Business Commons^™

The Economic Contribution Of Cherry To The Household Economy In Pakistan. A Case Study From Lower-Hunza, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan, Rizwan Akhtar

CBER Conference

The cherry, one of the most recognized fruit crops, has become a significant source of income for rural farmers in Pakistan. However, limited research has been conducted on the economic impact of cherry farming. Consequently, there is a growing demand for a deeper understanding of cherries' economic contribution to the domestic economy. This study used socio-economic data from 315 cherry-producing households in Lower Hunza, GilgitBaltistan, to examine the role of cherries in community income. Data was collected through direct face-to-face interviews and semi-structured questionnaires with cherry producers, emphasizing group family discussions and interactions with local cherry traders. The findings indicate …

The Best Places To Raise A Family In Texas: Developing The Hibbs Institute Family Index, Manuel Reyes-Loya, Cecilia Cuellar

Whitepapers and Technical Reports

This report presents the Hibbs Institute Family Index, which ranks Texas metropolitan areas based on how family-friendly they are. The index evaluates 25 metro areas using 18 indicators across five categories: health and safety, economic performance, education, amenities, and social environment. Data from census, labor, healthcare, and community sources are used to calculate overall scores. The results show that Tyler, Texas ranks as the best place to raise a family , performing especially well in healthcare and economic conditions. The study helps families and policymakers better understand which Texas communities offer strong environments for family life.

Research Report: Housing, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Mary Emery, Katelyn Larson, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Executive summary

Most rural Nebraskans support a variety of housing programs and priorities. The support for these various programs was similar to that found in 2016. At least three-quarters of rural Nebraskans would somewhat support or strongly support the following in their community: developing programs to help seniors age in their current home; offering low-interest loans or grants for repair, rehabilitation or home improvement; providing affordable rental housing; establishing a local program that would purchase and remove dilapidated houses making lots available for building; developing senior housing; purchasing, rehabilitating and reselling vacant housing; and establishing a local program that would …

Bank Competition Amid Digital Disruption: Implications For Financial Inclusion, Erica Xuewei Jiang, Yang Gloria Yu, Jinyuan Zhang

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

We study how digital disruption impacts bank competition, considering consumers’ heterogeneous digital preferences. We find that the rollout of 3G networks contracts bank branch networks and leads to divergence in branching and pricing strategies across banks. These developments benefit young consumers but increase the unbanked rate for poorer and older consumers. A structural model shows that the higher perceived digital quality by younger borrowers mainly prompts these adjustments, causing significant surplus losses for older savers. Counterfactual exercises illustrate that subsidizing older savers opting for mobile banking effectively offsets these disparities at minimal cost, facilitating a smoother digital transition.

Research Report: Artificial Intelligence, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Mary Emery, Katelyn Larson, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Some rural Nebraskans have used artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Just over one-quarter have used any AI tool. However, most younger persons have used AI tools.

Given that, it is not surprising that most rural Nebraskans are not at all or slightly informed about artificial intelligence. Just over one-third are moderately informed about AI, and just over one in ten are either very or extremely informed about AI.

Most rural Nebraskans are either not at all or slightly confident that AI is being used in the best interest of the public. Just over one-half are not at all confident that it …

Esg Ratings In The Mining Industry: Factors And Implications, Mahelet G. Fikru, Jennifer Brodmann, Lili Eng, J. Andrew Grant

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

While previous research explores the relationship between ESG ratings, firm size, and financial outcomes, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis comparing multiple ESG ratings within the mining industry. This gap is crucial given the increasing focus on ESG in mining operations and its potential impact on company performance. Based on proprietary financial and ESG ratings data from 200 mining companies, this study investigates the relationship between two different ESG ratings and firm characteristics. We compare ESG-rated firms with unrated firms in terms of firm size, and financial performance indicators, and explore country-level patterns in ESG ratings. Findings reveal that …

Stakeholder Fairness And Corporate Social Impact: The Behavioral Economic Structure Of Corporate Law, Eli Bukspan

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

This study aims to bridge the gap between stakeholder capitalism—manifesting today in the evolving corporate social impact paradigm—and the historical shareholder primacy of corporate law. The emerging view of corporate purpose, particularly stakeholder capitalism, is closely related to the notion of fairness. This article demonstrates—by looking mainly at Israeli corporate law—that certain foundational concepts of behavioral economics better describe and justify the recent prominence of stakeholderism and the rejuvenated discourse of corporate social impact and purpose than does neoclassical economic theory. It concludes that the “fairness principle” provides a strong rationale for assimilating stakeholder expectations into the DNA of modern …

Striking A Balance: Market Shock & Responses In Automotive Components Manufacturing, Emma Lane Mcgahey

All Theses

This thesis examines the effects of extreme market shocks on supply chain dynamics within the automotive industry. Through an analysis of demand data from an automotive manufacturer to its component suppliers (January 2018 to May 2024), the study investigates the relationship between market shocks and supply chain responses, providing insights into how auto components inventory management handles downstream responses to market shocks. With supporting public data—from FRED, BLS, and the U.S. Census Bureau resources—we explore two primary relationships: the impact of market shocks on the Average Standard Deviation of Demand (SDO) and the effect of demand variability on expedited pricing …

2024 Update: The Economic Impact Of Artprize, Grand Valley State University, Christian Glupker

Other Faculty Publications

ArtPrize is estimated to have generated or supported economic benefits for Kent County in the following ways:

• The total economic impact of all primary visitor spending, ArtPrize operational spending, and artist spending is estimated between $71 and $77 million in economic output supporting between 547 and 600 jobs.
• 795,555 total visitors, with 57% visiting from outside the local region.
• 39% of local visitors and 74% of all nonlocal visitors stated that ArtPrize was their primary reason for visiting Grand Rapids.
• All local visitors spent an average of 2.75 days at ArtPrize and all nonlocal visitors spent an average of 1.76 …

The Forgotten S.O.P., Kamille Stevens

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (iiED) is dedicated to cultivating entrepreneurship and economic growth within the Monterey Bay. Its goal is to create a pipeline of entrepreneurs from the Monterey Bay region who remain local and are able to increase the number of businesses and high-paying jobs in the area. To reach this goal, iiED provides multiple opportunities to its participants and tailors those opportunities based on their feedback.

Recently, iiED’s management has begun to experience turnover as individuals retire or reduce their work hours. As a result, iiED has begun to depend on the specialized knowledge of …

Financial Risk In A Changing Climate, Mashuk S. Rahman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Essay 1:

Given the missing-not-at-random (MNAR) nature of carbon emissions figures under the voluntary disclosure regulator environment, this research imputes synthetic emissions figures for both disclosing and non-disclosing publicly traded US firms, using an IV approach adapted for sample bias correction. The forward-observing implied cost of equity capital measure is consistently higher for carbon-intensive firms regardless of disclosure decision. This higher cost found in the large swath of high-emitting firms reduces the net present value of green transition investments, thus fueling existing research on the counterproductive natures of capital allocation in efforts to reduce corporate pollution. Contrary to emerging research, …

How Millennials Make Investment Decisions: Financial Literacy And Financial Behavior, Dewi Tamara, Anita Maharani

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

This study investigates the effect of financial literacy, financial attitude, risk perception, and financial behavior on investment decisions. Employing a survey method with 342 respondents in Jakarta, the findings reveal that financial literacy has a negative and insignificant effect on investment decisions. In contrast, risk perception plays a crucial role in influencing investment decisions. Furthermore, financial behavior has an indirect mediating effect between financial literacy and risk perception on investment decisions but does not affect financial attitude. This study concludes that risk perception and financial behavior are important factors in investment decisions. Future research may consider incorporating other variables such …

Universal Return And Factor Timing, Poh Ling Neo, Chyng Wen Tee, Jeroen Kerkhof

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The authors highlight the shortcomings of commonly used performance graphs in assessing and comparing investment returns. This paper's main conceptual contribution is the introduction of Universal Return (UR) - a visual method to evaluate and rank investment strategies that challenges the traditional focus on raw performance statistics. The authors argue that the ranking of investment performance when viewed from a pool of investors over different entry time is more important than its overall absolute returns, as it better aligns investment analysis with the needs of investors, who are primarily concerned with identifying currently successful strategies or managers rather than dwelling …

Estimating The Effect Of Residential Sales Prices On Building Permits, Emilio Becerra

All Theses

This paper addresses home sales prices’ impact on residential building permit authorization in South Carolina’s Greenville and Richland counties amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimation uses a comprehensive data set of the housing markets in both counties for 2016 to 2022, incorporating 88,098 home sales. The analysis exploits the variation in sales prices of homes to analyze the sensitivity in the supply of permits to builders through an instrumental variables approach. Using two instruments, violent crimes and household income, the effect of sales prices on the supply of building permits is positive and statistically significant. Included in the first-stage regression …

Impact Of State-Level Family Policies On Female Labor Force Participation And Entrepreneurship, Kathryn Staczek Rudloff

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to investigate the impact of state-level family policies on women's participation in the labor force in the United States, focusing specifically on the rise of self-employment and solopreneurship among women. The research seeks to answer the following question: "How do family policies at the state level impact participation of American women in the labor force?"

The study utilized a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. A composite index of state level family policies was created to conduct cross-sectional exploratory data analysis of female labor force participation. Additionally, a qualitative phenomenological study of solopreneurs provided a deeper understanding of the …

Implementation Of Total Quality Management To Improve Operational Efficiency And Customer Satisfaction In Lebanese Industries, Mohamad Nassif Nehme, Moulham Abouibrahim, Nada Jabbour Al Maalouf

Arab Economic and Business Journal

In today's dynamic business landscape, organizations are constantly seeking ways to improve their performance. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a popular strategy for organizational excellence. This paper aims to explore the relationship between TQM implementation, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction in Lebanon's industry sector; specifically in the Food and Beverage, paints and coatings, and stove manufacturing sectors. The paper is based on a deductive approach. A mono-method approach is used to collect data from a sample of 100 professionals operating in various industrial companies in Lebanon, using structured questionnaires. The findings revealed that TQM has a positive impact on both …

Navigating Market Volatility: Risk And Return Insights From Indian Mutual Funds, Davinder K. Malhotra, Rahul Singh, L. Ramani

School of Business Faculty Papers

This study evaluates Indian mutual funds using a variety of criteria, demonstrating a historical tendency of lower monthly returns and volatility when compared to benchmark indexes. This positive risk profile implies that it will appeal to investors who want stability. Despite COVID-19-induced market volatility, mutual funds persistently outperform benchmark indices in terms of average return per unit of risk, highlighting their potential as a dependable investment option for stability seekers. Furthermore, Indian mutual funds routinely beat benchmark indexes in risk-adjusted terms. Despite having a positive alpha, it lacked statistical significance, indicating a possible reliance on market volatility rather than managerial …

Social Capital, Post-Industrial Society, And Faulty Industry Experience: Higher Education’S Engagement Opportunity In Applied Disciplines, Asa B. Wilson, Steven A. Stovall, Edward Crowley

Journal of the North American Management Society

Higher education faces two currents - declining social capital support and the post-industrial transition. Both impact the academy and its students. The associated challenges are discussed as engagement opportunities for the academy in applied disciplines. Also, the instructional value of faculty industry experience (IE) is defined as an attribute of social capital. It fosters student engagement while building an experiential learning bridge from the classroom to the workplace. A composite case based on faculty social capital backgrounds illustrates how faculty IE augments program development, academic rigor, student readiness, research creativity, industry linkages, and community impact. Follow-up research opportunities are identified.

The Importance Of Creativity As A Leadership Trait In Times Of Uncertainty, Niall C. Hegarty, Gerald Cusack

Journal of the North American Management Society

The purpose of this article is to illustrate that in times of uncertainty and crisis leadership creativity is the key ingredient in ensuring the survival of the firm. In such times there is no stock solution - one size does not fit all. Hence, the important trait of creativity is a crucial component needed in organizational leadership. The article progresses through the various types of creativity and challenges to survival of organizations that require the presence of creativity and develops a creative LOOP system to promote continued organizational creativity. Triggered by the presence of Covid-19 and the natural exploration of …

Journal Management, Administration, And Promotion: The Power And Impact Of The Jnams Relaunch, Michael Dobbs, Heather S. Mcmillan

Journal of the North American Management Society

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Impact And Challenges Of Global Business Courses In Higher Education: Perspectives Of Teachers And Students, Maged Eid, Razan Baradhi, Laurent Yacoub, Nada Jabbour Al Maalouf

Arab Economic and Business Journal

This study evaluates the impact and challenges of the "Global Business Core" course, where students from various countries engage in online, synchronous discussions via videoconferencing to explore life-related topics and intercultural learning. By focusing on the perspectives of both students and instructors, this qualitative study offers an in-depth understanding of how global business education shapes participants' experiences. Data were collected through unstructured interviews with 15 students, 5 instructors across 6 countries, and the director of global academic initiatives. The data were manually processed using a coding process in line with thematic analysis, which involved identifying key patterns and themes from …

Building Modern City And Urban Science, Guangtao Wang, Fen Li, Xiang Liu, Yufei Gao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China is in a new stage of development of Chinese-style modernization, and the construction of modern cities plays a leading role in the process of modernization. Urban science is an important direction that urban researchers has been exploring, and the construction of modern cities needs the guidance of China’s urban science theory. On the basis of summarizing the basic characteristics of urban science, this study draws on the frontier progress of urban science both domestically and internationally, this study proposes definitions of China’s urban science, and constructs a theoretical framework with four dimensions, namely, ideological guidance, theoretical evidence-based approach, practical …

Thoughts On Reform Of Fiscal S&T System Under Public Finance System, Wei Xue, Xuan Wang, Yunqiqige Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Finance is the foundation and important pillar of national governance, a perfect financial science and technology system is of great significance for promoting scientific and technological progress, optimizing financial science and technology management, and enhancing the effectiveness of financial science and technology funds. This study discusses the main features of the financial science and technology system under the framework of public finance, summarizes the relevant reform achievements in China in recent years, identifies the main problems, clarifies the practices of innovative countries such as the United States, Germany, Britain, and Japan, and puts forward policy suggestions for further deepening the …

Growers’ Perceptions And Strategies To Mitigate Spring Frost Injury In Grapevines, Vinicius Cervilieri, Imed Dami, Guilherme Signorini

Journal of Extension

Uncertain weather patterns raise concerns about frequent spring frosts and injury in grapevines. This article quantifies growers’ perceptions of susceptibility to spring frosts and examines their satisfaction with existing mitigation strategies. Departing from a survey with grape growers, results show that over 80% of sampled growers have experienced damage due to frosts. Over-vine sprinklers, proper site selection, and adoption of late budding cultivars are the practices with the highest satisfaction levels. None of the strategies examined reached the highest satisfaction score. In addition, 61% of respondents showed interest in sprayable products to delay budbreak and circumvent grapevine damage.

Lead-Lag And Volatility Point Change Estimations For Cryptocurrencies, Jules Clement Mba, Jenipher Mutale, Ehounou Serge Eloge Florentin Angaman

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

This study investigates the lead-lag relationships and volatility dynamics among four major cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon – during the turbulent year of 2022. We address three primary research questions: (1) To what extent do lead-lag relationships exist among major cryptocurrencies, and how do they challenge or support the notion of market efficiency in the crypto space? (2) How do volatility change points in different cryptocurrencies relate to each other and to major market events? (3) How can the identification of lead‑lag relationships and volatility change points inform cryptocurrency investment strategies and risk management practices? Using a continuous-time …

A Method To Incorporate Transition Risk Stress Testing Into Probability Of Default (Pd) Models For Retail Portfolios, Aneta Ptak-Chmielewska, Paweł Kopciuszewski, Alvaro Fernandez Toledo

Journal of Banking and Financial Economics

Climate risk is one of the type of risks in a bank’s portfolio which is not fully recognized, and its impact on the future overall risk changes is hidden due to lack of sufficient knowledge at the moment. One of the most common data comes from Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) scenarios related to climate change (physical risk) and climate policy and technology trends (transition risk). In the paper we focused on the transition risk scenarios and their impact on the economy and in particular on credit risk. Our main goal was to check the tendency in the …

Interest Groups And Central Banking, Louis Rouanet, Michael Wroblewski

Hunt Institute Working Paper Series

This chapter offers an alternative approach to the public interest theory of central banking.Instead of interpreting the history of central banking as attempts to solve market failures, we suggest that central bank behavior can be best explained by studying the constraints faced by members of various interest groups, including members of the central banks themselves. Instead of looking uniquely at how private decisions in commercial markets shape central banks’ decisions, we argue that central bank behavior is best predicted when applying the tools of economics to politics, i.e., when using Public Choice.

The Heterogeneous Effects Of Cannabis Dispensaries On Crime: The Importance Of Foot Traffic, Thomas Lebesmuehlbacher, Justin Roush, Rhet A. Smith

Hunt Institute Working Paper Series

This paper pairs exact dispensary locations with city block level crime data to study the impact of medical cannabis dispensaries on crime in the state of Florida from 2016-2019. Leveraging a Florida state law that requires broadly uniform security provisions across dispensaries, we capture important dispensary heterogeneity by incorporating customer volume and local non-dispensary foot traffic with smartphone geopositional data. We use not-yet-operational dispensary locations as a control group and a geo-spatial difference-in-differences framework and find reductions in larceny, vehicle burglary, and motor vehicle theft following the opening of high-volume dispensaries. We fail to find evidence of similar deterrent effects …

A Practical Guide To Driving Financial Inclusion Through Cbdcs, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Welcome back to our blog series exploring the potential that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) hold to positively impact individuals that are currently unserved or underserved by financial systems globally. Together with Professor Wang, we first delved into the challenges and opportunities of driving financial inclusion, and how CBDCs could serve as an important mechanism in ensuring that no one is excluded from financial services – or our increasingly digital economies and societies. In our second blog we then examined how CBDCs can be intentionally designed to drive financial inclusion. In this third and final piece, Professor Wang offers a …

An Empirical Test Of Auction Efficiency: Evidence From Mbs Auctions Of The Federal Reserve, Pietro Bonadi, Ali Hortacsu, Zhaogang Song

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

PurposeWe estimate the marginal cost curve of each dealer in each auction, based on structural models of the multiunit discriminatory-price auction.Design/methodology/approachAuction theory has ambiguous implications regarding the relative performance of three formats of multiunit auctions: uniform-price, discriminatory-price and Vickrey auctions. We evaluate the performance of these three auction formats using bid-level data of the Federal Reserve’s purchase auctions of agency MBS from June 2014 through November 2014.FindingsOur results suggest that neither uniform-price nor Vickrey auctions outperform discriminatory-price auctions in terms of the total expenditure. However, Vickrey auctions outperform discriminatory-price auctions in terms of efficiency, with the efficiency gain around 0.74% …