How do analysts affect corporate innovation? Evidence from site visits

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cheng, Qiang; Wang, Brian Yutao; Yang, Holly; Zhang, Zheyuan
• 署名单位: Singapore Management University; Renmin University of China; Capital University of Economics & Business
• 刊物名称: CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0823-9150
• DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.13032
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 1528-1556
• 关键词: knowledge spillovers; AGENCY COSTS; coverage; firm; management

摘要

While prior studies have examined whether financial analysts affect corporate innovation, there is little research on the mechanism through which this occurs. In this paper, we examine whether and how analysts' questions about innovation during site visits affect corporate innovation. Using a sample of corporate site visits in China, we find that when analysts ask questions about innovation during site visits, firms invest more in R&D in the future. Consistent with knowledge diffusion across firms, this association is stronger when analysts cover more firms in the same industry, when firms share similar technologies as industry peers, and when an innovation-expert analyst is present at site visits. We also find that analysts' questions about innovation during site visits are positively associated with the quantity and quality of firms' patent applications in the future. Overall, we provide evidence that analysts can affect corporate innovation through their questions about firms' innovation activities.