Research & Publications Office to host seminar on ‘Government Subsidies and Analyst Directional Inconsistency’ on 31 October
The talk will be delivered by Prof. Harminder Singh, Deakin University
27 October, 2025, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) will host a seminar on, ‘Government Subsidies and Analyst Directional Inconsistency’, to be led by Prof. Harminder Singh, Deakin University (Finance & Accounting area), at 12 pm on 31st October 2025, in Classroom P-11.
Abstract: The study examines whether government subsidies influence analysts’ directional inconsistency between revisions to earnings and target price forecasts. The researchers show that higher subsidy amounts are associated with higher directional inconsistency. This increased analyst inconsistency intensifies when firms announce earnings immediately before analyst revisions. Higher subsidy amounts are also associated with lower earnings informativeness. The sensitivity between subsidies and inconsistency is pronounced mainly for firms operating in asymmetric information environments, weak governance, or facing intense product market competition. Subsidy driven analyst inconsistency is associated with lower target price accuracy and higher implied volatility, indicating that investors perceive these analyst updates as less reliable. Moreover, subsidies amplify the analyst directional inconsistency between target prices and stock recommendation revisions. Overall, the research findings highlight the consequences of government subsidies for capital market participants, demonstrating how shifts in earnings informativeness can affect analyst assessments of firm-level short- and long-term prospects.
Speaker Profile: Harminder Singh obtained his M Com (Finance) degree from the University of Melbourne and PhD from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India. He has published in several reputed journals, including The Review of Asset Pricing Studies and Review of Accounting Studies. He has secured research grants from the International Cricket Council, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia, Bendigo Bank (Australia) Centre for Financial Studies (Australia), NSE (India), UGC (India) and ICSSR (India), among others. He has presented/discussed papers and/or chaired sessions at leading Finance conferences, like AFA, FMA, FMA Asia, Paul Woolley Conference, Auckland Finance Conference, etc. He has supervised 10 PhD scholars and 14 Honours programme graduates. His work has appeared in mainstream finance media on numerous occasions.
Webpage Link: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/1146-harminder-singh/about
Research & Publications Office to host seminar on ‘Government Subsidies and Analyst Directional Inconsistency’ on 31 October
The talk will be delivered by Prof. Harminder Singh, Deakin University
27 October, 2025, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) will host a seminar on, ‘Government Subsidies and Analyst Directional Inconsistency’, to be led by Prof. Harminder Singh, Deakin University (Finance & Accounting area), at 12 pm on 31st October 2025, in Classroom P-11.
Abstract: The study examines whether government subsidies influence analysts’ directional inconsistency between revisions to earnings and target price forecasts. The researchers show that higher subsidy amounts are associated with higher directional inconsistency. This increased analyst inconsistency intensifies when firms announce earnings immediately before analyst revisions. Higher subsidy amounts are also associated with lower earnings informativeness. The sensitivity between subsidies and inconsistency is pronounced mainly for firms operating in asymmetric information environments, weak governance, or facing intense product market competition. Subsidy driven analyst inconsistency is associated with lower target price accuracy and higher implied volatility, indicating that investors perceive these analyst updates as less reliable. Moreover, subsidies amplify the analyst directional inconsistency between target prices and stock recommendation revisions. Overall, the research findings highlight the consequences of government subsidies for capital market participants, demonstrating how shifts in earnings informativeness can affect analyst assessments of firm-level short- and long-term prospects.
Speaker Profile: Harminder Singh obtained his M Com (Finance) degree from the University of Melbourne and PhD from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India. He has published in several reputed journals, including The Review of Asset Pricing Studies and Review of Accounting Studies. He has secured research grants from the International Cricket Council, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia, Bendigo Bank (Australia) Centre for Financial Studies (Australia), NSE (India), UGC (India) and ICSSR (India), among others. He has presented/discussed papers and/or chaired sessions at leading Finance conferences, like AFA, FMA, FMA Asia, Paul Woolley Conference, Auckland Finance Conference, etc. He has supervised 10 PhD scholars and 14 Honours programme graduates. His work has appeared in mainstream finance media on numerous occasions.
Webpage Link: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/1146-harminder-singh/about
