This independent research study examines the effect of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors on Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) in emerging markets by emphasizing on role of country-specific variables. Utilizing data from major emerging economies in Asia between 2013 and 2023, the study first assesses whether higher ESG scores are associated with enhanced CFP measured through Net Profit Margin (NPM), Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA) and the firm's value via Tobin's Q (TQ).
Further analyses are conducted to examine how country specific factors such as Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and GDP per capita influence the relationship between ESG factors and CFP. Our findings discovered that there is a positive relationship between higher ESG performance against CFP. While the institutional quality of the countries proxied by CPI and GDP per capita were initially expected to have a moderating impact on the relationship between ESG performance and CFP, our results were contrary to the expectations. In our results, the positive impact of ESG factors on CFP did not appear stronger in countries with higher CPI Index (indicating lower corruption). Similarly, the positive effect of ESG factors on CFP was not stronger in countries with higher GDP per capita.

This research examines the impact of internationalization on cash holdings among multinational corporations (MNCs) in Southeast Asia (SEA), focusing on the roles of geographic dispersion, intangible assets, and managerial ownership. The study highlights how international operations influence corporate liquidity strategies in the presence of heightened information asymmetry. This study employs 1,431 firm-year observations from 2017 to 2021 and dynamic panel model to test hypotheses.
The findings indicate that geographic dispersion and intangible assets increase cash holdings, affirming Pecking Order Theory. Conversely, their interaction unexpectedly reduces cash holdings, suggesting that complexities prompt more conservative liquidity management. Also, increased managerial ownership results in lower cash holdings, supporting Agency Theory. However, the study could not explore non-linear effects of managerial ownership due to data limitations. While geographic dispersion increases cash holdings, higher managerial ownership can offset this effect, offering new insights into liquidity management in SEA MNCs.

Despite its simplicity, the yield curve is one of the best predictors of future economic activity. Empirical studies suggest that the yield curve is capable of forecasting market downturn in major economies. In this paper, the relationship between the yield curve and stock market downturn will be studied with the focus on predicting market downturn in Thailand. Also, this paper seeks to answer the question if a market-timing strategy, based on yield-curve information, can outperform the market.
The results of this study suggest that the spread between government bond indices with maturities of 3 to 7 years and 7 to 10 year, to 10 years and over 10 years and the widely-used 2-10 year spread are statistically significant in generating positive alpha and gamma values, confirming their effectiveness in market timing and their utility in enhancing investment strategies by predicting future market downturns.

This study investigates the impact of Morningstar Sustainability Ratings on Thai mutual fund flows, focusing on three aspects: the impact of the ratings' introduction, the differential effects of varying ESG ratings, and the influence of ESG ratings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis encompasses various methodological approaches, including event studies, propensity score matching, cross-sectional, and panel regression analyses, to provide comprehensive insights into investor behavior to Morningstar Sustainability Ratings.

Globally, sustainability ratings have a significant impact on mutual fund flows. This study finds that there is a strong initial impact following the publication of the Morningstar Sustainability Ratings, particularly for high ESG-rated funds, which attract substantial fund flows. However, this effect wanes over time. Additionally, the influence of sustainability ratings on Thai mutual fund flows during the COVID-19 pandemic suggests a "flight to quality," with investors prioritizing high sustainability rating funds over performance of funds.

The purpose of this study is to address the financial challenge of predicting market risk premiums and to determine which factors and models are most effective. This research employs three methodologies: single regression, combined regression, and a time-series model. The study focuses on the accuracy of prediction models in four different countries: India, Thailand, Korea, and Taiwan, over the period from January 2009 to December 2023.
The findings of this study demonstrate that certain factors in the single predictive model can outperform the historical MRP in these four countries, providing significant evidence for the emerging market, as this result aligns with previous studies. The study reveals that the AR (4) model outperforms both single and combined regression models in most countries, offering more accurate short-term forecasts of MRP. This result is consistent with prior research suggesting that simpler time-series models can be more effective for short-term predictions.
The study's novel approach, focusing on emerging Asian markets, contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the unique dynamics in these regions compared to developed markets. The insights provided are valuable for investors and policymakers in emerging markets, offering a more nuanced understanding of MRP predictability and aiding in more informed investment decisions. When comparing the combined regression model to the single regression model, the results generally support the hypothesis that the combined model outperforms individual factor predictions in single regression models.

This paper aims to reconsider whether mutual funds managers’ characteristics, including gender, working experience (tenure), and CFA designation, affect the fund risk-adjusted performance, using the Thai open-ended domestic equity funds from 2018 to 2023. The first objective is to examine whether each fund manager characteristic impacts the fund risk-adjusted performance (alpha), including Jensen’s, 3-factor Fama French, and 5-factor Fama French alpha, using the pooled ordinary least square (OLS) regression. The alphas are estimated over the 24-month rolling window. The second objective of the study, as the extension of the first objective, is to examine the fund performance persistence over the next 12 months and 24 months following the initial ranking period for each fund manager's characteristic, including male, female, longer working experience, shorter working experience, CFA charter holder designation, and non-CFA charterholder designation manager’s fund.
I determined that however, on average, fund managers tend to generate negative alphas for their investors, there is a significant positive relationship between female, less experienced, and/or CFA-designated fund managers and risk-adjusted performance, which supports the behavioral finance as the overconfidence and too risky managed portfolio of male fund managers, the survivorship in the mutual fund industry for the less experienced fund manager which needs to work harder than more experienced fund manager, and more knowledge in the investment management industry to obtain the CFA designation. Regarding the fund performance persistence, the 12-month performance persistence mainly occurs in most characteristics, except the female manager’s fund. For 24-month performance persistence, the persistence more explicitly exists in males, with longer working experience, and/or non-CFA designated manager’s fund.

This study investigates how investors in Thailand's stock market react to extreme losses and gains, focusing on underpricing and overpricing phenomena. The objective is to analyze these market behaviors and trading strategies comprehensively. We employ statistical methods, including the Carhart four-factor model, to assess risk-adjusted performance and explore the effects of capital gains overhang and investor sentiment on stock returns. Our methodology involves forming quintile portfolios based on extreme loss and gain returns, using Winsorizing to handle outliers. We analyze both raw and cumulative returns, comparing stocks with the highest and lowest extreme returns. Additionally, we examine the influence of capital gains overhang and the impact of investor sentiment, measured through overnight returns on subsequent stock performance.
The findings reveal that high-loss stocks tend to rebound, supporting the underpricing phenomena, while high-gain stocks often continue to perform well, challenging the overpricing phenomena. The study shows that underpricing is negatively related to capital gains overhang, and investor sentiment significantly affects stock returns following extreme price movements. These results provide valuable insights into market dynamics, offering practical implications for investors, policymakers, and researchers in understanding and navigating Thailand's stock market.

This thesis explores the relationship between corruption, the shadow economy, and institutional quality in 39 Asian countries from 2001 to 2021, using 819 observations and fixed effect models. The results indicate that corruption significantly enlarges the shadow economy, supporting the notion that corruption can facilitate business operations in heavily regulated environments. Conversely, higher economic freedom and democratic governance are linked to smaller shadow economies, underscoring the importance of transparent and accountable institutions. Additionally, higher tax burdens and rapid GDP growth are associated with larger informal sectors, while increased FDI inflows and population growth tend to reduce the shadow economy. Trade openness correlates positively with the shadow economy, suggesting that more open economies may see more informal activities. Interaction effects reveal that economic freedom's impact on reducing the shadow economy is less effective in highly corrupt environments, whereas democratic governance can mitigate corruption's adverse effects. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive policies that address corruption, enhance economic freedom, and strengthen democratic institutions to curb the shadow economy and promote sustainable development in Asia.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are crucial to economic development, significantly contributing to employment and economic activities in Thailand. However, despite their importance, SMEs often face financial challenges that can hinder their operations and growth prospects. This research investigates the determinants of non-performing loans (NPLs) of SMEs in Thailand, with a particular focus on the impact of interest rates and other macroeconomic indicators such as GDP growth, unemployment rates. The study employs three Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models to analyze the relationship between these variables and NPLs. The findings reveal that higher GDP growth significantly reduces NPLs, suggesting that economic expansion provides a conducive environment for SMEs to thrive and meet their financial obligations. Conversely, higher unemployment rates are found to increase NPLs, which aligns with Keynesian economic theory and empirical studies indicating that economic downturns and higher unemployment lead to increased financial distress among businesses. However, variables such as inflation rates and interest rates, including the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), did not show significant direct effects on NPLs. Additionally, business sentiment showed a complex relationship with NPLs, suggesting potential over-optimism in economic cycles. The research underscores the importance of fostering economic growth and reducing unemployment to manage NPLs effectively.

This paper studies the relationship between oil price volatility and corporate bond credit spread. The sample is selected from bonds offered by listed companies in energy and utility sector (categorized by the Thai Bond Market Association) whose profit directly relates to the oil price movement. The studied period is 10 years which covers January 2013 – December 2023. The period covers both upturn and downturn of oil price movement. For the oil price volatility proxy, this paper uses end of month data of OVX index and conditional variance of Brent return estimated with GARCH (1,1) model. After controlling for other factors and testing for the suitable model and estimator, the fitted model was run with fixed effect estimator. The fixed effect occurs in the model is from bond series. The results from both oil price volatility measurements show that oil price volatility significantly influences corporate bond credit spread. However, the influences of credit rating and time-to-maturity on the relationship between oil price volatility and corporate bond credit spread could not be clearly concluded. The directions of the relationship are the same for both oil price volatility measurements. The longer time-to-maturity and the worse credit rating enhance the impact of oil price volatility on the credit spread. The relationships are significant with OVX index as oil price volatility measurement, but they are not significant with conditional variance of Brent return as oil price volatility measurement.

This study examines the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, proxied by the ESG Combined Score, on the cost of equity (COE), measured by the CAPM, for companies in the Asia-Pacific region from 2015 to 2022. It also explores how this relationship is influenced by economic crises and market development levels. The findings indicate a negative correlation, where higher ESG performance leads to a lower COE. Specifically, the environmental and governance pillars are negatively associated with COE, similarly reducing equity costs, while the social pillar shows no significant effect. The research also studies the impact of economic conditions and market development on the ESG and COE relationship. During economic downturns, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the effect of ESG on COE is stronger. Additionally, the study finds no significant difference in the impact of ESG on COE between developed and emerging markets, which can be attributed to the globalization-driven convergence of average COE between these markets. As globalization enhances market interconnectedness, shifts in one market can rapidly influence others, leading to a unified response in COE adjustments across both developed and emerging markets. Moreover, the research delves deeper and reveals that the impact of ESG on COE is greater for firms with higher COE.

This paper investigates the impact of macroeconomic news announcements on trading performance and evaluates the efficacy of avoiding trades during these periods. The study employs three trading strategies: Exponential Moving Average (EMA), Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), and Momentum, analyzing their performance across eight major news events: Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the US and China, ISM Manufacturing Index (ISM), Industrial Production (IP) for the US and China, German IFO Business Climate, and EU Interest Rates. Utilizing a multifactor regression model, we assess the return performance of trades avoided during news announcements, incorporating control variables such as business cycle phases (upturn), investor sentiment, economic uncertainty, and previous accuracy. Our findings indicate that the impact of news varies across different strategies and market conditions. Significant negative coefficients were found for high-impact news events like NFP, IP, and ISM, suggesting underperformance when trades are avoided during these periods. Conversely, certain news events showed positive impacts, highlighting potential missed opportunities. Additionally, the study examines the role of investor sentiment, economic uncertainty, and past trading accuracy in influencing performance. The results reveal that while sentiment and uncertainty exhibit mixed significance, their overall impact is crucial in shaping trading outcomes. Specifically, high uncertainty can sometimes enhance performance, though this relationship is inconsistent. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that avoiding trades during high-impact news events generally leads to lower returns, emphasizing the importance of strategic trading decisions in the presence of significant market news. This research contributes to the understanding of news impact on trading strategies, offering valuable insights for traders and financial analysts in optimizing their trading approaches.

This research investigates the preferences of Thai mutual funds for lottery-like stocks, characterized by stock skewness. Given that market sentiment fluctuates over time, the study also explores how the preferences of Thai mutual funds for lottery-like stocks vary with market sentiment. The research aims to understand if holding these stocks can generate significant excess returns and to evaluate the impact of fund size and age on these investment preferences during different market sentiment periods. By analyzing data from the first quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of 2023, this study provides a comprehensive view of the strategic decisions made by Thai mutual funds in response to changing market conditions.

The analysis reveals that Thai mutual funds generally avoid lottery-like stocks characterized by high skewness. However, this research finds during periods of low sentiment, small funds and more experienced funds show reduced aversion to these stocks, suggesting a strategic flexibility. Despite this shift, significant excess returns are not achieved, indicating that the strategic adjustments made by small funds and more experienced funds during periods of low sentiment do not influence on substantial financial gains.

This study investigates the impact of board gender diversity, financial background, and educational diversity on the cost of debt for Thai listed companies, focusing on the SET50 firms from 2015-2016 and 2021-2022. Utilizing data from Refinitiv DataStream, SETSMART, and annual reports, this research examines whether the presence of women on boards, financial expertise, and diverse educational backgrounds influence borrowing costs. The findings reveal that female board members do not significantly impact the cost of debt, challenging common assumptions about gender diversity's financial benefits. In contrast, boards with directors possessing financial backgrounds, particularly those in chairman and executive management positions, are associated with higher borrowing costs. This suggests that overconfidence and risk-taking behavior among financially experienced executives in these influential roles elevate perceived risks. Educational diversity also does not significantly affect debt costs, indicating that other factors such as work experience and organizational culture may play more crucial roles. These insights highlight the complexity of board composition's influence on financial outcomes and underscore the importance of balanced governance practices in mitigating risks associated with financial expertise, especially among top-tier executives.

This research aims to explore two main objectives: first, to investigate the impact of public debt on corporate borrowing costs and investment activities; and second, to examine how moderating factors like Asset Tangibility (TAN), the World Uncertainty Index (WUI), and Control of Corruption (CC) shape this relationship. The findings reveal that higher public debt levels significantly increase corporate borrowing costs and reduce investment activities, underscoring the need for policymakers to adopt prudent fiscal strategies that balance debt management with fostering a supportive environment for private sector investment.
Furthermore, the study highlights the moderating effects of Asset Tangibility, WUI, and Control of Corruption. Asset Tangibility helps firms secure loans more easily and at lower costs even amid high public debt levels, suggesting policies promoting asset investment can buffer the negative effects of public debt. Effective control of corruption reduces financial risks and mitigates the financial burden imposed by public debt on corporations, emphasizing the importance of anti-corruption measures. High levels of economic policy uncertainty, as measured by the WUI, discourage investment, indicating the need for clear and stable economic policies to enhance investment even in the face of high public debt. These insights emphasize the importance of good governance, asset investment, and stability in economic policies to support sustainable growth and development.

This study investigates the asset growth anomaly in the Thai stock market, examining whether new factor constructed from decomposed asset components offers superior explanatory power for stock returns compared to the original aggregate asset growth factor. The research analyzes key components of total assets, including both sides of the balance sheet covering investing and financing activities. Our findings reveal that all the new factors constructing based on each component of asset is spanned by all the Fama-French factor. The overall explanatory power of total asset growth is superior. This suggests that total asset growth is the best predictor of investment performance in the Thai market.

This study explores how electoral factors, including final week surprises, political donations, pre-election polls, election results, and prime minister vote outcomes, affect the volatility of stocks return which are listed on the Thai Stock Exchange. Employing regression models, it assesses how these elements impact market fluctuations, revealing that unexpected events and significant political contributions during election weeks crucially affect market stability differently. The findings indicate that pre-election polls and political donations significantly contribute to increased market volatility. This suggests that during election periods, heightened political activity and financial contributions can lead to greater uncertainty in financial markets, providing key insights for investors, financial analysts, and policymakers. By understanding these dynamics, stakeholders can better anticipate market responses during elections and strategize to mitigate associated risks, emphasizing the importance of navigating the complexities of financial markets amidst political uncertainties. This research underlines the intricate relationship between democratic processes and market behavior, stressing the need for informed decision making in politically sensitive periods.

This study explores the role of financial advisors (FAs) in the initial public offering (IPO) process, particularly focusing on how their involvement affects IPO underpricing. IPO underpricing, a well-documented phenomenon where shares are priced below their market value on the first trading day, has been extensively studied, often with an emphasis on the role of underwriters (UWs). However, this research addresses the gap in literature regarding the distinct contributions of FAs, who are crucial yet often conflated with UWs.

Drawing on the context of Thailand, where regulatory requirements mandate the involvement of FAs separate from UWs, this study investigates the impact of reputable FAs on IPO pricing. The research highlights the differing incentives and responsibilities of FAs and UWs, with FAs being more aligned with issuers' interests due to their fee-based compensation and ongoing advisory roles. Conversely, UWs may favor investors to secure future business, potentially leading to higher underpricing.

Through a detailed examination of the Thai IPO market, where FAs play a significant role throughout the listing process, this study provides insights into how FAs influence IPO outcomes. The findings suggest that distinguishing between the roles of FAs and UWs can enhance our understanding of IPO pricing mechanisms and offer practical implications for issuers aiming to optimize their IPO strategies.

Thailand household debt problem are key barriers to retirees achieving financial freedom. This study aims to access the relationship between mortgage debt, credit card debt and education debts with the retirement preparedness of working-age population aged 30-60 years old in Thailand by utilizing multiple linear regression analysis. The findings revealed that Thai populations are at a moderate level of retirement preparedness. The private sector is particularly concerned about the lack of savings for later life. Moreover, not all kinds of debts are bad debt, mortgage debt could fall into the category of good debt since it may be tax-deductible, credit card debt could be cash flow management and education debt could create an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of students in need. However, we found that individuals who carried debt exceed their income have a negative statistically significant effect on retirement preparedness index.

This study investigates the influence of earnings quality on the accuracy of financial analysts' dividend forecasts for companies listed on the Thailand Stock Market Exchange (SET) and the Market for Alternative Investment (mai) for the period from 2015 to 2022. using a sample of 891 observations. focusing on the moderating roles of investor sentiment and economic uncertainty. The findings reveal that good earnings quality helps reduce dividend forecast errors. We find no evidence of the moderating roles of investor sentiment and economic uncertainty, implying that analysts might possess the expertise to incorporate the implications of economic uncertainty into their forecasts effectively, ensuring that their predictions remain reliable even in challenging times. Analysts who prioritize fundamental analysis, such as examining financial statements, earnings reports, and management guidance, over investor sentiment are likely to generate more accurate dividend forecasts that are independent of market mood. Analysts' forecasting behavior is more influenced by factors such as private information, experience and expertise, and career concerns rather than by investor sentiment. Robustness tests indicate that the impact of earnings quality is sensitive to model specifications. These results highlight the complexity of the relationship and suggest the need for additional factors in financial forecasting models.

This study examines firms’ capital investment decisions in relation to their credit ratings. As firms approach near-BBB credit ratings, they tend to change their behavior due to the fear of a downgrade. I found that, in general, Thai firms’ credit ratings do not influence investment decisions. However, as firms near BBB ratings, their behavior tends to shift. To clarify, firms at the lower end of the investment grade are inclined to make conservative investment decisions due to the risk of being downgraded to speculative grade. Therefore, the threat of a downgrade to speculative grade encourages managers to adopt more conservative investment strategies. The greater the perceived threat, the stronger the impact of these investment-grade cut-offs on investment decisions. Furthermore, I also studied the investment decisions of unrated firms. Firms without credit ratings do not change their investment decisions as their hypothetical credit ratings approach BBB, unlike rated firms. The reason behind this is that unrated firms’ credit ratings are hidden in the capital market, allowing them to raise funds freely since their credit ratings are not publicly disclosed.

This study examines the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures and scores on stock volatility in Asia-Pacific markets. The paper also assesses the moderating roles of corruption and economic development in this relationship. Using data from 2010 to 2022, the research employs the Fama-French multi-factor models to analyze the relationship between ESG metrics and stock idiosyncratic volatility. The findings indicate that both ESG disclosure and higher overall ESG scores significantly reduce stock volatility, underscoring the importance of transparency and robust ESG practices in mitigating firm-specific risks. Additionally, the study reveals that the social and governance pillars of ESG have a more pronounced effect on reducing volatility compared to the environmental pillar. The analysis of moderating factors shows that lower levels of corruption enhance the volatility-reducing benefits of ESG disclosures, while improvements in economic development amplify the volatility-reducing benefits of ESG performance. These results highlight the necessity for improved regulatory frameworks and a stronger corporate commitment to ESG principles in emerging markets. This research provides valuable insights for regulators, governments, companies, and investors, emphasizing the critical role of ESG practices in fostering market stability and promoting sustainable economic development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Institutional investors play a crucial role in financial markets. Understanding how their ownership affects stock returns can provide valuable insights for both institutional investors and individual investors in making informed investment decisions.
In financial markets, the relationship between institutional ownership and stock returns has been a subject of extensive debate. Institutional investors, including mutual funds, pension funds, and hedge funds, wield significant influence over equity markets due to their holdings' sheer magnitude and ability to execute large-scale trades. Understanding how their investment decisions impact stock returns is not only crucial for investors seeking to optimize their portfolios but also for policymakers and market regulators aiming to maintain the integrity and efficiency of financial markets.
Although a large body of literature has studied the behavior of institutional trading and its impact on asset prices and returns, the investment horizon of institutional investors remains an open question.
Previously, several studies have shown that institutional investors have more information than individual investors, Yan and Zhang (2009); Puckett and Yan (2011); PÁStor et al. (2017) show that, while short-term institutions’ trades positively predict future stock returns, long-term institutions’ trades do not have any predictive power.
However, Gompers and Metrick (2001) state that two forces may be driving the positive relationship between institutional ownership and future returns: institutions either provide persistent demand shocks or they have an informational advantage. Yan and Zhang (2019) found that they have an informational advantage, and it is short-term institutional investors.
This result suggests that, if an institutional investor has an informational advantage over a group of stocks, it will exploit this advantage by actively and frequently trading these stocks to the limits such that there are no further gains. This is consistent with the notion that short-term institutions’ active and frequent trading (to exploit their informational advantage) contribute to their trades being more informed compared to the rest of other institutional investors’ trades.
The investment horizon denotes the timeframe over which institutional investors intend to hold a particular stock, ranging from short-term trading to long-term buy-and-hold strategies. Concurrently, the information possessed by institutional investors encompasses a spectrum of insights derived from various sources, including financial reports, industry research, and privileged access to corporate executives.
The relationship between institutional ownership and stock returns is a topic of significant interest and contention within the field of finance. While institutional investors play a pivotal role in shaping market dynamics, the precise mechanisms through which their ownership affects stock returns remain incompletely understood. This lack of clarity poses a critical challenge for investors seeking to optimize their portfolio allocations and policymakers striving to maintain market efficiency and integrity.

This study examines the influence of shareholder activism on the performance of 420 Asia-Pacific firms from 2013 to 2022, utilizing the Capital Asset Pricing Model and the Fama-French-Carhart model to assess abnormal returns. Findings indicate a generally positive trend in firm performance post-activism, particularly over long periods, suggesting activism's potential to drive sustained firm value improvements. In addition, there is no enough evidence to conclude that the target firms experience the pump-and-dump pattern after the departure of shareholder activists. However, the impact of specific activism strategies and outcomes on performance often lacks statistical significance, highlighting the multifaceted nature of activism's effects. Core activists emerge with a significant positive impact, while the significance of an activist's stake size and the breadth of objectives varies, pointing to the complex interplay between activism strategies and firm outcomes. The study calls for further research to understand the conditions under which activism most effectively enhances firm performance, emphasizing the nuanced role of shareholder activism in corporate development and value creation in the APAC region.

This paper investigates the determinants of forecast accuracy and brokerage coverage in the Thailand stock market from 2009 to 2022. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset comprising various financial metrics and market variables, we explore the impact of infrastructure development, digital communication, and external factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic on analysts' forecast accuracy and the coverage of stocks by brokerage firms. Our analysis employs regression models to examine the relationships between these variables and forecast accuracy, as measured by the absolute deviation between predicted and actual earnings, and brokerage coverage, quantified by the number of brokerage firms covering a particular stock. The results reveal nuanced relationships between infrastructure development, digital communication, and forecast accuracy, with infrastructure improvements and digital tools exhibiting varying effects on analyst behavior and forecast accuracy. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated disruptions have introduced additional complexities, altering the dynamics of forecast accuracy and brokerage coverage in ways not fully captured by traditional metrics. Our findings underscore the importance of considering the interplay between physical and digital infrastructures, alongside external factors, in shaping market dynamics and analyst behavior. Additionally, control variables such as firm profitability and financial leverage exhibit consistent significance, highlighting the influence of firm-specific financial health on market outcomes. Overall, our study contributes to a deeper understanding of the factors driving forecast accuracy and brokerage coverage in financial markets, providing valuable insights for investors, analysts, and policymakers alike.