Business Commons^™

Small Business Equity In Nevada, 2021, Ally M. Beckwith, Olivia K. Cheche, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet highlights data on minority and women-owned small businesses in Nevada in 2021, as originally reported by the Small Business Equity Tool. This tool examines the representation of Black, Asian, Latino, minority, and women-owned small businesses in the largest metropolitan areas and cities across the United States.

Race Equity In Management Occupations In The Mountain West, Kristian Thymianos, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

In a recent report, “From commitments to action: How CEOs can advance racial equity in their regional economies,” Amy Liu and Reniya Dinkins of the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program highlight racial equity issues in private sector management occupations. The authors use these data to propose strategies to close equity gaps. This fact sheet examines data for the Mountain West metropolitan areas included in the original report.

The “East Side” Of Las Vegas: A Latinx Historical Framework, Nathalie Martinez

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Spanish heritage speakers in the United States are a reflection of everchanging linguistic and sociolinguistic pressures that result in myriad varieties across generations. This paper provides a preliminary historical framework to fill this gap of linguistic knowledge in the Spanish-speaking community of Las Vegas, Nevada. The goals were two-fold: (1) highlight the largest Spanish-speaking communities in Las Vegas and (2) explore the significance of the East Side in the history of the Latinx population of Las Vegas. Through the analysis of oral histories and historical works, the investigation highlights the Mexican, Salvadoran, and Cuban populations of Las Vegas and their …

Qualitative Review Of Educational Interventions For Improving Physical Activity Behaviors In Older Asian Americans In The United States, Raisa Kabir, Manoj Sharma, Sayeda Tazim Zaidi, Chia-Liang Dai

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Physical activity (PA) provides numerous health benefits and minimizes chronic diseases and mental health issues, especially in older adults. The national survey data indicated that only 27.3% to 44.3% of older adults meet the recommended PA guidelines of 150 to 300 minutes/ week. There is limited data on PA behavior among older Asian American (AA) adults as very few to no local/national surveys have targeted these marginalized subgroups. This comprehensive review aims to identify existing PA intervention strategies and to update current knowledge on the effectiveness of these interventions to improve PA behavior among aging AA in the US. The …

The Future Of The Live Entertainment Tax In Southern Nevada, Katie M. Gilbertson

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

The Live Entertainment Tax (LET) in Nevada generated nearly one billion dollars during the 2019-2020 fiscal year. LET revenue all goes to the State General Fund, even though 97 percent of LET revenue is generated in Clark County. Nevada is experiencing an economic crisis, particularly in the tourism industry. Solutions from various fields suggest the best way to boost the local economy is to reinvest revenue in its original county. One policy solution Nevada policymakers should consider is to carve out a percentage of revenue generated by the LET to return directly back to Clark County to revitalize tourism.

Diabetes Mellitus Affects Working Memory, Dylone C. Braganza, Emmanuel Flores, Lauren A. Crew, Ryan A. Wirt, Andrew A. Ortiz, Adam M. Mcneela, Jefferson W. Kinney, James M. Hyman

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) degrades the brain’s ability to remember, think, and carry out tasks. The exact cause is not known, but several risk factors have been identified, including diabetes mellitus (DM). DM causes elevated blood sugar levels due to reduced insulin production in the pancreas. The linkage between elevated glucose levels and the behavioral impairments are not fully understood, which was the focus of this study. Rats were trained to alternate directions in a maze to receive a reward on consecutive trials. After training, five rats were injected with streptozotocin (STZ), which induces hyperglycemia by injuring pancreatic beta cells. Three …

A Timeline Of Discovery And Current Research On Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma And Emergence Of Potentially Permanent Treatment Solutions, Yonosuke Dejesus, Guadalupe Moreno Ceballos

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

This research examines the timeline of the discovery and research of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG). By reviewing the literature on genetic and molecular mechanisms, we aim to emphasize a long-term treatment solution (iSTENT) to mitigate intraocular pressure (IOP) related to POAG etiology and disease progression. POAG is a multifactorial, autosomal dominant, adult-onset eye disease wherein the optic nerve cells become damaged due to a buildup of excess aqueous humor, resulting in increased IOP. Consequently, POAG leads to progressive loss of peripheral vision and is the leading cause of blindness in the US. Due to the multifactorial nature of glaucoma’s inheritance …

Racial Profiling: Understanding The Practice Of Stop-And-Frisk In New York City, Lisa Ly

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Racial profiling has become a prominent issue in modern policing today. Instead of being based on individual suspicion, racial profiling embodies a belief that people of color are continuously singled out by the police for scrutiny and harassment. Policies and procedures make the Black community vulnerable to police discrimination and racial profiling. Floyd et al. v. City of New York et al. (2013) declared that the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) practice of stop-and-frisk was racially profiling Black civilians. This study sought (1) to determine if the NYPD post-Floyd is still engaging in racial profiling towards Black civilians; and (2) …

How Did Homelessness Change During The Great Recession And Recovery?, Jenny Schuetz, Matthew Ring

Policy Briefs and Reports

Job losses from the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated housing insecurity among low-income renters over the past year. Federal, state, and local policymakers have created temporary measures to help reduce displacement among people who have lost their jobs, but there is considerable uncertainty about what will happen when these temporary measures end. To gain insight into how homelessness changes over macroeconomic cycles, we examine changes in homelessness rates from 2007 to 2020. Our analysis focuses on four metro areas that were particularly hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Riverside. Overall homelessness rates declined in all metros …

Examining Technology’S Impact On Hotel Operations: A Systematic Review Of Hospitality Research Literature, Xinru Chen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the hospitality industry, technology’s impact on hotel performance is a central topic since it is closely related to operators’ budget allocation and business decisions. However, former studies have devoted little attention to this issue and have exhibited mixed attitudes, which makes it more difficult for hotel operators to make their technology adoption decisions. To determine the scope of technology’s implication on operations, this study will conduct a systematic review and examine technology’s impact on hotel performance based on the empirical evidence given by scientific publications in the hospitality industry from the last 20 years. The data was obtained from …

An Assessment Of Hotel Guests’ Perceptions Of Preventive Safety Measures In The Era Of Covid-19, Un Hyeok Ko

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the era of COVID-19, hospitality was one of the industries that was most severely impacted by the virus. Spread of the virus was rapid enough to force hotels to close properties worldwide, and hotels were required to adopt safety measures and protocols in order to re-open or remain open. New types of measures, some never seen before the pandemic, were created and implemented throughout the hotel industry.

The main purpose of this study is to assess guests' perception of preventive safety initiatives and measures in the era of COVID-19 and to determine their level of satisfaction with such measures. …

An Exploratory Assessment Of Callings: The Importance Of Specialization, Christopher Paul Cain, Lisa Nicole Cain, James A. Busser, Hee Jung Kang

Hospitality Faculty Research

Purpose This study sought to understand how having a calling influenced engagement, work–life balance and career satisfaction for Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) and Golf Course Superintendent of America (GCSA) professionals. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual model was used to examine callings among golf course supervisors and its impact on their engagement, work–life balance and career satisfaction. This study also explored the moderation effect of employees’ generalized or specialized role on the calling–engagement relationship. Surveys were collected from a single golf management company and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis. Findings The results revealed significant …

Housing Confidence In The Mountain West, Emmanuel A. Berrelleza, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet explores housing metrics in the Las Vegas, Denver, and Phoenix metropolitan areas, as originally reported in the Pulsenomics report, “Renter Confidence Dashboard." Market conditions, expectations, and homeownership aspirations are some of the key factors in assessing the livelihood of housing and real estate in metropolitan areas. These factors are presented with a comparison between all generations and millennials.

U.S. Reit Industry Profitability: A Bennet Decomposition Of Industry Dynamics, Zhilan Feng, Stephen M. Miller, Dogan Tirtiroglu

Molasky Family Department of Economics and Real Estate Faculty Research

This paper considers the aggregate profitability performance of the REIT industry. The aggregate performance depends on the underlying microeconomic dynamics within an industry – the growth of individual REITs (the within ef-fect), the reallocation between existing REITs (the between effect), the entry of new REITs (the entry effect), and the exit of the existing REITs (the exit effect). We apply an extended Bennet (1920) dynamic decomposition on the REIT industry’s return on equity (ROE) and study the annual data on U.S. Equity REITs for the 1989 to 2015 period and various REIT industry specific sub-sample periods. Bailey et al.’s (1992) …

America's Best Small Cities In The Mountain West, Katie M. Gilbertson, Kelliann Beavers, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr., Fatma Nasoz

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet reports the rankings of small cities in the Mountain West, based on perceived desirability for living, visiting, and investment. Resonance Consultancy’s “America’s Best Small Cities 2020,” report examines six key metrics: “People,” “Place,” “Product,” “Programming,” “Promotion,” and “Prosperity.” 11 small cities in the Mountain West are ranked within the top 100 in the United States.

The Frontier Of The Labor Movement: Latinas And The Longest Strike In Twentieth-Century Las Vegas, Maribel Estrada Calderón

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

After the mid-twentieth century, the American labor movement began to decline. Across the U.S., Union memberships and the rate of work stoppages decreased. In the hospitality-industry-driven city of Las Vegas, Nevada, however, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 more than doubled its membership. In 1989, the Elardi family purchased the Frontier Hotel and Casino and began to eliminate workers’ benefits. Led by the Culinary Union, workers went on strike on September 21, 1991, beginning one of the longest strikes in twentieth-century Las Vegas. Latina workers played critical roles in organizing and maintaining this successful, six-year-long battle against the Elardis. Positioning …

The Effect Of Perceived Justice And Organizational Embeddedness On Employee Morale And Voluntary Turnover Rate After Layoffs In The Hospitality Industry, Jungjoo Bae

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that reduce the detrimental impact of layoffs. This research found that damaged employee morale and increased turnover intention of survivors after layoffs can cause more adverse impact on companies where layoffs were conducted. Also, it was found that perceived justice and organizational embeddedness can reduce the possibility of having destructive outcomes after layoffs. Additionally, the moderating impact of organizational embeddedness on the effect of perceived justice on employee morale and turnover intention was researched. Data were gathered from junior and senior undergraduate students majoring in hospitality management with at least …

Factors Influencing Golfers' Intention To Use A Direct Booking Website, Junghoon Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

To find out golfers’ perceived value of a direct booking website, an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT 2) model is adapted to test out golfers’ behavioral intention when they book a tee time via a golf course’s website. The influential factors are Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating conditions, Hedonic Motivation, and Price Saving Orientation that predicts golfers’ behavioral intention to use. A sample has chosen through the screening questions that the target sample, who are an adult at age 18 or older, have played golf at a public golf course over the last …

Gambling Behaviors Among Vip Hosts In Macao, Tiange Xu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many studies have shown that casino employees are at-risk gamblers, but limited research on this topic has been conducted in Asia. Given the unique gambling setting of Macao, it would be meaningful to investigate the gambling behaviors among VIP Hosts, who play an important role in the gaming market. Specifically, the present study examined the relationship between problem gambling, cognitive distortions, and potential risk and protective factors. The author used a snowball technique to recruit participants and an online survey to collect data. A total of 41 responses were included in the data analysis. The results showed that VIP Hosts …

Measuring Quality Of Virtual Event: Scale Development And Validation, Sung-Eun Kim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The unprecedented global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has led to a critical reconsideration of the way humans work and live. In turn, true paradigm shifts are arising across diverse industries based on remote and online communication. Undoubtedly, traditional in-person events are transforming into virtual events through more innovative platforms and safer experiences. The market for virtual events is considerably expanding and promising; thereby, the demand for research on the nature and dynamics of virtual events is increasingly growing. However, research on virtual events and virtual event quality (VEQual) is still in its infancy and has lagged behind, resulting in a …

A Study On Mukbang User’S Consuming Behavior, Hyo Geun Song

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The main focus of this study is to examines what factors influence the tendency towards the Mukbang, and to understand the effectiveness of Mukbang. The specific purpose of this research is to examines how do the motivation of watching Mukbang affect the gratification obtained after watching Mukbang and what is the impact of the Mukbang on the utilitarian/ hedonic shopping values among Mukbang users and how do the perceived utilitarian and hedonic shopping values influence the user’s purchase intention. To find motivations of watching Mukbang, interview was performed. Five factors were developed from a interview of the responses to the …

Increasing Investment In Stem Education For Females: Policy Considerations, Becky Harris, Andrea Dassopoulos, Daniel Sahl, Anna Starostina

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

During this difficult economic time, as policy makers decide how to use their limited resources to help prepare the rising generation for the demands of an ever-changing workforce, aligning K-12 educational priorities with higher education and economic development can help maximize public dollar investments in STEM education, particularly when females are given access to STEM and STEM-related education and programs. Smart public policy initiatives can help increase the representation of women in the technology, research and development, and innovation departments.

The purpose of this article is to provide policy recommendations that could help increase gender diversity and participation in STEM …

2021 Business Tax Climate In The Mountain West, Katie M. Gilbertson, Peter Grema, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This Fact Sheet summarizes a report by Jared Walczak and Janelle Cammenga of The Tax Foundation titled “2021 State Business Tax Climate Index.” The index compares how states structure tax systems to bolster state business activity and investments, and possible routes for future improvement. Scores and rankings are offered for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.

Corporate Social Responsibility And Financial Performance: Does Board Diversity Matter?, Ozgur Ozdemir, Murat Kizildag, Tarik Dogru, Ilhan Demirer

Hospitality Faculty Research

In this study, the moderating effect of board diversity on the complex relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and financial performance is examined. The resource-based view of the firm and stakeholder theory are used as the theoretical foundation of the study. The hypotheses of the study are tested via fixed-effects regression using data for a sample of 1,234 firms and 5,102 firm-year observations for the period 2009–2013. The study finds evidence that CSR performance and financial performance are positively related, and the magnitude of this relationship is contingent on the level of board diversity. As corporate boardrooms become more …

Gambling Researchers’ Use And Views Of Open Science Principles And Practices: A Brief Report, Debi A. Laplante, Eric R. Louderback, Brett Abarbanel

International Gaming Institute Faculty Research

Scientists across disciplines have begun to implement ‘open science’ principles and practices, which are designed to enhance the quality, transparency, and replicability of scientific research. Yet, studies examining the use of open science practices in social science fields such as psychology and economics show that awareness and use of such practices often is low. In gambling studies research, no studies to date have empirically investigated knowledge of and use of open science practices. In the present study, we collected survey data about awareness and use of open science practices from 86 gambling studies research stakeholders who had attended a major …

The Housing Market And The Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications For Las Vegas, Phoenix, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orlando, And New Orleans, Jenny Schuetz, Sarah Crump

Policy Briefs and Reports

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted virtually every part of the U.S. economy in the past year, and wreaked havoc on people’s daily lives. Housing markets are no exception. Millions of renters have fallen behind on their rent, fearing eviction while accumulating debts they cannot pay. At the same time, prices for owner-occupied housing have soared while the inventory of for-sale homes has plummeted. In this brief, we analyze several measures of housing distress from 2007 to 2019 for six metro areas, chosen based on their housing and labor market characteristics. Los Angeles, Riverside, Las Vegas, and Phoenix were among the …

Crisis Management Practices In The Hospitality And Gambling Industry During Covid-19, Kasra Ghaharian, Brett Abarbanel, Marta Soligo, Bo Bernhard

International Gaming Institute Faculty Research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine crisis management practices among gambling-related hospitality business stakeholders (GBSs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was administered to a sample of GBSs resulting in 64 completed surveys. The survey explored the COVID-19 crisis using a three-phase framework: preparedness (prior experience and response plans), response (level of importance and use of crisis practices) and future (confidence in recovery, beliefs about consumer behavior and new strategies). Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to investigate the influence of preparedness variables on crisis management capabilities. Importance-Performance Analysis was used to …

Short-Term Institutions, Analyst Recommendations, And Mispricing: The Role Of Higher Order Beliefs, Martijn Cremers, Ankur Pareek, Zacharias Sautner

Department of Finance Faculty Research

We document that stocks that have optimistic (pessimistic) consensus recommendations and are currently held by many short-term institutions exhibit large stock-return reversals: Their large past outperformance (underperformance) is followed by large negative (positive) future alphas. The predictable return reversals originate from overreaction to past recommendation releases and the correction of these overreactions around future releases. Results are stronger when earnings news is released and at firms with higher fundamental uncertainty. Further, firms with more short-term institutions show stronger announcement returns and price drift after recommendation changes. Our results are consistent with models of higher order beliefs where short-term institutions coordinate …

What Happens Here? Educating Las Vegas’S Guests During Covid-19, Marta Soligo

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

When, in 2003, the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority (LVCVA) launched the tag line “What happens here, stays here,” it reinforced the idea, already supported by the media, that in Sin City everything is allowed. Looking at the COVID-19 crisis, one might wonder how, after being seen for years as a place without restrictions, Las Vegas could convince its tourists to respect some rigid safety guidelines. This paper tries to answer that question starting from the framework of the host-guest relationship, which is widely used in anthropology and sociology of tourism. On the one hand, I state that short-time …

Covid-19 And Its Implications For Women In Gaming: Move Towards Regulation, Policies, And Culture Changes In The United States, Shekinah Hoffman, Itzel Alanis

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

COVID-19 exposes structural inequalities within American society which can no longer be ignored. Here, we highlight the structural inequalities women and women of color face that are glaringly apparent or exacerbated in the pandemic. Inequalities that play a role in the unemployment, insufficient workplace protection, and increased work-life demands of women and women of color in the gaming industry. Instead of returning to “normal” business post-pandemic, we urge gaming leaders to reflect on these inequities within their workplaces. We offer that guaranteed paid leave and permanent flexible work arrangements could improve the life of gaming women employees and their families.