Financial analysts serve as important information intermediaries in capital markets between fi rms and investors. Their activities
can assist in the effi cient allocation of resources, improve market liquidity and enhance market confi dence, yet in the aftermath of
the fi nancial crisis, important questions have been asked about the effectiveness of fi nancial analysts. Investors demand accounting
information for valuation and stewardship purposes, with the interaction between voluntary and mandatory disclosures,
along with the reporting decisions of analysts, shaping the corporate information environment. The existing academic literature
on fi nancial analysts focuses primarily on sell-side equity analysts, paying particular attention to the properties of earnings forecasts,
whether they use the available information and whether they convey useful information. While these issues are interesting
and important, the existing academic literature on fi nancial analysts can be further enriched in a number of ways.
This special issue seeks to encourage a broad spectrum of research on fi nancial analysts that addresses, though is not necessarily
limited to, the following questions: