The cost stickness phenomenon : causes, characteristics, and implications for fundamental analysis and financial analysts' forecasts / by Baumgarten, Daniel

Table of Contents: “…Geleitwort; Vorwort; Table of Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Abbreviations; List of Symbols; 1 Introduction; 2 The Cost Stickiness Phenomenon; 2.1 Evidence on the Stickiness of Costs and its Potential Causes; 2.2 Characteristics of Cost Stickiness; 2.2.1 General Characteristic of Cost Stickiness; 2.2.1.1 Stickiness of Different Cost Components; 2.2.1.2 The Influence of the Magnitude of Changes in Activity; 2.2.1.3 The Time Horizon of Cost Stickiness; 2.2.1.4 Cyclical Characteristics of Cost Stickiness; 2.2.2 Firm-Specific Characteristics of Cost Stickiness 2.2.3 Industry-Specific Characteristics of Cost Stickiness2.2.4 Country-Specific Characteristics of Cost Stickiness; 2.3 Cost Stickiness and Managerial Incentives; 2.4 Criticism of the Cost Stickiness Concept; 2.5 Applications of the Cost Stickiness Concept to Related Financial Research; 3 Cost Stickiness and the Information Content of the SG&A Ratio; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 The SG&A Ratio in Fundamental Analysis; 3.3 Research Design and Data; 3.3.1 Research Design; 3.3.1.1 Impact on Future Operating Earnings per Share; 3.3.1.2 Impact on Future Sales, Cost of Goods Sold, and SG&A Costs 3.3.1.3 Influence of Potential for Enhancements of Operating Processes3.3.2 Sample Data; 3.3.3 Descriptive Statistics; 3.4 Results; 3.4.1 Impact on Future Operating Earnings per Share; 3.4.2 Impact on Future Sales, Cost of Goods Sold, and SG&A Costs; 3.4.3 Influence of Potential for Enhancements of Operating Processes; 3.5 Differentiation from an Explanation in Terms of Cost Stickiness; 3.6 Sensitivity Analyses; 3.6.1 Changes in the Segmentation of the Sample; 3.6.2 Impact on Earnings per Share; 3.7 Conclusion; 4 Cost Stickiness and Analysts' Implied Cost Forecasts; 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Literature Review and Hypothesis Development4.2.1 Cost Stickiness; 4.2.2 Earnings Forecast Optimism; 4.2.3 Hypotheses Development; 4.3 Research Design and Sample; 4.3.1 Research Design; 4.3.2 Sample and Descriptive Statistics; 4.4 Results; 4.5 Sensitivity Analyses; 4.5.1 More Extensive Data Trimming; 4.5.2 Median Consensus Forecasts; 4.5.3 Problematic Cost Components; 4.5.4 Individual Forecasts; 4.5.5 Industrial Firms; 4.5.6 Clustered Standard Errors or Fama-MacBeth [1973] Regression; 4.5.7 Main Effect of Decrease Dummy; 4.5.8 Experienced Analysts; 4.6 Conclusion; 5 Concluding Remarks References…”