The study “Crowd-sourced Investment Research and Corporate Innovation Strategy” by Prof. Dr. Christoph Sextroh was recently accepted for publication in the Review of Accounting Studies (RAST).

The study examines the extent to which analyses by individual contributors on investment websites can serve as a source of information for firms’ strategic decisions. Based on research reports published on the Seeking Alpha platform, Sextroh and his co-authors show that firms are more likely to invest in similar technologies when both firms are covered by the same contributors. The findings cannot be explained by research contributors merely anticipating future technological convergence. Instead, the relationship is particularly pronounced for contributors whose reports provide more unique, specific, and technology-focused information. The findings suggest that crowd-sourced investment research not only provides information to capital market participants but can also facilitate learning within firms and influence strategic innovation decisions.

The Review of Accounting Studies is one of the leading international academic journals in accounting. The journal is rated “A” in the VHB Ranking and is among the 50 academic journals included in the Financial Times Business School Ranking.

The working paper is available on SSRN: Jeroen Koenraadt, Tim Martens, and Christoph J. Sextroh, “Crowd-sourced Investment Research and Corporate Innovation Strategy,” Review of Accounting Studies, forthcoming.

An article discussing the study is available in FT Adviser: “Social media analysts have potential to change business strategies.”