Does Analyst Coverage Affect Workplace Safety

Consistent with the monitoring role of analysts, we find work-related injury rates are negatively related to higher levels of analyst coverage. This result is robust to approaches designed to mitigate endogeneity concerns and is stronger in industries where unions are less powerful, for firms followed by all-star analysts and in the presence of more local analysts. Firms with greater analyst coverage are more likely to adopt safety clauses in CEO compensation contracts, are rated higher in workplace safety culture, invest more in safety and management is more likely to discuss safety issues during earnings conference calls. Our results suggest analysts have a subtle yet important impact on employee welfare.