Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
4-2023
Abstract
Social skills are important but difficult to measure. So far, few empirical studies have examined the effect of social skills on the performance of professionals. Using the number of LinkedIn connections as a proxy for social skills, we investigate the effect of financial analysts' social skills on their performance. We use multiple ways to validate the measure of social skills and show that analysts with better social skills produce more accurate earnings forecasts and that their stock recommendations elicit stronger market reactions. Furthermore, these socially skilled analysts are more likely to be voted as All-Star Analysts. This study provides the first large-sample evidence highlighting the importance of social skills on financial analysts' performance.
Keywords
analysts, connections, labor market, social media, social skills
Discipline
Accounting | Portfolio and Security Analysis | Social Influence and Political Communication | Social Media
Publication
Contemporary Accounting Research
First Page
1
Last Page
30
ISSN
0823-9150
Identifier
10.1111/1911-3846.12855
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
LI, Cong Cong; LIN, An-ping; and LU, Hai.
The effect of social skills on analyst performance. (2023). Contemporary Accounting Research. 1-30.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/2007
Copyright Owner and License
Authors CC-BY-NC
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3846.12855
Included in
Accounting Commons, Portfolio and Security Analysis Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons, Social Media Commons