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Sell-side analysts’ career concerns during banking stresses

Author

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  • Nolte, Ingmar
  • Nolte, Sandra
  • Vasios, Michalis

Abstract

We propose a new approach to examine sell-side analysts’ career concerns by relating their forecast boldness to their employers’ news flows. Specifically, we use banking sector news to proxy for the severity of career concerns. Analysts follow more closely the consensus forecast when the prospects of the banking sector are negative (and vice versa). The effect is both economically and statistically significant after controlling for various firm, analyst, brokerage house, and forecasting characteristics, as well as sector and economy wide effects. The more established analysts, in terms of reputation and experience, are generally unaffected by banking sector news. In contrast, their less established peers tend to cluster their forecasts near the consensus after a sequence of negative news flows for banks. Collectively, our results support the notion that during banking stresses when job security is low analysts’ tendency to imitate others increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Nolte, Ingmar & Nolte, Sandra & Vasios, Michalis, 2014. "Sell-side analysts’ career concerns during banking stresses," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 424-441.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:49:y:2014:i:c:p:424-441
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2014.03.010
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    Cited by:

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    2. Vadim S. Balashov & Zhanel B. DeVides, 2020. "Is Diversification A Job Safety Net For Sell‐Side Analysts?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 543-573, August.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sell-side analysts; News flows; Career concerns; Financial crisis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage

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