IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlstud/v35y2006p303-325.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Conflict or Credibility: Research Analyst Conflicts of Interest and the Market for Underwriting Business

Author

Listed:
  • James C. Spindler

Abstract

This paper argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, conflicts of interest among equities research analysts (that is, when investment banks would offer positive analyst research in quid pro quos for underwriting business) were beneficial to the capital markets. First, conflicted analyst research credibly signaled positive inside information that is otherwise too costly to communicate under Securities Act liability, correcting informational asymmetries. Second, conflicted analyst research mitigated agency costs between issuer and underwriter by allowing the underwriter to credibly commit to exerting more effort than the underwriter would prefer. Third, analyst research quid pro quos took the form of a competitive bidding market among underwriters and may have improved competition in the underwriting industry. In light of these conclusions, recent reforms prohibiting analyst conflicts of interest are counterproductive. Preferable modes of regulation include liberalizing Securities Act liability, increasing mandatory disclosure of conflicts, and increasing fraud penalties.

Suggested Citation

  • James C. Spindler, 2006. "Conflict or Credibility: Research Analyst Conflicts of Interest and the Market for Underwriting Business," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(2), pages 303-325, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:v:35:y:2006:p:303-325
    DOI: 10.1086/505054
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/505054
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/505054?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin, Hsiou-wei & McNichols, Maureen F., 1998. "Underwriting relationships, analysts' earnings forecasts and investment recommendations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 101-127, February.
    2. Paul A. Gompers & Josh Lerner, 2003. "The Really Long‐Run Performance of Initial Public Offerings: The Pre‐Nasdaq Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(4), pages 1355-1392, August.
    3. Michaely, Roni & Womack, Kent L, 1999. "Conflict of Interest and the Credibility of Underwriter Analyst Recommendations," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 653-686.
    4. Cowen, Amanda & Groysberg, Boris & Healy, Paul, 2006. "Which types of analyst firms are more optimistic?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 119-146, April.
    5. Hsuan‐Chi Chen & Jay R. Ritter, 2000. "The Seven Percent Solution," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(3), pages 1105-1131, June.
    6. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "The Limits of Arbitrage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 35-55, March.
    7. Krigman, Laurie & Shaw, Wayne H. & Womack, Kent L., 2001. "Why do firms switch underwriters?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 245-284, May.
    8. Aggarwal, Rajesh K. & Krigman, Laurie & Womack, Kent L., 2002. "Strategic IPO underpricing, information momentum, and lockup expiration selling," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 105-137, October.
    9. Mahoney, Paul G, 2001. "The Political Economy of the Securities Act of 1933," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(1), pages 1-31, January.
    10. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    11. Booth, James R. & Smith, Richard II, 1986. "Capital raising, underwriting and the certification hypothesis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 261-281.
    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. William Forbes, 2013. "No conflict, no interest: on the economics of conflicts of interest faced by analysts," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 327-348, June.

    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. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    2. Mehran, Hamid & Stulz, Rene M., 2007. "The economics of conflicts of interest in financial institutions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 267-296, August.
    3. James, Christopher & Karceski, Jason, 2006. "Strength of analyst coverage following IPOs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 1-34, October.
    4. Juyoun Ryoo & Cheolwoo Lee & Jin Q Jeon, 2020. "Sustainability of Analyst Recommendations in Multiple Lead Underwriter IPOs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-36, March.
    5. Mola, Simona & Guidolin, Massimo, 2009. "Affiliated mutual funds and analyst optimism," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 108-137, July.
    6. 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.
    7. Degeorge, François & Derrien, Francois & Womack, Kent L, 2004. "Quid Pro Quo in IPOs: Why Book-Building is Dominating Auctions," CEPR Discussion Papers 4462, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Walter Boudry & Jarl Kallberg & Crocker Liu, 2011. "Analyst Behavior and Underwriter Choice," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 5-38, July.
    9. Sebastián Nieto-Parra, 2009. "Who Saw Sovereign Debt Crises Coming?," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2009), pages 125-169.
    10. Trauten, Andreas, 2004. "Zur Effizienz von Wertpapieremissionen über Internetplattformen," Working Papers 8, University of Münster, Competence Center Internet Economy and Hybrid Systems, European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS).
    11. Chatalova, Natalia & How, Janice C.Y. & Verhoeven, Peter, 2016. "Analyst coverage and IPO management forecasts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 263-277.
    12. Reber, Beat, 2017. "Does mispricing, liquidity or third-party certification contribute to IPO downside risk?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 25-53.
    13. Bin Ke & Yong Yu, 2006. "The Effect of Issuing Biased Earnings Forecasts on Analysts' Access to Management and Survival," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(5), pages 965-999, December.
    14. Chiao, Chaoshin & Lin, Tung-Ying & Lee, Cheng-Few, 2017. "The reactions to on-air stock reports: Prices, volume, and order submission behavior," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 27-46.
    15. Jeon, Jin Q. & Lee, Cheolwoo & Nasser, Tareque & Via, M. Tony, 2015. "Multiple lead underwriter IPOs and firm visibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 128-149.
    16. Dambra, Michael & Field, Laura Casares & Gustafson, Matthew T. & Pisciotta, Kevin, 2018. "The consequences to analyst involvement in the IPO process: Evidence surrounding the JOBS Act," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 302-330.
    17. Paul Oyer, 2006. "The Making of an Investment Banker: Macroeconomic Shocks, Career Choice, and Lifetime Income," NBER Working Papers 12059, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Chen, Chao & Shi, Haina & Xu, Haoping, 2014. "The IPO underwriting market share in China: Do ownership and quality matter?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 177-189.
    19. Kovner, Anna, 2012. "Do underwriters matter? The impact of the near failure of an equity underwriter," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 507-529.
    20. Tristan Roger, 2018. "The coverage assignments of financial analysts," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 651-673, September.

    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:ucp:jlstud:v:35:y:2006:p:303-325. 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JLS .

    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.