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Professor Dr Andreas Barth

Professor Dr Andreas Barth
Current Position

since 2/23

Research Affiliate

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

since 10/24

Professor

University of Würzburg

Research Interests
  • financial economics
  • financial intermediation
  • international economics
  • corporate finance
  • financial stability

Andreas Barth joined the institute in February 2023 as a Research Affiliate. His research focuses on financial intermediation and financial stability.

 

Andreas Barth holds the position of Professor at University of Würzburg.

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Professor Dr Andreas Barth
Professor Dr Andreas Barth
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Working Papers

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Information Flow and Market Efficiency - The Economic Impact of Precise Language

Andreas Barth Sasan Mansouri Fabian Wöbbeking

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 13, 2025

Abstract

<p>This paper examines the impact of complex yet precise language, particularly financial jargon, on information dissemination and ultimately market efficiency. As a natural laboratory, we analyze the information exchanged during earnings conference calls, where we instrument jargon with the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Our findings suggest that the Act‘s promotion of plain language usage results in a reduction in complex financial jargon for US firms. However, in contrast to the presumed benefits of accessible language, this reduction in jargon is associated with a decrease in market efficiency, implying that the Act may inadvertently hinder information flow. This finding is particularly important at the juncture where human-generated information is received by machines, which are known to be vunerable to ambiguous inputs.</p>

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How to Talk Down Your Stock Performance

Andreas Barth Sasan Mansouri Fabian Wöbbeking Severin Zörgiebel

in: SSRN Discussion Papers, 2020

Abstract

We process the natural language of verbal firm disclosures in order to study the use of context specific language or jargon and its impact on financial performance. We observe that, within the Q&amp;A of earnings conference calls, managers use less jargon in responses to tougher questions, and after a quarter of bad economic success. Moreover, markets interpret the lack of precise information as a bad signal: we find lower cumulative abnormal returns and a higher implied volatility following earnings calls where managers use less jargon. These results support the argument that context specific language or jargon helps to efficiently and precisely transfer information.

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