Time: 13:30, Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Venue: Guoshun Campus, Room 503, Starr Building

Host: Professor Chenkai Ni

Speaker: Fangbo Si, Jinan University

Topic: Financial Analysts, Tech-Spillover and Innovation Direction: Evidence from Conference Calls

Abstract:

This paper examines how sell-side analysts' technology-related questions during earnings conference calls facilitate the diffusion of otherwise proprietary technological information across firms, thereby influencing the innovation direction of industry peers.

Using patent and conference call data from 2007 to 2023, the study finds that analyst questioning about industry peers is associated with a greater subsequent shift in focal firms' innovation toward the technological trajectories pursued by those peers. The results suggest that this effect is driven primarily by analysts' questioning behavior rather than by managers' voluntary disclosures.

To strengthen causal identification, the paper employs an instrumental-variable approach that exploits Ramadan-induced variation in Muslim analysts' participation in conference calls. The findings further indicate that these information spillovers are associated with higher-quality innovation outcomes.

Overall, the study provides new evidence on the role of financial analysts as information intermediaries shaping the direction of corporate innovation.