{"id":{"repo_id":"calgary","oai_identifier":"oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/110535"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/calgary/oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/110535","repository":{"repo_id":"calgary","name":"University of Calgary","base_url":"https://ucalgary.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Three Essays on the Impact of Analysts on Financial Markets","abstract":"This thesis studies three diﬀerent topics on the impact of analysts on ﬁnancial markets. The ﬁrst chapter documents that the price of analysts’ dispersion risk in the cross-section of stock returns changes over time, in particular, turns positive in periods of high analyst dispersion. Our result holds using 100 test portfolios that are double-sorted on their betas and their coeﬃcients on aggregate dispersion, as well as numerous test portfolios. We construct a general equilibrium model in the spirit of Merton’s ICAPM, in which analysts of diﬀerent types have heterogeneous beliefs and provide diﬀerent forecasts of a macroeconomic factor. The consumer does not trust either analyst fully, and dynamically adjusts the weight given to each analyst, given the history of their past forecast performance. In equilibrium, each asset’s risk premium depends on its exposure to three factors: the market portfolio, the macroeconomic factor, and, a ”ﬂight-to-safety” factor. The ﬁrst term increases with dispersion, while the third term declines. The latter decline occurs because consumers shift into assets with lower cash ﬂow betas during periods of high dispersion. The model provides a testable implication that the changing sign of the price of risk is due to the ﬂight-to-safety during periods of high dispersion. We ﬁnd strong support for such a ﬂight to safety in the data. The second chapter questions the view that all analysts are equal and develop the idea that analysts may have diﬀerent strategic behaviour to inﬂuence the market. The main contribution is to provide evidence that the market assigns diﬀerent weights to diﬀerent analysts and to show that more experienced analysts have more signiﬁcant impact on asset prices and trading activity. The third chapter studies the relation between dispersion, short sale constraints, and stock returns. The main contribution is to analyze the high returns of a portfolio formed by unconstrained and low opinion divergence stocks. Such portfolio contains stocks with low total and idiosyncratic risks and low leverage. Three and four factors models, as well as liquidity factors models, cannot account for these high abnormal returns.","abstract_html":"This thesis studies three diﬀerent topics on the impact of analysts on ﬁnancial markets. The ﬁrst chapter documents that the price of analysts’ dispersion risk in the cross-section of stock returns changes over time, in particular, turns positive in periods of high analyst dispersion. Our result holds using 100 test portfolios that are double-sorted on their betas and their coeﬃcients on aggregate dispersion, as well as numerous test portfolios. We construct a general equilibrium model in the spirit of Merton’s ICAPM, in which analysts of diﬀerent types have heterogeneous beliefs and provide diﬀerent forecasts of a macroeconomic factor. The consumer does not trust either analyst fully, and dynamically adjusts the weight given to each analyst, given the history of their past forecast performance. In equilibrium, each asset’s risk premium depends on its exposure to three factors: the market portfolio, the macroeconomic factor, and, a ”ﬂight-to-safety” factor. The ﬁrst term increases with dispersion, while the third term declines. The latter decline occurs because consumers shift into assets with lower cash ﬂow betas during periods of high dispersion. The model provides a testable implication that the changing sign of the price of risk is due to the ﬂight-to-safety during periods of high dispersion. We ﬁnd strong support for such a ﬂight to safety in the data. The second chapter questions the view that all analysts are equal and develop the idea that analysts may have diﬀerent strategic behaviour to inﬂuence the market. The main contribution is to provide evidence that the market assigns diﬀerent weights to diﬀerent analysts and to show that more experienced analysts have more signiﬁcant impact on asset prices and trading activity. The third chapter studies the relation between dispersion, short sale constraints, and stock returns. The main contribution is to analyze the high returns of a portfolio formed by unconstrained and low opinion divergence stocks. Such portfolio contains stocks with low total and idiosyncratic risks and low leverage. Three and four factors models, as well as liquidity factors models, cannot account for these high abnormal returns.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Farhat, Amel"],"institution":"Haskayne School of Business","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Haskayne School of Business: Management","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["David, Alexander"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Sezer, Deniz","Lehar, Alfred","Hollifield, Burton","Koskinen, Yrjö‏"],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-06-25","date_published":"2019-06-25","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:30:20Z","subjects":["Analysts on Financial Markets"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. 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Our result holds using 100 test portfolios that are double-sorted on their betas and their coeﬃcients on aggregate dispersion, as well as numerous test portfolios. We construct a general equilibrium model in the spirit of Merton’s ICAPM, in which analysts of diﬀerent types have heterogeneous beliefs and provide diﬀerent forecasts of a macroeconomic factor. The consumer does not trust either analyst fully, and dynamically adjusts the weight given to each analyst, given the history of their past forecast performance. In equilibrium, each asset’s risk premium depends on its exposure to three factors: the market portfolio, the macroeconomic factor, and, a ”ﬂight-to-safety” factor. The ﬁrst term increases with dispersion, while the third term declines. The latter decline occurs because consumers shift into assets with lower cash ﬂow betas during periods of high dispersion. The model provides a testable implication that the changing sign of the price of risk is due to the ﬂight-to-safety during periods of high dispersion. We ﬁnd strong support for such a ﬂight to safety in the data. The second chapter questions the view that all analysts are equal and develop the idea that analysts may have diﬀerent strategic behaviour to inﬂuence the market. The main contribution is to provide evidence that the market assigns diﬀerent weights to diﬀerent analysts and to show that more experienced analysts have more signiﬁcant impact on asset prices and trading activity. The third chapter studies the relation between dispersion, short sale constraints, and stock returns. The main contribution is to analyze the high returns of a portfolio formed by unconstrained and low opinion divergence stocks. Such portfolio contains stocks with low total and idiosyncratic risks and low leverage. 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Our result holds using 100 test portfolios that are double-sorted on their betas and their coeﬃcients on aggregate dispersion, as well as numerous test portfolios. We construct a general equilibrium model in the spirit of Merton’s ICAPM, in which analysts of diﬀerent types have heterogeneous beliefs and provide diﬀerent forecasts of a macroeconomic factor. The consumer does not trust either analyst fully, and dynamically adjusts the weight given to each analyst, given the history of their past forecast performance. In equilibrium, each asset’s risk premium depends on its exposure to three factors: the market portfolio, the macroeconomic factor, and, a ”ﬂight-to-safety” factor. The ﬁrst term increases with dispersion, while the third term declines. The latter decline occurs because consumers shift into assets with lower cash ﬂow betas during periods of high dispersion. The model provides a testable implication that the changing sign of the price of risk is due to the ﬂight-to-safety during periods of high dispersion. We ﬁnd strong support for such a ﬂight to safety in the data. The second chapter questions the view that all analysts are equal and develop the idea that analysts may have diﬀerent strategic behaviour to inﬂuence the market. The main contribution is to provide evidence that the market assigns diﬀerent weights to diﬀerent analysts and to show that more experienced analysts have more signiﬁcant impact on asset prices and trading activity. The third chapter studies the relation between dispersion, short sale constraints, and stock returns. The main contribution is to analyze the high returns of a portfolio formed by unconstrained and low opinion divergence stocks. Such portfolio contains stocks with low total and idiosyncratic risks and low leverage. Three and four factors models, as well as liquidity factors models, cannot account for these high abnormal returns."],"dc:identifier.doi":["http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/36665"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1880/110535"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Calgary"],"dc:rights":["University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. 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