Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 126

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Female Ceos And Investment Efficiency In The Vietnamese Market, Jun Myung Song, Chune Young Chung Dec 2023

Female Ceos And Investment Efficiency In The Vietnamese Market, Jun Myung Song, Chune Young Chung

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This paper proposes female CEOs’ overconfidence and risky behavior stem from gender stereotype threats. Using two subsamples from Vietnam—firms in the Northern and Southern regions—we empirically show that female CEOs in the North, where there is less gender stereotyping, tend to overinvest relative to male CEOs. However, in the South, they are indifferent. Additional analysis reinforces the main finding that female CEOs in the North tend to take more risks even when dealing with market volatility and uncertainty (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic). Such risky behaviors do not deteriorate firm value but, instead, possibly improve firm performance.


Legal Risk And Insider Trading, Marcin Kacperczyk, Emiliano Sebastian Pagnotta Dec 2023

Legal Risk And Insider Trading, Marcin Kacperczyk, Emiliano Sebastian Pagnotta

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Do illegal insiders internalize legal risk? We address this question with hand-collected data from 530 SEC (the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) investigations. Using two plausibly exogenous shocks to expected penalties, we show that insiders trade less aggressively and earlier and concentrate on tips of greater value when facing a higher risk. The results match the predictions of a model where an insider internalizes the impact of trades on prices and the likelihood of prosecution and anticipates penalties in proportion to trade profits. Our findings lend support to the effectiveness of U.S. regulations' deterrence and the long-standing hypothesis that insider …


Reproducibility In Management Science, MiloˇS Fišar, Ben Greiner, Christoph Huber, Elena Katok, Ali I. Ozkes, Hannah H. Chang Dec 2023

Reproducibility In Management Science, MiloˇS Fišar, Ben Greiner, Christoph Huber, Elena Katok, Ali I. Ozkes, Hannah H. Chang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

With the help of more than 700 reviewers, we assess the reproducibility of nearly 500 articles published in the journal Management Science before and after the introduction of a new Data and Code Disclosure policy in 2019. When considering only articles for which data accessibility and hardware and software requirements were not an obstacle for reviewers, the results of more than 95% of articles under the new disclosure policy could be fully or largely computationally reproduced. However, for 29% of articles, at least part of the data set was not accessible to the reviewer. Considering all articles in our sample …


Effect Of The Announcement Of Human-To-Human Transmission On Teleconsultation Services In China During Covid-19, Mairehaba Maimaitiming, Jingui Xie, Zhichao Zheng, Yongjian Zhu Dec 2023

Effect Of The Announcement Of Human-To-Human Transmission On Teleconsultation Services In China During Covid-19, Mairehaba Maimaitiming, Jingui Xie, Zhichao Zheng, Yongjian Zhu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Objectives: Telemedicine enables patients to communicate with physicians effectively, especially during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, few studies have explored the use of online health care platforms for a comprehensive range of specialties during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate how telemedicine services were affected by the announcement of human-to-human transmission in China. Methods: Telemedicine data from haodf.com in China were collected. A difference-in-differences analysis compared the number of telemedicine use and the number of active online physicians for different specialties in 2020 with the numbers in 2019, before and after the announcement of human-to-human transmission. Results: …


The Value Of Official Website Information In The Credit Risk Evaluation Of Smes, Cuiqing Jiang, Chang Yin, Qian Tang, Zhao Wang Dec 2023

The Value Of Official Website Information In The Credit Risk Evaluation Of Smes, Cuiqing Jiang, Chang Yin, Qian Tang, Zhao Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The official websites of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) not only reflect the willingness of an enterprise to disclose information voluntarily, but also can provide information related to the enterprises’ historical operations and performance. This research investigates the value of official website information in the credit risk evaluation of SMEs. To study the effect of different kinds of website information on credit risk evaluation, we propose a framework to mine effective features from two kinds of information disclosed on the official website of a SME—design-based information and content-based information—in predicting its credit risk. We select the SMEs in the software …


Vision Paper: Advancing Of Ai Explainability For The Use Of Chatgpt In Government Agencies: Proposal Of A 4-Step Framework, Hui Shan Lee, Shankararaman, Venky, Eng Lieh Ouh Dec 2023

Vision Paper: Advancing Of Ai Explainability For The Use Of Chatgpt In Government Agencies: Proposal Of A 4-Step Framework, Hui Shan Lee, Shankararaman, Venky, Eng Lieh Ouh

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper explores ChatGPT’s potential in aiding government agencies, drawing from a case study based on a government agency in Singapore. While ChatGPT’s text generation abilities offer promise, it brings inherent challenges, including data opacity, potential misinformation, and occasional errors. These issues are especially critical in government decision-making.Public administration’s core values of transparency and accountability magnify these concerns. Ensuring AI alignment with these principles is imperative, given the potential repercussions on policy outcomes and citizen trust.AI explainability plays a central role in ChatGPT’s adoption within government agencies. To address these concerns, we propose strategies like prompt engineering, data governance, and …


Using Team Rewards And Individual Assessment To Incentivize Collaboration In Team Projects, Prasart Jongjaroenkamol Dec 2023

Using Team Rewards And Individual Assessment To Incentivize Collaboration In Team Projects, Prasart Jongjaroenkamol

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Team projects are commonly used in higher education across different disciplines to promote cooperation among students. However, achieving this objective can be challenging. To address this issue, educators have explored various strategies, such as implementing peer evaluation or having periodic consultations with teams. In this paper, I present a novel approach to team assessment that combines team rewards with individual assessment. In this assessment, each team member independently takes a quiz, and the team's score is determined by the average performance of its members. Consequently, the team reward becomes intricately tied to the individual learning outcomes of all team members. …


In Search Of Cryptocurrency Failure, Donglian Ma, Jun Tu, Zhaobo Zhu Dec 2023

In Search Of Cryptocurrency Failure, Donglian Ma, Jun Tu, Zhaobo Zhu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper explores the determinants of cryptocurrency failure and the pricing of crypto failure risk. We document different significant market- and characteristic-based predictors for coin and token failures. The introduction of Bitcoin futures and the outbreak of COVID19 affect the importance of many predictors. Investors require extra return for bearing high failure risk of crypto assets. The return difference across high and low failure risk crypto assets is not explained by the market, size and momentum factors in the cryptocurrency market. Finally, investors benefit from diversifying into high failure risk crypto assets that is little correlated with the stock market.


How Commonality Persists? (Through Investors' Sentiment And Attention), Chyng Wen Tee, Raja Velu, Zhaoque Zhou Dec 2023

How Commonality Persists? (Through Investors' Sentiment And Attention), Chyng Wen Tee, Raja Velu, Zhaoque Zhou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Studies on commonality generally attribute the variation in asset returns to the variation in order flows. In this research study, we show that order flows do not predict asset returns, rather their relationship have been static over time. Thus we model both returns and the order flows as endogenous variables, and use investors' sentiment and attention as exogenous factors via a reduced-rank regression. We provide empirical evidence to demonstrate that cross-sectional commonality in attention (sentiment) is linearly (nonlinearly) associated with both returns and order flows at the intraday level, while the sentiment and attention measures themselvesexhibit a nonlinear mutual relationship, …


Are Bond Returns Predictable With Real-Time Macro Data?, Dashan Huang, Fuwei Jiang, Kunpeng Li, Guoshi Tong, Guofu Zhou Dec 2023

Are Bond Returns Predictable With Real-Time Macro Data?, Dashan Huang, Fuwei Jiang, Kunpeng Li, Guoshi Tong, Guofu Zhou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We investigate the predictability of bond returns using real-time macro variables and consider the possibility of a nonlinear predictive relationship and the presence of weak factors. To address these issues, we propose a scaled sufficient forecasting (sSUFF) method and analyze its asymptotic properties. Using both the existing and the new method, we find empirically that real-time macro variables have significant forecasting power both in-sample and out-of-sample. Moreover, they generate sizable economic values, and their predictability is not spanned by the yield curve. We also observe that the forecasted bond returns are countercyclical, and the magnitude of predictability is stronger during …


The Interpersonal Effects Of Emotional Expressions With Both And Single Valences On Work-Related Satisfaction: An Examination Of Emotions And Perceived Openness As Mediators, Ming-Hong Tsai Dec 2023

The Interpersonal Effects Of Emotional Expressions With Both And Single Valences On Work-Related Satisfaction: An Examination Of Emotions And Perceived Openness As Mediators, Ming-Hong Tsai

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Work-related satisfaction has critical benefits. To predict work-related satisfaction, we investigated how a counterpart’s expressions of emotional complexity (both positive and negative emotions), positive emotions, and negative emotions influenced a perceiver’s work-related satisfaction during discussions over different work-relevant ideas. We conducted a three-wave coworker survey (N = 529) and an experiment with a confederate as a task partner (N = 378). The results consistently showed significant positive impacts of a counterpart’s emotional complexity and positive emotion expressions on a perceiver’s work-related satisfaction by enhancing the perceiver’s positive emotions and evaluation of the counterpart’s openness. Conversely, a counterpart’s negative emotion expression …


Rule Violation And Time-To-Enforcement In Weak Institutional Environments: A Good Faith Perspective, Jun Xia, Yusi Jiang, Heli Wang, Yuan Li Nov 2023

Rule Violation And Time-To-Enforcement In Weak Institutional Environments: A Good Faith Perspective, Jun Xia, Yusi Jiang, Heli Wang, Yuan Li

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Previous studies on corporate misconduct have focused mainly on preventing misconduct or remedying it after detection, but it remains unclear how misconduct can be effectively detected in the first place once it occurs. We apply the good faith perspective in the context of China, which represents a weak institutional environment, and argue that the ability of culpable leaders to conceal information may delay misconduct disclosure because such ability helps maintain the good faith of regulators. Moreover, we argue that because the regulators have faith in professionals (external auditors, institutional investors, and securities analysts) whose skills are in fact often underdeveloped …


Sustainability Transformation: The Role Of Accountancy And Finance Professionals In The Singapore Manufacturing Sector, Jiwei Wang, Holly I. Yang, Liandong Zhang, Sanli Pinar Darendeli, Ying-Chi Huang Nov 2023

Sustainability Transformation: The Role Of Accountancy And Finance Professionals In The Singapore Manufacturing Sector, Jiwei Wang, Holly I. Yang, Liandong Zhang, Sanli Pinar Darendeli, Ying-Chi Huang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Sustainability is already reshaping the Singapore manufacturing sector. The majority of companies surveyed (70%) have started their sustainability transformation in one form or another, and many have initiated discussions. However, on the whole, only 37% of companies have implemented sustainability initiatives, and 21% have reported on sustainability. On the bright side, these percentages are slated to double within 1-3 years. The infusion of sustainability into the manufacturing sector has led to accountancy and finance professionals potentially playing a bigger role in their organisations, particularly in aligning the sustainability objectives with business strategies. The study notes that manufacturing companies are mostly …


Going Beyond The Call Of Duty Under Conditions Of Economic Threat: Integrating Life History And Temporal Dilemma Perspectives, Nina Sirola Nov 2023

Going Beyond The Call Of Duty Under Conditions Of Economic Threat: Integrating Life History And Temporal Dilemma Perspectives, Nina Sirola

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Under conditions of economic threat, such as during economic downturns, organizations can benefit from employees’ willingness to go beyond the call of duty and engage in organization-directed citizenship behavior (OCBO). Yet, such behavior is discretionary and competes for time with employees’ other interests and priorities. I integrate life history theory with the temporal dilemma perspective on organizational citizenship behavior to propose that childhood environments sensitize individuals to prioritize different goals in response to economic threat later in life. Consistent with strategies for responding to threat that are functional in their childhood environments, employees from wealthier backgrounds respond to economic threat …


Within-Development Density And Housing Prices In Singapore, Eric Fesselmeyer, Haoming Liu, Louisa Poco Nov 2023

Within-Development Density And Housing Prices In Singapore, Eric Fesselmeyer, Haoming Liu, Louisa Poco

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper measures how much more households pay for less density in their immediate surroundings. Using transaction and administrative data and exploiting the introduction of a regulation that restricted the number of housing units for certain land lots, we find that households discount density: a 10% increase in within-development density decreases the price per square meter by 5%. Further, the mean price per square meter of the average development increased by 1%–3% after the regulation was introduced, while the amount of built-up space remained constant. The increase in total revenue suggests developers may underestimate the externality caused by density.


Public Communication Of Audit Risks And Related-Party Transactions: Evidence From China, Ole-Kristian Hope, Heng Yue, Qinlin Zhong Nov 2023

Public Communication Of Audit Risks And Related-Party Transactions: Evidence From China, Ole-Kristian Hope, Heng Yue, Qinlin Zhong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines whether and how firms' engagement in related-party transactions (RPTs) is shaped by public communication of audit risks as required by the expanded audit report. Using the phased regulatory changes in China and a difference-in-differences design with firm fixed effects and matching, we find that firms significantly reduce their RPTs after the adoption of expanded audit reports (EARs). To investigate potential mechanisms, we find that (1) investor scrutiny increases after the adoption of EARs, (2) the reduction of RPTs is more pronounced when EARs are more likely to attract investor attention, and (3) the reduction of RPTs is …


Time To Regulate Influencers Who Tell You Where To Put Your Money, Patricia Lui Nov 2023

Time To Regulate Influencers Who Tell You Where To Put Your Money, Patricia Lui

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Financial scandals elsewhere have shown that ‘finfluencers’ do not always act in good faith and can mislead their followers.


The State-Led Platformisation Of Financial Services: Frictionless Ecosystems And An Expansive Logic Of "Smartness" In Singapore, Orlando Woods, Tim Bunnell, Lily Kong Nov 2023

The State-Led Platformisation Of Financial Services: Frictionless Ecosystems And An Expansive Logic Of "Smartness" In Singapore, Orlando Woods, Tim Bunnell, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article explores the role of the state in driving the platformisation of industry, and in doing so offers a counterpoint to scholarship that focusses on the exploitative effects of private sector-led platformisation. That scholarship views platformisation as the latest incarnation of neoliberal urbanism, with the profit-maximising tendencies of the private sector driving the proliferation of platforms throughout everyday life. Notwith- standing, there remains a need to consider alternative models of platformisation. Drawing on 31 interviews with architects of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative, we consider the state-led platformisation of financial services. We argue that state-led platformisation can open up marketplaces …


The Rise Of Multi-Homing In Asia's Ride-Hailing Industry, Hai Wang Nov 2023

The Rise Of Multi-Homing In Asia's Ride-Hailing Industry, Hai Wang

Asian Management Insights

Getting it right secures environmental and economic wins for the present and future.


Effects Of Framing, Nomenclature, And Aversion To Tampering With Nature On Consumer Acceptance Of Cultivated Meat In Singapore, Mark Chong, Angela K. Y. Leung, Tricia M. Fernandez, Shu Tian Ng Nov 2023

Effects Of Framing, Nomenclature, And Aversion To Tampering With Nature On Consumer Acceptance Of Cultivated Meat In Singapore, Mark Chong, Angela K. Y. Leung, Tricia M. Fernandez, Shu Tian Ng

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper comprises a qualitative (Study 1) and a quantitative phase (Study 2). Study 1 aimed to find out what frames and nomenclature would appeal most to meat eaters – including consumers who have eaten cultivated chicken – in Singapore. It also aimed to discover whether perceptions of cultivated meat's naturalness varied across different age groups. Study 2 assessed which message frame and nomenclature were most effective in fostering consumer acceptance of cultivated meat. In addition, it investigated if age was related to the perception of cultivated meat's naturalness and acceptance, and whether aversion to tampering with nature was negatively …


On The Trajectory Of Discrimination: A Meta-Analysis And Forecasting Survey Capturing 44 Years Of Field Experiments On Gender And Hiring Decisions, Michael Schaerer, Christilene Du Plessis, My Hoang Nguyen, Robbie C. M. Van Aert, Leo Tiokkin, Daniel Lakens, Elena G. Clemente, Thomas Pfeiffer, Anna Dreber, Magnus Johannesson, Cory J. Clark Nov 2023

On The Trajectory Of Discrimination: A Meta-Analysis And Forecasting Survey Capturing 44 Years Of Field Experiments On Gender And Hiring Decisions, Michael Schaerer, Christilene Du Plessis, My Hoang Nguyen, Robbie C. M. Van Aert, Leo Tiokkin, Daniel Lakens, Elena G. Clemente, Thomas Pfeiffer, Anna Dreber, Magnus Johannesson, Cory J. Clark

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

A preregistered meta-analysis, including 244 effect sizes from 85 field audits and 361,645 individual job applications, tested for gender bias in hiring practices in female-stereotypical and gender-balanced as well as male-stereotypical jobs from 1976 to 2020. A “red team” of independent experts was recruited to increase the rigor and robustness of our meta-analytic approach. A forecasting survey further examined whether laypeople (n = 499 nationally representative adults) and scientists (n = 312) could predict the results. Forecasters correctly anticipated reductions in discrimination against female candidates over time. However, both scientists and laypeople overestimated the continuation of bias against female candidates. …


Money Changers Have Their Own Fintech Disruption To Grapple With, Aurobindo Ghosh Nov 2023

Money Changers Have Their Own Fintech Disruption To Grapple With, Aurobindo Ghosh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In a commentary, SMU Assistant Professor of Finance (Education) and Director of the Citi Foundation-SMU Financial Literacy Programme for Young Adults Aurobindo Ghosh discussed the outlook for money changers in a world of multi-currency apps. He however noted money changers still have a role to play, and shared his views on how money changers can respond to technological disruption.


In Customer Service, When Is A Full Refund Justified?, Hannah H. Chang Oct 2023

In Customer Service, When Is A Full Refund Justified?, Hannah H. Chang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Marketing Hannah Chang discussed the challenges in achieving balance between making genuine amends for the specific incident and strategic reputation management when customers complain. She also noted the challenges in balancing between offering genuine redress and not setting precedents that encourage unreasonable demands. Assoc Prof Chang also shared how companies can take preventive measures by setting clear policies for refunds or compensation, and monitoring online sentiment to stay ahead of brewing issues, thus allowing businesses to address concerns in real time.


Digital Wealth Management And Consumption: Micro Evidence From Individual Investments, Qian Gong, Mingyuan Ban, Yunjun Yu, Luying Wang, Yan Yuan Oct 2023

Digital Wealth Management And Consumption: Micro Evidence From Individual Investments, Qian Gong, Mingyuan Ban, Yunjun Yu, Luying Wang, Yan Yuan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

With the rapid advancement of digital finance in China, accessing wealth management services through digital platforms has become considerably convenient. However, the potential impact of digital platform investments on residents' consumption remains a relatively unexplored question. This study addresses this gap by leveraging a unique dataset obtained from one of China's largest fintech companies, encompassing individual-level data on consumption and investment. Our findings indicate that engaging in digital platform investments can indeed stimulate residents' consumption. Importantly, participation in digital platform investment has an inclusive effect, with a more pronounced marginal impact on consumption among low-income residents and in-dividuals residing in …


Commentary: Black Or White? Wrong Or Right? Don't Rush To Take Sides On Complex Issues Such As Israel-Hamas Conflict, Siow-Heng Ong, Benjamin Joshua Ong Oct 2023

Commentary: Black Or White? Wrong Or Right? Don't Rush To Take Sides On Complex Issues Such As Israel-Hamas Conflict, Siow-Heng Ong, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

While responses to the Israel-Hamas conflict have been bitterly divided, they showcase a common phenomenon of people viewing complex situations in black-and-white terms. But how did we get here?


Why Do Farmers’ Cooperatives Fail In A Market Economy? Rediscovering Chayanov With The Chinese Experience, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson Oct 2023

Why Do Farmers’ Cooperatives Fail In A Market Economy? Rediscovering Chayanov With The Chinese Experience, Zhanping Hu, Qian Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In The Theory of Peasant Cooperatives, Chayanov develops the theories of differential optima and vertical integration, which stress the vulnerability of peasant farming in capitalist markets, and argues that cooperatives can support smallholders only if they operate as ‘a cooperative movement’, are buttressed by a strong ‘cooperative culture’, and achieve ‘vertical integration’. Based on extensive fieldwork in China, we identify six major obstacles that explain the failure of most cooperatives. Chayanov’s arguments caution us to not only the vital importance of cooperatives to the resilience of peasant farming, but also the apparently insurmountable obstacles that cooperatives face in market economies.


Estimating And Applying Autoregression Models Via Their Eigensystem Representation, Leo Krippner Oct 2023

Estimating And Applying Autoregression Models Via Their Eigensystem Representation, Leo Krippner

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This article introduces the eigensystem autoregression (EAR) framework, which allows an AR model to be specified, estimated, and applied directly in terms of its eigenvalues and eigenvectors. An EAR estimation can therefore impose various constraints on AR dynamics that would not be possible within standard linear estimation. Examples are restricting eigenvalue magnitudes to control the rate of mean reversion, additionally imposing that eigenvalues be real and positive to avoid pronounced oscillatory behavior, and eliminating the possibility of explosive episodes in a time-varying AR. The EAR framework also produces closed-form AR forecasts and associated variances, and forecasts and data may be …


Interpersonal Behavior In Assessment Center Role-Play Exercises: Investigating Structure, Consistency, And Effectiveness, Simon M. Breil, Filip Lievens, Boris Forthmann, Mitla D. Back Sep 2023

Interpersonal Behavior In Assessment Center Role-Play Exercises: Investigating Structure, Consistency, And Effectiveness, Simon M. Breil, Filip Lievens, Boris Forthmann, Mitla D. Back

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Although the behaviors displayed by assessees are the currency of assessment centers (ACs), they have remained largely unexplored. This is surprising because a better understanding of assessees' behaviors may provide the missing link between research on the determinants of assessee performance and research on the validity of performance ratings. Therefore, this study draws on behavioral personality science to scrutinize the behaviors that assessees express in interpersonal AC exercises. Our goals were to investigate (a) the structure of interpersonal behaviors, (b) the consistency of these behaviors across AC exercises, and (c) their effectiveness. We obtained videotaped performances of 203 assessees who …


Housing Fever In Australia 2020-23: Insights From An Econometric Thermometer, Shuping Shi, Peter C. B. Phillips Sep 2023

Housing Fever In Australia 2020-23: Insights From An Econometric Thermometer, Shuping Shi, Peter C. B. Phillips

Research Collection School Of Economics

Australian housing markets experienced widespread and, in some cases, extraordinary growth in prices between 2020 and 2023. Using recently developed methodology that accounts for fundamental economic drivers, we assess the existence and degree of speculative behaviour, as well as the timing of exuberance and downturns in these markets. Our findings indicate that speculative behaviour was indeed present in six of the eight capital cities at some time over the period studied. The sequence of events in this nation-wide housing bubble began in the Brisbane market and concluded in Melbourne, Canberra, and Hobart following the interest rate rise implemented by the …


Does Abstract Thinking Facilitate Information Processing? Evidence From Financial Analysts, Frank Weikai Li, Rong Wang, Yang Yu, Gloria Yang Yu Sep 2023

Does Abstract Thinking Facilitate Information Processing? Evidence From Financial Analysts, Frank Weikai Li, Rong Wang, Yang Yu, Gloria Yang Yu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We study whether abstract thinking – an essential cognitive trait established by psychological and neuroscientific studies – facilitates analysts’ information processing. Exploiting analysts’ questions during earnings calls, we construct an Abstract Thinking Index (ATI) that measures their tendency to involve abstract words, logical reasoning, broader topics, and future outlooks. We find that abstract thinking improves analysts’ forecast accuracy and recommendation informativeness. Consistent with abstract thinking featuring identifying central characteristics and comprehending intangible things, ATI has stronger effects for firms with fundamentals co-moving more with peers and less tangible information. Additional analyses suggest that ATI captures analysts’ cognitive traits rather than …