Non-plain English - Publications - Faculty & Research

July 2016
Article

The Capital Market Consequences of Language Barriers in the Conference Calls of Non-U.S. Firms

By: Francois Brochet, Patricia L. Naranjo and Gwen Yu

We examine how language barriers affect the capital market reaction to information disclosures. Using transcripts from the English-language conference calls of non-U.S. firms, we find that the calls of firms in countries with greater language barriers are more likely... View Details

Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Capital Market Consequences; Non-plain English; Spoken Communication; Complexity; Capital Markets; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

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01 Mar 2017
News

Research Brief: Lost in Translation

In an increasingly global business world, English is the lingua franca that tethers companies and their investors together. Executives without a deep fluency in English could be costing their companies more... View Details

Keywords: Erin Peterson

26 Jan 2016
First Look

January 26, 2016

English-language conference calls of non-U.S. firms, we find that the calls of firms in countries with greater language barriers are more likely to contain non-plain English and erroneous expressions. For... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Earnings Calls That Get Lost in Translation

chose to host conference calls in English, placing themselves on shaky linguistic ground. The recent working paper Capital Market Consequences of Non-Plain English in Conference Calls of Foreign Firms... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

in Conference Calls of Non-U.S. Firms By: Brochet, Francois, Patricia L. Naranjo, and Gwen Yu Abstract—We examine how linguistic complexity affects the capital market reaction to information disclosures. We define linguistic complexity as the use of View Details