Social Media Engagement with the Business Press
Solo-Authored (Dissertation)
Abstract: The spread of information through social media networks can coordinate widespread beliefs and shift public perception. I investigate the influence of social media engagement using an important information intermediary and corporate monitor: the business press. Consistent with a reduction in awareness costs for investors, I find that social media engagement with the business press is positively associated with trading volume. However, I also find evidence that social media engagement impedes market efficiency—a result that appears to be driven by positively biased trading. Turning to the monitoring role of the business press, I find that social media engagement with the business press is associated with heightened monitoring by potential litigators and corporate boards. Finally, social media engagement appears to influence journalists directly, as higher engagement with negative articles is associated with greater monitoring in future articles.
Academic Presentations
Baruch College, Darden School of Business, Indiana University, London Business School, New York University/NYU Shanghai, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Rice University, Texas A&M University, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, and University of Notre Dame
Corporate Engagement with the Media
Coauthored with Emily Shafron, Nate Sharp, and Brady Twedt
Abstract: We survey 191 individuals responsible for public companies’ media relations and conduct 12 follow-up interviews to examine the role of these media relations officers in shaping corporate communication strategies and engagement with the media. Media relations officers indicate they are very involved in company messaging, including around important events such as mergers and acquisitions or changes in the senior executive team. We also find that one in four public companies hosts a quarterly conference call exclusively for members of the media in conjunction with the release of earnings, and media relations officers view The Wall Street Journal and LinkedIn as the most influential traditional media outlet and social media platform, respectively. Media relations officers are highly concerned with their companies’ reputation among investors and analysts, even more than they are concerned about their companies’ reputation with national or local media outlets. Finally, media relations officers are much more likely to post on social media when their company announces positive earnings news compared to when they announce negative earnings news. Overall, our findings shed new light on how companies engage with the media and what drives their corporate communication strategies.
Academic Presentations
London Business School Accounting Symposium (Flam)
Coauthored with Lisa Tiplady and Elizabeth Tori
Abstract: The private equity industry is characterized by limited regulatory oversight and private communication with investors, yet some private equity firms issue publicly disseminated press releases. We explore a potential motivation for this disclosure: reducing investors' information cost of identifying new investments. We find that private equity firms issue significantly more press releases in fundraising event windows relative to non-fundraising event windows. Press releases appear effective as they are associated with higher fund growth after controlling for past performance, firm size, and deals. This association is strongest for firms less able to rely on prior reputation of superior performance. In an additional analysis, we find evidence consistent with increased press release activity following SEC amendments that expanded the pool of investors eligible to invest in private markets.
Academic Presentations
Alliance Manchester Business School (Flam), Auburn University (Tori), Bayes Business School (Flam), Duke-UNC Fall Camp (Flam), Fox and Haskayne Accounting Conference (Tori), INSEAD (Flam), London Business School (Flam), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Flam), Oklahoma State Ph.D. Alumni Conference (Tori)
Abortion Access and Mortgage Application Outcomes for Women
Coauthored with Aytekin Ertan and Paige Perkins
Abstract: This study examines the impact of abortion access on women’s mortgage outcomes. Childbirth and childrearing represent significant costs, and most potential parents prepare for these expenses through savings and other means. In the case of an unplanned pregnancy, potential parents are likely to be unprepared for these costs. Women without access to abortion are more likely to face these costs. We explore whether this access influences mortgage lending, hypothesizing that banks may be less likely to grant mortgages to women in states with lower abortion access. Using data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), we find that women are more likely to be denied a mortgage as access to abortion declines. When a mortgage is offered, women are more likely to pay a high interest rate on the mortgage as abortion access decreases. These effects occur in both rural and urban settings, and we find that credit for women tightens following trigger bans enacted after the overturn of Roe vs. Wade. This study bridges two distinct research streams: discrimination in mortgage lending and the impact of reproductive healthcare on women's economic outcomes.
Academic Presentations
LBS-LSE Junior Accounting Faculty Conference (Flam), London Business School (Perkins), Scandinavian Accounting Research Conference (Ertan), University of Mannheim (Flam)
The Cult of Corporate Disclosure
Coauthored with Lisa Anderson and Melissa Lewis-Western
Abstract: Language is powerful and influences how people process information and make decisions. Cultish language employs persuasive linguistic techniques that encourage automatic, rather than analytical processing. This can lead to inferior decision-making in contexts requiring critical reasoning, but may also reduce processing costs or enhance efficiency when the information presented is straightforward or the communicator has superior information. We explore the prevalence of cultish language phrases in CEO-provided disclosures, using a fine-grained, large language model that identifies cultish language phrases used by CEOs in quarterly earnings conference calls. We find that CEOs use cultish linguistic techniques in approximately 22% of their earnings conference call phrases, and the prevalence of this language is increasing over time. Cultish language use is not associated with earnings surprise, nor is it more likely among overconfident or narcissistic CEOs. We next explore whether cultish language influences information processing by analysts. We find that earnings conference calls with more extensive cultish language are associated with downward revisions in analyst forecasts and greater herding by analysts toward both the consensus forecast and management-supplied guidance. Cultish language is not associated with improvements in accuracy, but rather correlates with more beatable forecasts. Our results suggest that market participants make greater use of automatic processing when CEOs use cultish language.
Academic Presentations
AAA FARS Midyear Meeting (Anderson), BYU Accounting Symposium (Lewis-Western)