Business Commons^™

Human Trafficking Among Utah Girls And Women, Lindsay B. Gezinski, Mckayla Caress, Marin Christensen, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Human trafficking is a global problem that involves the exploitation of people for profit through the means of force, fraud, or coercion.¹ It takes a variety of forms, including forced labor, debt bondage, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation.² Systemic inequalities, such as mass displacement, extreme poverty, and lack of access to education and job opportunities are examples of contributing factors that can fuel trafficking of vulnerable populations.³ While the scale of trafficking in persons is difficult to determine, estimates suggest that there were over 40 million victims worldwide in 2016.⁴ In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, …

Geospatial Analysis Of Drug-Related Crimes In Local Communities In Utah, Erin Crump

Student Research Symposium

According to the 2021 World Drug Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), over 36 million people among 275 million people who used drugs worldwide suffered from drug use disorders in 2020 alone. In addition, the number of people who use drugs is estimated to increase by 11 percent globally by 2030. Therefore, there exists a strong need to further understand drug usage and drug-related crimes to address prevention and intervention policies. In particular, the identification of geographical locations with frequent drug-related crimes is very critical for law enforcement agencies and state/federal governments to establish …

Measuring The Intensity Of Mymotivators™ / Whole Brain® Communication In Print Advertising, Tanner Schulz

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Advertising’s purpose is to create a state of mind conducive to purchase (Colley, 1961).

This study seeks to identify, measure, and understand the intrinsic motivators communicated within print advertisements and quantify their intensities. The theory is that ads with more intense motivator content - distributed somewhat evenly across all four quadrants of the Whole Brain ® Model - will be more effective in influencing that state of mind.

This research is the first step in identifying, quantifying, and visualizing motivators communicated within print advertisements. The study analyzed 15 print ads found in contemporary magazines.

The framework for this work is …

Sexist Comments & Responses: Stereotypes, Robbyn T. Scribner, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Although sexist comments and remarks are prevalent and normalized in everyday conversation, public discourse, and virtually every other social setting throughout the world, researchers at the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) wanted to understand how women experience sexist comments in Utah. This is the fourth of five briefs presenting the results of an extensive study designed to collect and analyze both the wide variety of sexist comments Utah women experienced and the responses women made (or wish they had made) to such comments. The goal of this series is to educate both men and women on the many forms …

Sexist Comments & Responses: Undervaluing Women, Robbyn T. Scribner, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Although sexist comments and remarks are prevalent and normalized in everyday conversation, public discourse, and virtually every other social setting throughout the world, researchers at the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) wanted to understand how women experience such comments in Utah. This is the last of five briefs reporting the results of an extensive study on this topic. The study was designed with the intent of collecting and analyzing a wide variety of sexist comments experienced by women across the state in addition to the responses women made (or wish they had) to sexist comments. The goal of the …

The Economic Circumstances Of Sexual Minority Women In Utah, Claudia Geist, Marin Christensen, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

When thinking of gender inequality in Utah, many people immediately consider the difficulties of combining motherhood and employment,¹ sexism in everyday life,² or recent studies that have deemed Utah to be the “worst” state for gender equality.³ Further, women of color have different experiences than white women, as they experience racism and gender discrimination at the intersection of both.⁴ Inequalities in economic outcomes based on race and ethnicity are well documented⁵ and shed light on the fact that “women” are not a monolithic category. This snapshot focuses on an axis of inequality that has been …

Only 7.8% Of Eligible Vehicles In Utah Enroll In The Utah Road Usage Charge (Ruc) Program, Tyson Bomsta, Joe Davis

Research on Capitol Hill

Senior Tyson and sophomore Joe are Center for Growth Opportunity Research Fellows studying economics and finance at USU. The duo focused their research on their native Utah. The increase in fuel-efficient and electric cars has begun to impact Utah’s ability to fund roadwork, and this is likely to become a more serious problem as time goes on. Taxing gas is no longer a viable way to raise the funds necessary, and Joe and Tyson are looking at ways to reform our tax structure to keep Utahns on the road. Both students agree that research is the best way to learn. …

Rare Earth Element Supply Chain: China’S Chokehold Creates A Dangerous Us Dependency, Sabrina Ellis

Research on Capitol Hill

USU senior Sabrina, a Cache Valley native, studies international business and got involved in research through the Center for Anticipatory Intelligence.Utah’s Silicon Slopes industry is dependent, like most US technology enterprises, on rare earth elements used to make critical computer components. China holds a near monopoly on these elements and could cause considerable damage to Utah’s economy if its government chose to restrict access to rare earth elements or faced supply chain issues. Sabrina has been studying steps the US can take to minimize the risks our tech industry would face if it lost access to these elements. Sabrina has …

The Status Of Women In Utah Politics: A 2022 Update, Hannah Payne, Marin Christensen, Susan R. Madsen, Kim Buesser, Lindsey Palmer

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Although Utah has a rich heritage of women’s involvement in voting, advocacy, and various types of political involvement, Utah has lagged behind most states in terms of women running for and serving in elected political roles for decades. To track progress, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) began reporting on the status of women in Utah politics in 2014, with updates in 2017, 2021, and now 2022. Although strides have been made in increasing the number of women serving in political roles in recent years, there is still work to be done. Research continues to confirm that when both …

Poverty Among Utah Women: A 2022 Update, Dawn-Marie G. Wood, Emily S. Darowski, Susan R. Madsen, Gregory C. Knapp

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

In 2016, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) released a research snapshot entitled “Poverty Among Utah Women.” At the time, 46.9% of Utah female-headed households with related children under age 5 were living in poverty.¹ Since then, the overall poverty rate in Utah has decreased 2.4%.² However, over a third (36.4%) of that same demographic still live in poverty.³ Additionally, although Utahns experience lower rates of poverty than the national average (8.9% in Utah vs. 12.3% nationwide), more women continue to live in poverty than men (9.6% vs. 8.2%, respectively).⁴ Many factors influence poverty among …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Aviation-Wildlife Strikes Across Europe, Isabel C. Metz, Marta Giordano, Dionysios Ntampakis, Marianna Moira, Anneke Hamann, Rosanne Blijleven, Jürgen J. Ebert, Alessandro Montemaggiori

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Collisions between aircraft and wildlife (i.e., wildlife strikes) pose a serious threat toward the safety of aircraft, its crew, and passengers. The effects of COVID-19 related travel restrictions on wildlife strikes are unknown. With this study, we aim to address this information gap by assessing the changes of wildlife hazard management performance across European airports during the lockdown period (e.g., period of reduced operations and borders closure in spring 2020). We also sought to raise awareness of the importance of wildlife strike prevention in times of reduced operations. The objective of our study was to compare wildlife strike data before …

2022 Finance Calendar, Amanda Christensen, Melanie Jewkes, Andrea Schmutz, Vincenza Vicari-Bentley, Kristilyn Wilkinson

All Current Publications

Check off each small step monthly and see the drastic impact of improved personal finances over the course of the year. These short, actionable tips and related resources will have you in the driver’s seat with your money.

Guía Para Recortar Gastos, Melanie Jewkes, Amanda Christensen, Alicia Nelson-Bell

All Current Publications

Este folleto te ayudará a planificar estrategias para hacer pequeños (o grandes) ajustes en tus gastos, liberando fondos para alcanzar tus metas. Se abordan temas como cómo aumentar el ahorro y consejos para cubrir gastos de alimentación, médicos, servicios públicos, entretenimiento, ropa, transporte, hogar, vacaciones y otros.

Mental Health Literacy And The Impact Of Gender, Nathan Clay

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Purpose of the study We examined associations between gender and components of Mental Health Literacy (MHL). The baseline assumption, based on prior literature, is that women will have a higher knowledge related to mental health compared to men.

Economic Benefits Of Cross-Strait Tensions, Jason Seedall

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

This research explores the economic benefits experienced by Taiwan due to the cross-strait tensions between the island and mainland China as well as how it affects the future of economic and political relationships between Taiwan, China, and the United States.

Entrepreneurship Processes And Success In Developing Nations, Hayden Egley

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

This research provides insights into the entrepreneurial process of small business owners (SBOs) in developing nations. Much of the existing entrepreneurship research has focused on small and medium sized businesses in developed nations such as the United States and United Kingdom; very little is known about the topic in the context of developing nations. Furthermore, while entrepreneurship is important to the economies of developing nations, entrepreneurship is often hampered in them due to lack of capital and financial innovation. This research uses the results of depth interviews of 70 SBOs in developing nations, focusing on Mongolia and the Philippines. The …

Is The Adoption Of Sustainability Financing An Effective Solution To Environmental Issues?, Andrew Damas

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

With the growing use of green financing, environmentally conscious banks and investors can help incentivize firms to create more sustainable business practices. This poster aims to provide insight on how effective green financing is on lessening CO2 emissions and improving the environmental and social responsibility of the firm. The results indicate how complex the issue is. While green financing certainly helps to lessen a firms environmental impact, it also lacks clear guidelines, reducing it potential benefit.

Women’S Equality In Utah: Why Utah Is Ranked As The Worst State, And What Can Be Done, Susan R. Madsen, Greg P. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

For the fourth year in a row, WalletHub has named Utah as the worst state in the nation for women’s equality in their report “2021’s Best & Worst States for Women’s Equality,” released August 23, 2021. To ascertain where women receive the most equal treatment, WalletHub’s analysis compared the 50 states across 17 key indicators of women’s equality. The indicators ranged from the gap between the number of female and male executives, to the disparity in unemployment rates for women and men, to gender differences in education and health.

The Non-Fee Costs Of Grazing On Idaho State Grazing Leases, Dexton Lake

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In 2018, Idaho became interested in assessing and raising the grazing fee for state grazing ground. The state commissioned a study to analyze the non-fee costs of grazing, but for various reasons the study was not completed. In 2021, a proposed adjustment was released by the Idaho Department of Lands to raise the fee. In a desire to obtain the non-fee costs of grazing for Idaho state leases and to get stakeholder input, the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation and a research team from Utah State University surveyed Idaho producers to obtain costs per AUM for eleven cost categories. These cost …

A Reexamination Of The Illiquidity Premium In Cryptocurrencies, Wyatt Fitz

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In this study, I examine the illiquidity premium amongst the 372 most actively traded cryptocurrencies from September 2014 to May 2021. I find that the average returns on the most illiquid cryptocurrencies are larger than those on the most liquid cryptocurrencies. My results are robust to different weighting mechanisms for the market index and to various asset pricing model specifications. These results suggest that an investor might be able to go long a portfolio of illiquid cryptocurrencies while simultaneously shorting a portfolio of liquid cryptocurrencies to effectively generate a positive risk-adjusted return.

The Volatility Implications Of The Chinese Cryptocurrency Ban, Keaton Manwaring

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In this paper, I examine the effect of the May 18^th, 2021 Chinese ban of cryptocurrency transactions on the overall volatility of the cryptocurrency market. To do this, I analyze, in both univariate and multivariate settings, range-based volatility in various event windows surrounding the event. I find clear economic and statistical change in volatility in the five days after the ban. In the ten-day period after the ban, there is a moderate economic change in volatility. In the forty-day period after the ban, there is little economic change in volatility. I conclude that the Chinese ban had a …

Forecasting Stock Market Prices: A Machine Learning Approach, Abraham Alhomadi

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

There has been extensive literature written about the efficiency of the stock market. Practitioners and academicians have debated whether investors can exploit publicly available information to generate excess returns. Clearly predicting the stock market’s return with high accuracy has been enormously difficult, but we are interested in contributing to the continuous exploration of the efficiency of the stock market using machine learning techniques. We also want to examine the relationship between our dataset’s macroeconomic indicators and foreign nations’ stock markets with our target feature—the S&P 500. In this paper, we will be using supervised machine learning models, like Linear Regression, …

Factors Associated With Financial Stressors, Financial Stress, And Financial Behaviors, Paula Andrea Lopez Alvarado

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As of the end of the first quarter of 2021, overall consumer debt reached $14.64 trillion. The more debt a family has, the higher the reported levels of financial stress the family reports. Using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), the purpose of this study was to examine the associations among financial stressors, financial stress, and positive and negative financial behaviors. The findings of this study suggested that Black individuals had the highest levels of financial stressors, financial stress, and negative and positive financial behaviors among four racial/ethnic groups. The findings also suggested that high financial stress …

Sexist Comments & Responses: Study Introduction And Overview, Robbyn T. Scribner, Susan R. Madsen, April Townsend

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Sexism takes many forms, from blatant and aggressive to unintentional and subtle. Gender-related societal attitudes, social norms, unconscious biases, and microaggressions all contribute to sexist behaviors and attitudes that are partially responsible for much of the inequity women face every day. Researchers have noted that “in both private and public spaces, women encounter messages that reinforce gender roles and stereotypes, demean women as a gender group, and sexually objectify women.” Sexist comments and remarks are prevalent and normalized in everyday conversation, public discourse, and virtually every other social setting. Though not the only form of sexism, sexist comments often take …

Voting And Civic Engagement Among Utah Women: A 2021 Update, Susan R. Madsen, D. Candice Pierucci, Robbyn T. Scribner

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

In 2016, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) released a research snapshot called “Voting and Civic Engagement Among Utah Women.” At the time, despite having a strong history of women’s political and civic involvement, Utah had fallen to the bottom of national rankings in terms of women’s political participation. In 2019, UWLP released an update of this report, which showed some improvement in voter participation rates for both the United States and for Utah women. Since 2016, the level of political engagement among women in Utah and the United States has grown, and civic engagement—a critical element of change …

Utah Gender Wage Gap: A 2021 Update, Rebecca Winkel, Emily S. Darowski, Marin Christensen, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

The gender wage gap is the difference between what women and men earn for performing full-time, year-round paid work. Nationally, women earn 16–18% less than men. Although the gap has substantially narrowed from 41% when the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, varying reports estimate that, depending on the rate of change, it may take anywhere from 40 to 130 years to close the gap. Estimates suggest that over a 40-year career, the wage gap can amount to a lifetime earnings deficit of $80k to $800k. In Utah, women earn approximately 30% less than men, ranking close to last …

In-Person Prehealth Advising: Impact Analysis Spring 2017 To Fall 2020, Alasdair Ekpenyong, Mykel Beorchia

Publications

At Utah State University, some of the advising department’s efforts specifically focus on preparing students for study in health professions graduate school. Students considering a career in the health sciences meet with an advisor who has been trained on the nuances of preparing for health professions graduate school.

This report explored the association between in-person prehealth advising participation and student persistence to the next term.

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Utah Women And Work: Health Impacts, Marin Christensen, Susan R. Madsen, Jenna Dyckman, Dianne Mcadams-Jones

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020–21 has affected workers across the globe, and women in the workforce have been disproportionately impacted, including those who live in Utah. The pandemic affected every aspect of life, especially physical and mental health. While the fatality rate has been higher for men, the pandemic impacted women’s mental health at a higher rate with more women being laid off or furloughed in certain industries (e.g., retail, food services, hospitality), experiencing increased workloads in other sectors (e.g., healthcare, education), absorbing greater unpaid caregiving responsibilities from homeschooling and childcare disruptions, and reporting elevated instances of domestic violence. These …

What Mayors Can Do To Strengthen The Impact Of Utah Girls And Women, Susan R. Madsen, Staci Liljegren

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

This idea sheet is based on input from 20 former and current mayors representing a variety of cities and towns across Utah. Discussions in the spring of 2021 focused on a myriad of ways mayors can increase the impact of Utah girls and women. For example, mayors discussed the importance of mentorship starting at a young age and continuing into adulthood, as well as building strong networks and relationships. They also discussed the need to champion more inclusive and family-friendly policies and programs. Participants recommended community outreach strategies and ways to support women leading in their community. These mayors insisted …

Strengthening Sisters: How Latter-Day Saint Missionary Service Prepares Women For Leadership, Sara Mcphee Lafkas, Wendy Fox-Kirk, Susan R. Madsen, Robbyn T. Scribner

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Women, especially those from highly religious societies, are underrepresented in professional and civic leadership positions. Considering how women's life experiences, especially from religious volunteer opportunities, can be reframed as training for broader leadership roles could help address this disparity. The potential for women to learn leadership skills from volunteer religious service is an overlooked, but possibly important, means of transferability to larger leadership roles. The current article describes a qualitative study of women's perceptions of leadership skills gained while serving as full-time volunteer missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during young adulthood. Respondents described perceptions of …