Capital IQ Transcripts data for UM Researchers
Have you noticed the latest addition to the WRDS research data platform during your recent browsing sessions? If not, take a moment to check again—you’re in for some exciting news! Thanks to the generous support from MORSE and individual researchers within SBE, UM researchers now have access to Capital IQ Transcripts data.
Why is this subscription to the dataset so exciting news? Because it opens up a treasure trove of textual data. This dataset includes the transcription of the conversation of approximately 8,000 public events. Most of these transcripts are firms’ earnings calls—accounting for 76% of the collection.
Earnings calls are a cornerstone of corporate communication, especially for publicly traded US firms. Held quarterly, these calls provide a unique glimpse into the inner workings of firms. Unlike scripted reports, earnings calls are interactive sessions where managers candidly discuss financial performance, outline future strategies, and answer questions from analysts and investors alike.
For researchers, these transcripts offer a glimpse into the conversations happening within the firms and between firm insiders and external stakeholders, opening the door for some exciting research opportunities.
Traditionally, researchers in accounting have utilized earnings call transcripts to study the information content, language, or interaction in these calls. However, a growing number of researchers across disciplines are now leveraging data to develop textual measures such as assessing firm risk exposure—whether it’s cybersecurity risk, political risk, Brexit exposure, climate exposure, supply chain risk—or inferring deception or obfuscation from managers’ language. In fact, research across the management field is benefitting from this more robust way with which to measure constructs related to executives’ personality traits or firms’ strategic priorities.
With the growing popularity of large language models and increasing computing power, extracting information from these transcripts will only get easier.
For SBE researchers, this dataset opens exciting new avenues for interdisciplinary research. We encourage you to dive into the Capital IQ Transcripts and see what novel question it might help you answer. Whether you’re in finance, accounting, management, or any other field, we believe there is great potential in this data. Have fun with it!
This blog is authored by Fynn Ohlrogge, Assistant Professor of Accounting and Information Management Deaprtment at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics. He joined Maastricht University in 2020 after earning his PhD at the University of Antwerp (Belgium).
Fynn’s work follows two main research streams. First, he is interested in firms’ disclosure strategies and market participants’ use of information in capital markets. In the second stream, he is interested in how digital technology impacts firms’ efficiency, innovation, and employment. In 2022, Fynn obtained a Marie Curie fellowship from the EU to research the causes and consequences of firms’ increasing focus on artificial intelligence. Fynn’s research has been published in Accounting, Organizations and Society, Behavioral Research in Accounting, and Public Relations Review. He coordinates and teaches courses in information management at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
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