11. Mishra, Dev R., 2014. "The dark side of CEO ability: CEO general managerial skills and cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 390-409.
    12. Ying Cao & Feng Guan & Zengquan Li & Yong George Yang, 2020. "Analysts’ Beauty and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 4315-4335, September.
    13. Gounopoulos, Dimitrios & Pham, Hang, 2018. "Specialist CEOs and IPO survival," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 217-243.
    14. Michael B. Clement & Senyo Y. Tse, 2005. "Financial Analyst Characteristics and Herding Behavior in Forecasting," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 307-341, February.
    15. Stuart C. Gilson & Paul M. Healy & Christopher F. Noe & Krishna G. Palepu, 2001. "Analyst Specialization and Conglomerate Stock Breakups," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 565-582, December.
    16. Brockman, Paul & Lee, Hye Seung (Grace) & Salas, Jesus M., 2016. "Determinants of CEO compensation: Generalist–specialist versus insider–outsider attributes," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 53-77.
    17. Zambrana, Rafael & Zapatero, Fernando, 2021. "A tale of two types: Generalists vs. specialists in asset management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 844-861.
    18. Xianjie He & Huifang Yin & Yachang Zeng & Huai Zhang & Hailong Zhao, 2019. "Facial Structure and Achievement Drive: Evidence from Financial Analysts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 1013-1057, September.
    19. Glenn W. Boyle & Graeme A. Guthrie, 2003. "Investment, Uncertainty, and Liquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2143-2166, October.
    20. Clement, Michael B., 1999. "Analyst forecast accuracy: Do ability, resources, and portfolio complexity matter?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 285-303, July.
    21. Lily Hua Fang & Sterling Huang, 2017. "Gender and Connections among Wall Street Analysts," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(9), pages 3305-3335.
    22. Daniel Bradley & Sinan Gokkaya & Xi Liu, 2017. "Before an Analyst Becomes an Analyst: Does Industry Experience Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(2), pages 751-792, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. K. Hung Chan & Ray R. Wang & Ruixin Wang, 2021. "The Macbeth Factor: The Dark Side of Achievement‐driving Analysts," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 57(2), pages 325-361, June.
    2. 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.
    3. Sean Cleary & Jonathan Jona & Gladys Lee & Joshua Shemesh, 2020. "Underlying risk preferences and analyst risk‐taking behavior," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 949-981, July.
    4. T. Bourveau & A. Garel & P. Peter Joos & A. Petit-Romec, 2024. "When attention is away, analysts misplay: distraction and analyst forecast performance," Post-Print hal-03844012, HAL.
    5. 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.
    6. Bingxu Fang & Ole-Kristian Hope, 2021. "Analyst teams," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 425-467, June.
    7. Lihua Liu & Dongmin Kong & Wei Yang, 2022. "Brain gain of analysts in China: foreign experiences and forecast accuracy," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2089-2129, June.
    8. Bartholdy, Jan & Feng, Tiyi, 2013. "The quality of securities firms' earnings forecasts and stock recommendations: Do informational advantages, reputation and experience matter in China?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 66-88.
    9. Carole Gresse & Laurence Porteu de la Morandière, 2015. "Rising and Senior Stars in European Financial Analyst Rankings: The Talented and the Famous," Working Papers 01, Groupe ESC Pau, Research Department, revised Jan 2015.
    10. Hope, Ole-Kristian & Su, Xijiang, 2021. "Peer-level analyst transitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Kumar, Alok & Rantala, Ville & Xu, Rosy, 2022. "Social learning and analyst behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 434-461.
    12. Huang, Allen H. & Lin, An-Ping & Zang, Amy Y., 2022. "Cross-industry information sharing among colleagues and analyst research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    13. Kim, Yongtae & Lobo, Gerald J. & Song, Minsup, 2011. "Analyst characteristics, timing of forecast revisions, and analyst forecasting ability," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 2158-2168, August.
    14. O. Emre Ergungor & Leonardo Madureira & Nandkumar Nayar & Ajai K. Singh, 2011. "Banking relationships and sell-side research," Working Papers (Old Series) 1114, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    15. Omesh Kini & Shehzad Mian & Michael Rebello & Anand Venkateswaran, 2009. "On the Structure of Analyst Research Portfolios and Forecast Accuracy," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 867-909, September.
    16. Sanghyuk Byun & Kristin Roland, 2021. "Analyst bias and forecast consistency," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5403-5437, December.
    17. Danling Jiang & Alok Kumar & Kelvin K. F. Law, 2016. "Political contributions and analyst behavior," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 37-88, March.
    18. Nguyen, Lan Thi Mai & Cheong, Chee Seng & Zurbruegg, Ralf, 2022. "The heterogeneous impact of industry concentration on analyst performance," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    19. Ergungor, Ozgur E. & Madureira, Leonardo & Nayar, Nandkumar & Singh, Ajai K., 2015. "Lending relationships and analysts’ forecasts," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 71-88.
    20. Beardsley, Erik L. & Robinson, John R. & Wong, Paul A., 2021. "What's my target? Individual analyst forecasts and last-chance earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:acctfi:v:62:y:2022:i:5:p:4727-4753. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.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.