Kim, Eunjee., Mani Sethuraman, and Thomas Steffen (2021) “The Informational Role of Investor Relations: Evidence from the Debt Market” The Accounting Review 96 (6): 275–302
Abstract: We explore the role of investor relations (IR) in debt markets. Using earnings announcements as a laboratory, we examine whether, when, and to what extent IR departments help credit investors assimilate information. We find that the presence of IR decreases (increases) the negative (positive) impact on CDS spreads stemming from bad (good) earnings news, suggesting that IR efforts improve information precision and reduce transparency risk. Cross-sectional analyses suggest that IR matters more when uncertainty is high and creditors are concerned about the credit-risk implications of firm performance. We also find that IR firms receive higher credit ratings and fewer covenants when issuing bonds, and CDS markets react less negatively when IR firms’ bond ratings are downgraded below investment grade. Because firms choose their IR activities, we show that our inferences are robust to multiple methods of addressing endogeneity. Overall, we find that IR departments are influential in debt markets.
Dyer, Travis and Eunjee Kim (2021) “Anonymous Equity Research” Journal of Accounting Research 59 (2): 575-611
Abstract: Crowdsourced financial information platforms often allow content contributors to publish equity research anonymously. This study examines whether investors value or discount information in anonymous equity research. In the short window around research releases, we find that investors’ stock price reaction to anonymous research is muted in comparison to nonanonymous research. Consistent with credibility concerns influencing investor response, we document that this discount to anonymous research dissipates as the monitoring of content contributors intensifies and as authors develop a reputation for high-quality reporting. In addition, we perform a content analysis on the research reports and find that the muted market reaction to anonymous equity research is robust to controlling for textual attributes of information content, further supporting our inference that investors’ are concerned about the credibility of anonymous equity research.
Kim, Eunjee (2025) “Does Disclosure Regulation Affect Mutual Fund Families’ Proxy Voting?” The Accounting Review
Dissertation
Abstract: Non-activist investors who own more than 5% of a firm are required to report their holdings by filing a 13G in which they must commit to not influencing control of the firm. Mutual fund families are the most prevalent investors filing a 13G. I study whether a 13G affects mutual fund families’ voting behaviors in proxy contests. I find mutual fund families that file a 13G are less likely to vote in favor of activists than are those that do not, suggesting that the 13G requirement discourages mutual fund families to support activists who seek to influence control of the firm. The effects are greater when vote outcomes directly affect the firm’s control and when activists pose a higher threat to the firm. I further document that the aggregate voting power of 13G-filing mutual fund families correlates with management winning a contested vote and retaining board seats during proxy contests.
Eunjee Kim and Hai Pham “Quid Pro Quo? Private Information Flows in Shareholder Activism: Evidence from Mutual Fund Families” Journal of Accounting Research, Forthcoming
Abstract: This paper hypothesizes a flow of information from firms to large shareholders during activist campaigns and its consequences. Focusing on actively managed mutual fund families, we find that informed trading by large-holding fund families increases during activist campaigns relative to smaller-holding fund families invested in the same firms. The effect is stronger for firms that attend more invitation-only investor events, face greater threats from activist campaigns, and are harder to value. Consistent with information flowing from management to large-holding fund families, the effect strengthens when Regulation Fair Disclosure enforcement is lax and when the information is favorable to the firm. Furthermore, the increased information advantage is associated with more management-friendly voting behavior by these investors and a higher likelihood of target firms winning activist campaigns and retaining board seats. Overall, our findings are consistent with a potential quid pro quo in which investors’ access to information from management is associated with more pro-management behavior.
Green, Jeremiah, Eunjee Kim, Ben Lourie, and Chenqi Zhu “Individual Investors' Paid News Subscription”
Conditionally accepted at Review of Accounting Studies
Presented at the 2025 Review of Accounting Studies Conference
Abstract:Using bank and credit card transaction data, we study individual investors’ paid news subscriptions. Among individual investors (individuals with at least one bank-to-brokerage transfer), only 4% of individual-quarters include a news subscription, and 1.2% include a financial news subscription. These low rates mask substantial variation across news sources and over time. Within financial news, approximately 30% of aggregate subscription dollars are spent on crowdsourced news, with the remaining 70% spent on traditional financial news. Subscription dollars vary over time, with crowdsourced news at times matching or exceeding traditional financial news. We also find that subscriptions are correlated with capital market activity. Aggregated payments for subscriptions, particularly for crowdsourced news, are correlated with stock market valuation, trading volume, and investment. Similarly, within individuals, the association between subscriptions and investment is driven primarily by crowdsourced news: subscribing is associated with a $280 increase in quarterly investment. Overall, our findings highlight variation in individual investors’ news subscriptions and their correlated investment activities.
Kim, Eunjee, Mani Sethuraman, and Shuran Zhang “The Effect of Shared Directors on Firms’ Investor Outreach ”
Abstract: This paper explores the effect of shared directors on firms’ investor relations (IR) function. Using proxy fights at a target firm as a laboratory, we find that interlocked firms that share one or more directors with the target firm increase investor outreach compared to control firms that do not. The effects are greater when the target firm loses the proxy fight. Moreover, the increase in IR activities is more pronounced for interlocked firms that are held by long-term institutional investors, have fewer antitakeover provisions to combat activism, or exhibit lower pre-existing levels of IR activities. Additionally, we document that the increase in IR activities is concentrated around the time when shared directors need investors’ vote support for retaining board positions at interlocked firms. We also find that this increase is associated with a lower likelihood of proxy fights at interlocked firms. Overall, our findings suggest that firms actively assess the importance of IR and preemptively enhance their IR efforts to prevent shareholder activism.
Kartapanis, Antonis, Eunjee Kim, Kimberlyn Munevar “Third-Party Alternative Data and Demand for Disclosures”
Abstract: We study how firm outsiders’ the relianceuse onf third-party alternative data by firm outsiders reshapes their demand for firm disclosures. Building on the framework of Dugast and Foucault (2018), we examine whether noisy signals from alternative data substitute for or complement outsiders’ demand for less timely signals provided by firm managers. Using the Q&A section of earnings calls, we find that analysts who rely on alternative data (AD analysts) are less likely to ask backward-looking questions, suggesting that access to raw signals crowds out demand for processed managerial information. Consistent with signal precision moderating this effect, the reduction in disclosure demand is stronger when alternative data provide activity-based realized information, when analysts use multiple sources or use them for longer periods, and when firm fundamentals require less contextual interpretation. We also find that AD analysts shift their disclosure demand toward short- rather than long-term forward-looking horizons. Finally, AD analyst participation during the call is associated with stronger market reactions and greater trading by non-retail investors, but not retail investors, suggesting that the shift in disclosure focus affects investors differently depending on their access to similar information.
Green, Jeremiah, John Hand, Eunjee Kim, and Hai Pham “Mutual Funds’ Noise Trading Risk and Corporate Reporting”