Anonymous Equity Research

Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 59, Issue 2, 2021

Posted: 26 May 2021

See all articles by Travis Dyer

Travis Dyer

Brigham Young University

Eunjee Kim

Texas A&M University - Mays Business School

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 1, 2021

Abstract

Crowdsourced financial information platforms often allow content contributors to publish equity research anonymously. This study examines whether investors value or discount information in anonymous equity research. In the short window around research releases, we find that investors’ stock price reaction to anonymous research is muted in comparison to non-anonymous research. Consistent with credibility concerns influencing investor response, we document that this discount to anonymous research dissipates as the monitoring of content contributors intensifies and as authors develop a reputation for high-quality reporting. In addition, we perform a content analysis on the research reports and find that the muted market reaction to anonymous equity research is robust to controlling for textual attributes of information content, further supporting our inference that investors’ are concerned about the credibility of anonymous equity research.

Keywords: anonymity; crowdsourced; equity research; communication; seeking alpha

JEL Classification: D83, G14, G20, M40, M41

Suggested Citation

Dyer, Travis and Kim, Eunjee, Anonymous Equity Research (May 1, 2021). Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 59, Issue 2, 2021, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3850224

Travis Dyer (Contact Author)

Brigham Young University ( email )

Provo, UT 84602
United States

Eunjee Kim

Texas A&M University - Mays Business School ( email )

4113 TAMU
Wehner 449K
College Station, TX 77843-4218
United States

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