Business Commons^™

Beyond The Pixelated Mirror: Understanding Avatar Identity And Its Impact On In-Game Advertising And Consumer Behavior, Kyle Coble, Jay Ratican, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the complex dynamics between avatars and in-game advertising, probing how virtual representations influence consumer behavior within digital environments. It delves into the psychological interplay between self-perception and avatar embodiment, suggesting that while younger users may treat avatars as accessories showcasing personal interests, adults tend to opt for idealized selves, affecting their interaction with and responsiveness to virtual marketing. The study contemplates the avatar’s function as both a consumer and influencer in the expanding metaverse, considering the escalating integration of branded items in games. It also highlights potential shifts in consumption patterns as digital and physical realities converge. …

Virtual Reality At Workplace For Autistic Employees: Preliminary Results Of Physiological-Based Well-Being Experience, M. A. Reyes-Consuelo, D. Michaud, J. Proulx-Guimond, Jocelyne Kiss, C. Vincent, G. Edwards, James Hutson, J. Ruel, S. Letscher, V. Psyche, C. Papi, M. Caouette, Piper Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

Emotional health problems in the workplace often hinder the integration and retention of autistic employees (AE), a challenge identified in many sectors. Recent literature highlights the consequences of these problems, such as burnout leading to reduced productivity and resignation. Previous research supports the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) for training a variety of specific skills (e.g. riding a bus or plane travel), as well as more complex social skills, such as emotion recognition and functional communication. In addition, existing studies on using physiological self-monitoring in AE training offer a promising approach to promoting improved emotional health. The present paper reports …

A Novel Approach To Legacy Donations With Long-Term Benefits Supported By Mathematical Analysis, Daniel Solow, Robin Symes

Faculty Scholarship

A novel approach to legacy donations, called the “Master Fund Strategy,” is proposed. Potential long-term financial benefits for both donor and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) when compared to a “Traditional Fund Strategy” are established through mathematical analysis and computer simulations, providing nonprofit marketing and fundraising professionals an alternative way to lock in bequest funding. In particular, formulas are developed for computing relevant financial quantities associated with the two strategies. Conditions are presented under which the Master Fund Strategy is better than the Traditional Fund Strategy, in the sense that there is a point in time when the net present value of …

Recent Impacts Of Penny And Fixed Odds Wagering: What Does The Future Hold?, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty Scholarship

In order hopefully to revive attendance at the tracks and/or fuel a resurgence in gambling (either in person or virtually), the last year has seen some recent wagering developments and changes at different horseracing tracks in the United States. At Ellis Park Racing and Gaming (Henderson, Kentucky) in the Evansville, Indiana metro area, penny wagering has been tried since the 2022 season to influence gambling revenues. Meanwhile, starting in 2022 Monmouth Park in New Jersey now offers “fixed odds” wagering as an alternative to parimutuel wagering for patrons who do not like the possible fluctuations in odds before a race …

Initiation Payments, Scott Hirst

Faculty Scholarship

Many of the central discussions in corporate governance, including those regarding proxy contests, shareholder proposals, and other activism or stewardship, can be understood as a single question: Is there under-initiation of corporate changes that investors would collectively prefer?

This Article sheds light on this question in three ways. First, the Article proposes a theory of investor initiation, which explains the hypothesis that there is under-initiation of collectively-preferred corporate change by investors. Even though investors collectively prefer that certain corporate changes take place, the costs to any individual investor from initiating such changes through high-cost proxy contests, or even low-cost shareholder …

A Novel Approach To Legacy Donations With Long-Term Benefits Supported By Numerical Illustrations, Daniel Solow, Robin Symes

Faculty Scholarship

Philanthropic donors face challenges in matching the causes to which they donate, the time horizon—and thus impact—of their donations, and the charitable vehicles they choose for making contributions. Wealthier donors may elect to create their own foundations and customize their charitable support. Less wealthy donors have limited choices: they may contribute to a nonprofit's current operations or to existing nonprofit endowments. We present a novel approach for making charitable donations, blending aspects of each of these strategies. Our approach has potential long-term financial benefits, allows donors to control their charitable donations in a convenient and easy-to-implement manner, can be established …

The Economic Surplus, The Baran Ratio, And Long Wave Cycles, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty Scholarship

This paper briefly outlines the idea and development of the economic surplus concept at the macroeconomic level as opposed to the one in microeconomics often labeled as a Marshallian surplus. Of special interest and focus is the concept as developed and used by heterodox economists. The notion of a residual amount of output or income over and above what is necessary for a society’s consumption (education, housing, food, clothing, health care, transportation, and other necessities of life) that can be used either for further consumption by an elite class, used for reinvestment in productive activities, and/or wasted on unproductive efforts …

What’S Scope 3 Good For?, Madison Condon

Faculty Scholarship

Opposition to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) new rule on updated climate risk reporting has focused on one category of disclosures as particularly objectionable: Scope 3 emissions.⁷ Otherwise known as “supply chain emissions,” Scope 3 emissions have been voluntarily reported by a growing number of companies since the term was invented as part of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol in 2001.⁸ They include all the emissions both up and downstream of a corporations’ own activities: the emissions of the privately-owned factory that produced the shoes Target sells, as well as the emissions you burn while driving to the …

Utilizing Neurodiverse Workplace Strategies To Support The Growing Population Of Long Covid Cases In A Neuroinclusive Workplace: A Paradigm Shift For Neuroacquired Employees, Piper Hutson, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the emergence of long COVID, a condition in which patients report persistent symptoms after recovering from acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. A review conducted by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) suggests that long COVID may actually consist of four different syndromes: post-intensive care syndrome, post-viral fatigue syndrome, and long-term COVID syndrome. The absence of a clear definition for this condition may lead to under-recognition and under-treatment of the symptoms experienced by those affected. Moreover, existing programs designed for neuro diverse individuals may be adapted to support the growing neuro acquired population. Communication strategies, such …

Is Growth In Outstate Missouri Tied To Growth In The St. Louis And Kansas City Metro Areas?, Howard J. Wall

Faculty Scholarship

In a 2016 Show-Me Institute essay, Michael Podgursky and Nick Pretnar demonstrated the proportional importance to the state economy of Missouri’s two dominant metro areas.1 As they report, the St. Louis and Kansas City metro areas together account for well over half of Missouri’s economic output (64 percent of gross state product in 2013), indicating that the aggregate performance of the state economy is largely determined by the performance of the two metro areas’ economies. In this essay I take this idea a step further and examine whether there is more than simply a proportional relationship.

Specifically, I look at …

Horse Sense Or Horse Hype? Estimating The True Economic Impact Of Churchill Downs And The Kentucky Derby On The Louisville Metro Area, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty Scholarship

In trying to assess the true economic impact of the Kentucky Derby on the Louisville region (north central Kentucky and south central Indiana counties), one can find two different estimates appear in doing a quick search on the internet. Some sources, such as the Kentucky Derby Museum, indicate that the economic impact of the Derby is around $217 million (Kentucky Derby Museum 2023) but never mention a source or study for this conjecture. In doing some research, this amount is determined to come from a 2001 study by the marketing research firm Wilkerson and Associates (LaMarra 2001), and therefore this …

The Horse Versus The Ox During Medieval Times………And Horse Power Versus Horsepower Today, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty Scholarship

In watching television or other films regarding agriculture in various nations, one can occasionally still see where horses, mules, donkeys, or oxen are used to plow/plough fields or haul produce from farm to market. These practices seem antiquated by today’s farming techniques which mostly employ large combustion engine combines or tractors, trucks, etc. Much has been written about the agricultural revolution that occurred throughout most developed nations between the world wars and especially after the second one in which the use of more and more machinery has been used to grow agricultural produce such as wheat, corn, barley, etc. Even …

Kentucky Downs And The Mint—A Huge “Exporter” For Kentucky?, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty Scholarship

Kentucky Downs is a thoroughbred racetrack located in Franklin, Kentucky near the Kentucky-Tennessee border and close to Interstate 65 which features European-style (all turf track) racing. (The Mint and Kentucky Downs n.d.). It is also part of an entertainment complex that features a gaming center called The Mint, which has over 1000 historical horse racing (HHR) machines, machines that are somewhat similar to but not exactly the same as casino slot machines (The Mint n.d.). The Mint has another location around 20-30 minutes away by car in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and combined these two operations have around 125 employees according …

Reimagining A U.S. Corporate Tax Increase As A Supplemental Subtraction Vat, Daniel S. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

The U.S. federal government raises tax revenue almost exclusively through income taxes, both corporate and individual, whereas its trading partners and competitors rely for their national revenue on both income taxes and “destination-based” value added taxes (VATs), which are not imposed on exports but are imposed on imports. As a result, U.S. corporations, which are subject to U.S. corporate income tax, may be at a serious trade disadvantage to competitor non-U.S. corporations with respect to both U.S. domestic sales and foreign sales, if the U.S. corporate income tax exceeds the foreign country’s income tax imposed on those competitors.

The Biden …

Public Reporting Of Monitorship Outcomes, Veronica Root Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

When a corporation engages in misconduct that is widespread or pervasive, courts, regulators, or prosecutors often insist that the firm obtain assistance from an independent third party — a monitor — to oversee the firm’s remediation effort. The largest firms in the world — from Deutsche Bank, to Volkswagen, to Carnival Cruise Lines — have found themselves having to retain a monitor for corporate misconduct, despite attempts to avoid a monitorship entirely. Traditionally, monitors, or their special master forebearers, were utilized by courts to assist in overseeing compliance with court orders, and their work was both accessible and transparent. As …

Reframing The Dei Case, Veronica Root Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

Corporate firms have long expressed their support for the idea that their organizations should become more demographically diverse while creating a culture that is inclusive of all members of the firm. These firms have traditionally, however, not been successful at improving demographic diversity and true inclusion within the upper echelons of their organizations. The status quo seemed unlikely to move, but expectations for corporate firms were upended after the #MeToo Movement of 2017 and 2018, which was followed by corporate support of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement in 2020. These two social movements, while distinct in many ways, forced firms to rethink …

Sticky Doors And Crusty Floors: Zooming In On Messiness And Parenthood In Virtual Work Meetings, Katherine A. Karl, Joy V. Peluchette, Andrea R. Neely

Faculty Scholarship

This study examines how the condition of an employee’s home background setting (messy vs. tidy) and the presence of a child on screen (present vs. not present) impact observer judgments of the target’s professionalism, competence, and career success. Participants (N=711) were randomly assigned to one of 16 experimental conditions with two levels for performance (high or low), target gender (male or female), background (messy or tidy), and child (present or not present). The results show that messiness alone results in less favorable perceptions of the target employee’s professionalism and career outcomes, but not competence. Having a child present did not …

How Much Do Investors Care About Social Responsibility?, Scott Hirst, Kobi Kastiel, Tamar Kricheli-Katz

Faculty Scholarship

Perhaps the most important corporate law debate over the last several years concerns whether directors and executives should manage the corporation to maximize value for investors or also take into account the interests of other stakeholders and society. But, do investors themselves wish to maximize returns, or are they willing to forgo returns for social purposes? And more broadly, do market participants, such as investors and consumers, differ from donors in the ways in which they prioritize monetary gains and the promotion of social goals?

This project attempts to answer these questions with evidence from an experiment conducted with 279 …

Mergers In The Us Gambling And Horse Racing Industries: What It Means For Local Economic Development And Taxation, Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty Scholarship

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, most sectors of the various gambling industries in the United States were showing signs of stagnation. Over the last few years, these industries have seen mergers between horse racing tracks, between horse racing tracks and casinos to form “racinos”, and between casino companies. Many gambling facilities and racetracks have closed and have been sold to developers to be used for other purposes. An industry “shakeout” is occurring, and there appears to be a trend toward greater industry concentration as consumers are showing less and less interest in gambling in general. This has been partially fueled …