Call For Papers
Accounting and Business Research Special Issue: Financial Analysts' Role in Valuation and Stewardship

Financial analysts serve as important information intermediaries in capital markets between firms and investors. Their activities can assist in the efficient allocation of resources, improve market liquidity and enhance market confidence, yet in the aftermath of the financial crisis, important questions have been asked about the effectiveness of financial analysts. Beyer et al. (2010) suggest that investors demand accounting information for valuation and stewardship purposes, and that the interaction between voluntary and mandatory disclosures, along with the reporting decisions of analysts, help shape the corporate information environment. The existing academic literature on financial analysts focuses primarily on sell-side equity analysts, paying particular attention to the properties of earnings forecasts, whether they use the available information and whether they convey useful information (Ramnath et al., 2008). While these issues are interesting and important, the existing academic literature on financial analysts can be further enriched in a number of ways.

TOPICS: This special issue seeks to encourage a broad spectrum of research on financial analysts that addresses, though is not necessarily limited to, the following questions:
- How do economic incentives and decision contexts influence the underlying processes of financial analysts' valuation (e.g. Bradshaw, 2009; Schipper, 1991)?
- What is the stewardship role of financial analysts (including buy-side analysts, institutional investors or independent sell-side analysts) and how do analysts help deter opportunistic behaviour in firms' disclosure (e.g. Athanasakou et al., 2009; Christensen et al., 2013; Rees and Twedt, 2011; Roberts et al., 2006)?
- are analysts' forecasts associated with their other various outputs, such as price forecasts, risk ratings, and recommendations (e.g. Bradshaw, 2011), as well as the content and linguistic aspects of analysts' reports (e.g. Asquith et al., 2005)?
- What factors enhance or limit financial analysts' "early warning" function before major capital market upheavals, such as the technology bubble of late 1990s, the high profile accounting scandals of early 2000s, and the excessive risk taking of banks in the recent financial crisis?
- How effective are other types of analysts, such as buy-side equity analysts, bond analysts and credit rating analysts and how do they operate? We know comparatively little about such analysts compared with sell-side analysts, despite some notable contributions (e.g. Barker, 1998; Cheng et al., 2006; Imam et al., 2008; De Franco et al., 2009; White, 2010).
- What kinds of non-financial or alternative information (e.g. corporate social responsibility, social network, and human capital) do analysts incorporate into their forecasts and research reports (e.g. Orens and Lybaert, 2010)?
- How can non-economic perspectives advance our understanding of analysts' role and effectiveness in capital markets (Roberts et al., 2006; Westphal and Clement, 2008; Westphal and Graebner, 2010)?

In keeping with the Aims and Scope of Accounting and Business Research, papers are welcomed adopting various theoretical perspectives (including economic, psychological, sociological) and various methodologies (including case studies, questionnaire and interview surveys, empirical studies based on archival data and analytical models). Empirical studies of analysts in various countries and jurisdictions (e.g. Asia and Europe) are also encouraged.

REFERENCES:
- Asquith, P., Mikhail, M., and Au, A. 2005. Information content of equity analyst reports. Journal of Financial Economics, 75 (2), 245-282.
- Athanasakou, V., Strong, N., and Walker, M. 2009. Earnings management or forecast guidance to meet analyst expectations? Accounting and Business Research, 39 (1), 3-35.
- Barker, R. G. 1998. The market for information - evidence from finance directors, analysts and fund managers. Accounting and Business Research, 29 (1), 3-20.
- Beyer, A., Cohen, D., Lys, T., and Walther, B. 2010. The financial reporting environment: Review of recent literature. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50 (2-3), 296-343.
- Bradshaw, M. 2009. Analyst information processing, financial regulation, and academic research. The Accounting Review, 84 (4), 1073-1083.
- Bradshaw, M. 2011. Analysts' forecasts: What do we know after decades of work? Working paper, Boston College.
- Cheng, Y., Liu, M., and Qian, J. 2006. Buy-side analysts, sell-side analysts, and investment decisions of money managers. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 41 (1), 51-83.
- Christensen, P., Frimor, H., and Sabac, F., 2013. The stewardship role of analyst forecasts, and discretionary versus non-discretionary accruals. European Accounting Review, 22 (2), 257-296.
- De Franco, G., Vasvari, F., and Wittenberg-Moerman, R. 2009. The informational role of bond analysts. Journal of Accounting Research, 47 (5), 1201-1248.
- Imam, S., Barker, R. and Clubb, C. 2008, The use of valuation models by UK investment analysts. European Accounting Review, 17 (3), 503-535.
- Orens, R. and Lybaert, N. 2010. Determinants of sell-side financial analysts' use of non-financial information, Accounting and Business
Research, 40 (1), 39-53.
- Ramnath, S., Rock, S., and Shane, P. 2008. The financial analyst forecasting literature: A taxonomy with suggestions for further research. International Journal of Forecasting, 24 (1), 34-75.
- Rees, L. and Twedt, B. 2011. The stock price effects from downward earnings guidance versus beating analysts' forecasts: Which effect dominates? Accounting and Business Research, 41 (2), 95-118.
- Roberts, J., Sanderson, P., Barker, R., and Hendry, J. 2006. In the mirror of the market: The disciplinary effects of company/fund manager meetings. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 31 (3), 277-294.
- Schipper, K. 1991. Analysts' forecasts. Accounting Horizons, 5 (4), 105-121.
- Westphal, J. and Clement, M. 2008. Sociopolitical dynamics in relation between top managers and security analysts: Favor rendering reciprocity, and analyst stock recommendation. Academy of Management Journal, 51 (5), 873-897.
- Westphal, J. and Graebner, M., 2010. A matter of appearances: How corporate leaders manage the impression of financial analysts about the conduct of their boards. Academy of Management Journal, 53 (1), 15-44
- White, L. 2010. Markets: The credit rating agencies. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24 (2), 211-226.

EDITORS: Editors of the special issue: Mark Clatworthy, Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University (Mark.Clatworthy@gmail.com ) and Edward Lee, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester (Edward.Lee@mbs.ac.uk).

PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Submission deadline: July 31st 2014. Manuscripts should be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/abr Author guidelines can be found at: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=rabr20&page=instructions#.UiI9hquF-S8. All papers will be reviewed in accordance with ABR's normal processes. It is anticipated that this special issue will be published in 2015.