The Impact of Corporate Political Connections on Analyst Forecast Quality

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the companies have significant impact of political connections on analyst forecasts quality. Refer to the literature on relevant analyst information in the past, especially distinguish the information obtained by analysts into public information and private information, and check whether it will affect the quality of analysts’ forecast information. Our empirical results show that there is a significant negative correlation between companies with political ties and the accuracy of analysts' public information. It indicates that when companies have political connections, companies are only willing to disclose information to specific stakeholders, resulting in information asymmetry. Meanwhile, the accuracy of public information obtained by analysts is relatively low, while the accuracy of private information is relatively high for the companies with political connections. JEL classification numbers: G30, M41. Keywords: Political Connections, Analyst Forecast Quality.