Sell-side equity analysts often work in hierarchical teams. Lead analysts manage a team of associate and junior analysts, who take part in the team's tasks. We hypothesize a division of labor between lead and associate analysts where lead analysts focus on higher-importance tasks and delegate...

We examine whether analysts’ engagement in earnings conference calls curbs real activities earnings management. We find that analysts are more likely to ask questions on discretionary expenses at conference calls of firms that are suspects of lowering discretionary expenses to meet or narrowly...