The impact of legal origin on the relationship between analyst following and recognised intangibles

Abstract

This study examines whether legal origin has an impact on the association between analyst following and intangibles recognised in corporate financial statements. Using a sample of 7,233 company-year observations from ten countries for 2004-2006, this study finds that the association between analyst following and recognised intangibles is impacted by legal origin. Analyst following is higher for companies that have recognised intangibles than for those that do not, and it is also higher for companies from civil law countries. Further, when intangible assets are recognised on the balance sheet, or research and development expense is included in the income statement, the increase in analyst following is greater for companies from civil law countries than for those from common law countries. The findings suggest that companies recognising intangibles in civil law countries provide greater opportunity for analysts to make an incremental information contribution to investors than those companies in common law jurisdictions.