Power and conflicts of interest in professional firms: Evidence from investment banking

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hayward, MLA; Boeker, W
• 署名单位: University of London; London Business School; University of London; London Business School
• 刊物名称: ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-8392
• DOI: 10.2307/2393589
• 发表日期: 1998
• 页码: 1-22
• 关键词: AGENCY THEORY PERSPECTIVE; performance; reputation; analysts

摘要

We study the resolution of conflicts of interest that arise when actors in professional firms represent separate parties with competing interests, using models of power and reputation to predict the resolution of such conflicts. We tested models on an initial sample of over 8,000 security analysts' ratings of corporate equity securities. Results show that analysts rate their clients' securities more favorably than other analysts rating the same securities. This positive bias is moderated by the reputation of the analyst and his or her department. Implications and extensions for organizational theory, multiservice professional firms, and security market regulation are discussed.