Using a unique database that identifies the location of 18,446 financial analysts covering 20，725 firms from 48 countries during 1996-2010，we find that individualism is negatively associated with analysts’earnings forecast optimism and positively associated with their forecast accuracy．These effects are weaker for countries with better disclosure，better public enforcement，and stronger anti-director rights，and are stronger for analysts with less experience．These results are consistent with the incentive hypothesis，instead of the cognitive bias hypothesis，for analyst forecast optimism．