Title：Private Firm Information Dissemination and Analysts’ Public Firm Forecast Accuracy

Speaker: Jiancheng Liu, Assistant Professor, University of Macau

Time：10:00-11:30, April 8th, 2026 (Wednesday)

Venue：Room 712, Mingde Business Building (Zhongguancun Campus)

Language：Chinese & English

ABSTRACT:

We examine the effect of private firm information dissemination on analysts’ forecast accuracy for public firms, utilizing the mandatory adoption of electronic business registers (EBR) in EU countries as a (plausibly) exogenous shock. Our findings reveal a significant improvement in analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy following the EBR implementation that enhanced private firms’ information dissemination, indicating positive information spillovers to public firms. This effect is more pronounced (i) when private firm disclosures are timelier within the context of the focal public firm’s fiscal year and (ii) when the focal public firm has private firm suppliers, customers, or competitors. However, increased transparency of private firms also reduces analysts’ incentives to cover public firms, as investor attention shifts from public to private firms. This countervailing force negatively impacts analyst forecast accuracy, partially offsetting the positive effects from information spillovers.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Jiancheng (Duncan) Liu is an Assistant Professor in Accounting at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau. His research interest centers around unlisted private firms, focusing on their disclosure, ESG and voluntary audit. Dr. Liu’s work has been published in top accounting journals, such as Journal of Accounting Research. His research has also been accepted by leading international conferences hosted by American Accounting Association (AAA), Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA), and European Accounting Association (EAA), among others.