Title: Do corporate reforms increase performance of analysts' recommendations? Evidence from an emerging market

Authors: Sheraz Ahmed; Omar Farooq

Addresses: LUT School of Business, Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland ' Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, P.O. Box 159, DK 9100 – Aalborg, Denmark

Abstract: What happens to analysts' performance when security market reforms bring corporate transparency in emerging markets but the governance of market intermediaries (mainly stock brokers) is weak? Using analysts' recommendation and subsequent stock market returns from Pakistan, we find that analysts' performance deteriorated significantly after the corporate reforms. This declining trend continued even after the introduction of corporate governance code in 2002. Earlier evidence suggests that market intermediaries such as stock brokers were involved in pumping and dumping of stocks in Pakistan. One may attribute this decline in analysts' performance with the stock price manipulations by these brokers who bent the laws of supply and demand in their favour by injecting or withdrawing liquidity from the market. These actions may have diminished the informational content of the analysts' recommendations leading to the lower value of recommendations. We propose that the governance of the market intermediaries should be an issue of profound interest during the corporate reform process in the emerging markets.

Keywords: corporate reforms; corporate governance; regulatory authorities; analyst recommendations; stockbrokers; emerging markets; security markets; market reforms; corporate transparency; market intermediaries; stock market returns; stock markets; analyst performance; governance codes; stockpumping; stock dumping; stock prices; price manipulation; brokers; supply; demand; liquidity injection; liquidity withdrawal; market liquidity; informational content; Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan; SECP; Karachi Stock Exchange; business governance; business ethics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2013.052742

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2013 Vol.8 No.1, pp.69 - 92

Published online: 17 Apr 2013 *

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