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Determinants of occurrence of excessive optimism among analysts of the Warsaw Stock Exchange

Author

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  • Rados³aw Pastusiak

    (University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, Rewolucji 1905 St. No 39, 90-214 Lodz, Poland)

  • Jakub Keller

    (University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, Rewolucji 1905 St. No 39, 90-214 Lodz, Poland)

Abstract

This paper deals with the phenomenon of excessive optimism in brokerage valuations, which is manifested by one-sided errors in the valuation of securities in reference to the real price achieved by the particular stock in the horizon of one year. The phenomenon of over-optimism is complex both from the perspective of the individual characteristics of stock market analysts as well as the psychological aspects of market functioning and the mechanisms that determine the volatility of stock prices. Due to the wide range of factors affecting the occurrence of the examined phenomenon, the authors focus only on the market aspects influencing the occurrence of excessive optimism in brokerage recommendations. The research examines over 10,000 recommendations for companies from the Warsaw Stock Exchange and from more than 40 financial institutions which evaluated companies in the period 2000-2014. For the purposes of analyzes, over-optimism in valuations is defined as an overestimation of the target price in the case of positive recommendations and as an underestimation of the price decline in the case of negative ones. The results confirmed the hypotheses of the heterogeneity of the phenomenon of excessive optimism both for different economic sectors and individual financial institutions. The authors see it as a good result considering the fact that regression uses only variables related to market characteristics of the recommendations issued, omitting other spheres influencing the occurrence of excessive optimism among analysts.

Suggested Citation

  • Rados³aw Pastusiak & Jakub Keller, 2019. "Determinants of occurrence of excessive optimism among analysts of the Warsaw Stock Exchange," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 37(1), pages 259-275.
    • Handle: RePEc:rfe:zbefri:v:37:y:2019:i:1:p:259-275
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    excessive optimism; stock valuation; capital market; investments; Poland; Warsaw Stock Exchange;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G17 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Financial Forecasting and Simulation

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