Board Secretaries' Professional Background And Securities Analysts' Earnings Forecast Accuracy

Since the board secretary system was introduced to China in early 1990 s,it has been in the process of perfection and deepening.The responsibilities of board secretaries have gradually extended from administrative work,such as meeting preparation and document custody,to three core responsibilities,including corporate governance improvement,compliance information disclosure and investor relations management.With the continuous improvement of the operation mechanism of the capital market and the increasing professionalism of investors,it is vital important for board secretaries to take full responsibility for investor relations management.However,there is a lack of research in this field.Given the research background above and the fact that the communication and interaction between board secretaries and securities analysts is more frequently and thoroughly,this paper takes “Upper Echelons Theory” as the guide and tries to explore the relationship between board secretaries' professional background and securities analysts' earnings forecast accuracy,through empirically investigating listed companies of A-share markets in China from 2012 to 2014.The results show that the accounting background of board secretaries who are highly educated and were external professionals can significantly improve the accuracy of analyst earnings forecast,which is mainly reflected in the obvious reduction in the optimistic forecast error;the financial background of highly educated can also significantly improve the accuracy of analyst earnings forecast,which is mainly reflected in the obvious reduction in the optimistic forecast error as well;the law background may decrease the cautious forecast error;while the technical background significantly reduces the accuracy,which is mainly reflected in the increase of the optimistic forecast error.This paper provides useful insights for listed companies to select their board secretaries and guides board secretaries to develop professional qualities to match responsibilities.It also tells securities analysts to hold different attitudes to board secretaries of different professional backgrounds.At the same time,this paper enriches the studies on board secretaries,investor relations management and analysts' earnings forecast.