Influences on Financial Analyst Forecast Errors: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

There is a considerable volume of research on what influences the accuracy of financial analysts' predictions. Although the findings suggest a variety of explanations related to firm size, analyst experience, and forecasting task complexity, the evidence is inconclusive. The meta-analysis method allows an integration of some results on the association between analyst errors and their principal influences. The findings show that country, measurement of the variables, and time period of forecast moderate the effect of some characteristics on analysts' accuracy.

Keywords: meta-analysis, financial analysts, earnings forecasts, accuracy

JEL Classification: M1, M4