Business Commons^™

Healer Or Human? How Online Physician Reviews Guide Patient Choice, Shabnam Azimi, Sina Ansari, Ignacio Luri, Atefeh Yazdanparast

Faculty Publications

Online reviews increasingly guide physician choice, yet it remains unclear whether content emphasizing a physician's competence (technical skills) or benevolence (prioritizing patients' welfare over self‐interest) more strongly influences patients' decisions. Integrating a field study of 12,351 physician reviews with two online experiments, we distinguish two dimensions of review effectiveness: how helpful readers find a review, and how confident they feel about the choice it informs. We show that competence‐ and benevolence‐focused content influences these outcomes through distinct mechanisms. Benevolence‐focused reviews receive higher helpfulness evaluations because caring behaviors are easier to describe in concrete, vivid language and because naturalistic review platforms …

Relationships Between Shared Group Properties: Theory, Measurement, Estimation, And Adjustment, Mark A. Maltarich, Paul D. Biese, Nichelle C. Carpenter

Faculty Publications

Teams researchers, meta-analysts, and others often study relationships between group-level constructs measured by aggregating individual-level variables, but it is well-known that group-mean correlations are influenced by individual-level relationships. We review multilevel issues and current practices in estimating and adjusting group-mean associations. We give special attention to comparisons across levels of analysis, and to adjustments for estimating population parameters. A Monte Carlo simulation study indicates that the two most commonly used adjustments in meta-analysis are ineffective in estimating population-based effect sizes. They frequently overestimate true relationships, sometimes severely. Indeed, simulations show that common adjustments move estimates away from population values in …

From Centrality To Sustainability: How Connected Boards Shape Waste Management Outcomes, Irfan Haider Shakri, Anh Tuan Nguyen, Fnu Pratima

Faculty Publications

The escalating climate crisis has elevated waste management from an operational concern to a critical issue of corporate governance. However, the role of board connectedness in shaping firms' waste practices remains largely unexplored. Drawing on resource dependency and social capital theories, this study examines how board network centrality influences waste management practices. Employing pooled OLS on 4948 firm- year observations from US- listed firms during 2004–2023, we find that higher board connectedness leads to a significant reduction in waste generation. Economically, a one standard deviation increase in DEGREE centrality is associated with a 3.4% decrease in total waste generation. Our …

Environmental, Social, And Governance (Esg) Research: A Systematic Review Of Recent Trends (2020–2024), Jiyeon Kim Ph.D., Wooyoung Yang

Faculty Publications

The 2020–2024 period marks a pivotal era in sustainable development, characterized by significant regulatory developments, including the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the International Sustainability Standards Board standards, and the introduction of mandatory ESG reporting requirements worldwide. This review examines how recent policy changes have reshaped the linkages between ESG and sustainability. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we conducted a systematic review examining empirical studies of ESG–sustainability performance relationships published between 2020 and 2024. Studies examined the quantitative relationships between ESG sustainability performance and publicly traded corporations. Quality assessment employed the adapted Newcastle–Ottawa Scale with sustainability-specific criteria. From 2847 …

Experience Therapy: How Service Experiences Regulate Everyday Negative Affect, Chang Ma Ph.D., Jae Eun Park, Alei Fan, Laurie Wu

Faculty Publications

In today's fast-paced and high-pressure society, maintaining emotional well-being requires effective strategies for managing everyday negative affect. This research examines the role of service experiences in reducing negative affect and introduces experience therapy as a novel strategy for affect regulation. Through a series of studies, we assess the effectiveness of experience therapy and investigate how different service experiences—varying in levels of personal effort involvement and social involvement—contribute to negative affect regulation. The findings demonstrate that experiences requiring high personal effort and social involvement are particularly effective in alleviating negative affect, especially among emotionally stressed individuals. These effects are mediated, respectively, …

News Media Coverage Of Measure Ula: How The Story Of La’S Big Project To Address Homelessness And Affordable Housing Got Sidetracked By The Story Of Big Real Estate, Christopher R. Martin

Faculty Publications

“Measure ULA,” named after United to House LA, was approved by voters in Los Angeles in 2022 to create a dedicated, long-term funding source for solutions to homelessness in LA, including funding the construction of affordable homes and preventing homelessness by helping tenants stay in their homes. The funding would come from a new tax on the most expensive real estate transactions in L.A. (i.e., mansion tax), and would affect fewer than 4% of all property transactions. At the end of three years of local news coverage about Measure ULA from the Los Angeles Times and LAist, the news audience …

Visual Cues In Online Education: How Emojis In Asynchronous Instructor Communication Strengthen Emotional And Behavioral Outcomes, Minseong Kim, Tami L. Knotts, Nancy D. Albers, Karen E. James

Faculty Publications

Online learning environments often lack nonverbal cues that support relational communication between instructors and students, making it difficult to establish emotional connection and trust. This study examines how emojis, as affective visual cues, influence instructor credibility, emotional attachment, trust, and responsible behavior in asynchronous online education. A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 297 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to view an instructor email either with or without emojis. Participants subsequently evaluated the instructor’s credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability), as well as their emotional attachment, trust, and anticipated responsible behavior. The results indicate that emojis significantly enhance perceived likeability, which …

Ai Need Not Make One Slothful, Roy A. Kaelin Jr

Faculty Publications

As National Louis University seeks to plan and advance its way amid the potential perils and pitfalls of so-named artificial intelligence, one finds that with reasonable workflows and guard rails, the use of AI proposes both potential promise and prospect, to assist and augment the natural intelligence that students and teachers bring to the classroom, encouraging them to pursue STEM-related activities with the preparation and deployment of focused and directed AI-bots. This paper presents examples and a case study of that directed and focused approach, the incremental lessons learned to date, and a proposed path to advance worthwhile AI …

A Machine Learning And Nlp Pipeline For Analyzing Esg And Sustainability Disclosures In The Textile And Apparel Industry, Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana M.S.,Ph.D, Agraj Magotra, Fairuz Shadmani Shishir, Sumaiya Shomaji

Faculty Publications

The global textile and apparel (T&A) industry faces critical pressure over its environmental impact, producing approximately 92 million tons of waste annually and contributing to nearly 20% of global water pollution. For Bangladesh, one of the leading apparel exporters, the integration of transparent Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices is crucial for meeting international sustainability standards and maintaining global competitiveness. This study proposes a machine learning-based method to analyze ESG practices among LEED-certified T&A factories in Bangladesh. Leveraging contextual Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Topic Modeling technique, we developed a robust Machine learning (ML) framework based on Non-Negative Matrix Factorization …

Tax Avoidance And Esg Disclosure Mandates: International Evidence, Sadok El Ghoul, Omrane Guedhami, Yongtae Kim, Hyo Jin Yoon

Faculty Publications

This paper examines how regulations mandating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure affect corporate tax behavior. Using a difference-in-differences analysis on a sample of firms from 48 countries, we find that ESG disclosure mandates lead to significant reductions in tax avoidance, with stronger effects for mandates that include tax-relevant provisions. We identify increases in ESG information transparency and improvements in firms’ ESG performance as channels through which ESG disclosure mandates reduce tax avoidance. We further find that the decrease in tax avoidance following ESG disclosure mandates is more pronounced in countries with weaker financial disclosure requirements, legal and tax enforcement, …

Hidden Costs Of Ethical Fashion: Sustainable Development Goals And Garment Worker Exploitation In Bangladesh, Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana M.S., Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Across garment factories in the Global South, the promise of “ethical fashion” coexists with poverty wages and retaliation. This study examines why the global call for decent work has not improved labor conditions in Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry. Twelve semistructured interviews with production workers were thematically analyzed through Critical Theory and Labor Process Theory. Five persistent problems emerged: wage manipulation, audit and compliance evasion, silencing of worker voice, restrictions on mobility, and the disposal of older workers. A single positive theme, workplace safety and child-labor prevention, showed limited progress. Overall, sustainability rhetoric remains symbolic while buyer cost pressures drive exploitation. …

Hidden Costs Of Ethical Fashion: Sustainable Development Goals And Garment Worker Exploitation In Bangladesh, Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana M.S.,Ph.D

Faculty Publications

Across garment factories in the Global South, the promise of “ethical fashion” coexists with poverty wages and retaliation. This study examines why the global call for decent work has not improved labor conditions in Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry. Twelve semistructured interviews with production workers were thematically analyzed through Critical Theory and Labor Process Theory. Five persistent problems emerged: wage manipulation, audit and compliance evasion, silencing of worker voice, restrictions on mobility, and the disposal of older workers. A single positive theme, workplace safety and child-labor prevention, showed limited progress. Overall, sustainability rhetoric remains symbolic while buyer cost pressures drive exploitation. …

Redefining Purpose: The Effect Of The 2019 Business Roundtable Statement On Corporate Tax Strategies, Sadok El Ghoul, Rana Jamshed, Omrane Guedhami

Faculty Publications

Business Roundtable (BRT) firms have faced intense scrutiny from investors, media, and the public following their 2019 “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation,” which marked a shift from shareholder-centric governance to a stakeholder-focused approach. This shift has sparked debate over whether BRT firms are genuinely committed to social responsibility or merely using it as a branding strategy without implementing meaningful changes. This paper contributes to the debate by empirically examining a key dimension of social responsibility—corporate tax behavior. Using a difference-in-difference analysis covering 2004–2022, we find that BRT firms engage in higher levels of tax avoidance than other publicly …

Optimizing Warranty Policies For Remanufactured Products: When Should They Be Longer, Shorter, Or Identical To New Product Warranties?, Kunpeng Li, Jun-Yeon Lee

Faculty Publications

Manufacturers adopt different warranty strategies for remanufactured products, offering shorter, identical, or longer warranty periods compared to new products. However, prior research has only focused on manufacturers offering either shorter or identical warranties. In addition, the existing literature has not captured the diminishing returns of warranties, i.e., as the warranty coverage increases, its incremental benefits begin to decrease but the costs continue to increase. To address these gaps, we develop an optimization model that jointly considers pricing and warranty decisions while accounting for warranty’s diminishing effect on consumer’s willingness to pay for remanufactured products. We show that all three observed …

Explaining Variability In Employee Perceptions Of Hr Practices In Strategic Hrm Research: An Integrative Review And Future Outlook, Jeske Van Beurden, Susanne Beijer, Kaifeng Jiang, Karina Van De Voorde, Anthony Nyberg

Faculty Publications

Employee perceptions of human resource (HR) practices have become a central focus in strategic human resource management(HRM) research due to their impact on individual and organizational outcomes. Recent studies highlight the importance of un-derstanding how these perceptions are formed, what they encompass, and why they vary across employees. This special issue ofHuman Resource Management aims to advance this evolving area of research by focusing on variability in employee perceptionsof HR practices. We review the current literature on employee perceptions of HR practices, including (1) theoretical and concep-tual clarity of the employee perceptions of HR practices construct, (2) antecedents of these …

Algorithm-Based Pay-For-Performance (Apfp) Systems: Paradoxes In Artificial Intelligence's Influence On Pay-For-Performance Theories, Anthony Nyberg, Dhuha Abdulsalam, Ormonde Cragun, Vijayesvaran Arumugam

Faculty Publications

Although artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) are increasingly used to assess and reward employees, their implications for foundational pay-for-performance (PFP) theories remain underexplored. Traditional PFP systems are effective in an era of static evaluations and infrequent feedback, but they lack the intelligence and flexibility needed for today's dynamic work environments. In response, we introduce algorithm-based PFP (APFP) systems—PFP systems that leverage AI and GenAI to enable real-time adaptability, predictive capabilities, customization, automated algorithmic recommending, and measurement sophistication. We then use the APFP framework to assess its implications for three foundational PFP theories (equity theory, expectancy theory, and tournament …

Ceo Pay Differences Between Us And Non-Us Firms: A New Longitudinal Investigation, Ruiyuan (Ryan) Chen, Sadok El Ghoul, Omrane Guedhami, Feiyu Liu

Faculty Publications

Research Question/Issue

Public and academic debates typically portray US CEOs as exceptionally well paid. Yet, evidence on the existence and magnitude of a US CEO pay premium is mixed and dated. This study uses an expanded, longitudinal dataset to identify whether such a pay premium exists and explores potential differences across countries, time, and governance and institutional contexts.

Research Findings/Insights

Using a dataset of over 42,000 firm-year observations from 34 countries during 2001–2018, we document a persistent but heterogeneous US CEO pay premium. Compared with non-US peers, US CEOs receive 23% more total pay and 20% more equity-based compensation, on …

Access Is The Outcome: Rethinking Metrics, Worthiness, And Human Rights Across Philanthropy And Development, Stephanie Zabriskie

Faculty Publications

This thought paper examines how philanthropic evaluation frameworks misclassify access to basic human rights as a preliminary step rather than a complete outcome. In competitive funding environments, post-access behavioral metrics such as utilization and compliance are often elevated to outcome status and used to assess program worthiness. Drawing on rights-based and systems-level evaluation frameworks, the paper argues that access itself constitutes a sufficient and legitimate outcome, and that post-access data should function as program management inputs rather than legitimacy or financial thresholds. Reframing access as the outcome has implications for philanthropic accountability, administrative burden, and the ethical consistency of funding …

Transmission Of Geopolitical Shocks To Firm Behavior: A Synthesis And Integrative Model, Daniel S. Andrews, Harald Puhr, April Knill

Faculty Publications

This study examines the transmission of geopolitical shocks to firm behavior. While previous research has primarily focused on the direct relation between shocks and firm behavior, we provide a more nuanced understanding by conceptualizing geopolitical shocks as disruptions that evolve through explicit and implicit channels to influence firm behavior. Based on a systematic review of 159 articles, we identify the key mechanisms that transmit the impacts of a geopolitical shock. Our findings reveal that geopolitical shocks manifest in institutions and their lower-level mechanisms, and such transmission is neither uniform nor random. Furthermore, we categorize firm behavior into distinct response modalities. …

Humanizing The Base Of The Pyramid: Exploring The Influence Of Resource (Dis)Advantages On Value Creation, Ted London, Lisa Jones Christensen, Tyson Mackey, Alison Mackey, Heather Esper, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor

Faculty Publications

Base of the pyramid (BoP) scholarship emphasizes the potential for enterprises to generate profits by enhancing the wellbeing of the impoverished, often by selling socially-beneficial products (SBPs). Yet, many such BoP enterprises have experienced mixed results. We argue that this may stem from insufficient attention to how BoP consumers value SBPs and other products. We frame SBPs as a type of human capital investment and thus use human capital theory to study how the consumption of SBPs does or does not create value for consumers. Specifically, we use a novel data set from rural India to measure value creation in …

Gambling Away Stability: Sports Betting’S Impact On Vulnerable H, Scott R. Baker, Justin Balthrop, Mark J. Johnson, Jason Kotter, Kevin Pisciotta

Faculty Publications

We estimate the causal effect of online sports betting on households’ investment, spending, and debt management decisions using household transaction data and a staggered difference-in-differences framework. Following legalization, sports betting spreads quickly, with both the number of participants and frequency of bets increasing over time. This increase does not displace other gambling or consumption but significantly reduces savings, as risky bets crowd out positive expected value investments. These effects concentrate among frequent bettors and low-savings households. Our findings highlight the potential adverse effects of online sports betting on vulnerable households.

Linear And Asymmetric Interactions Of Bank And Stock Market Development In The Face Of Global Economic Uncertainty: A Focus On The Nigerian Economy, Augustine C. Arize, Ebere Ume Kalu, John Malindretos, Srinvias Nippani

Faculty Publications

This study explores the functional interaction between bank development and stock market development in the face of uncertainty variables. The geography of the study is one of the largest economies in Africa—Nigeria—regarding the following variables: credit to the private sector (CPS), broad money (M2) stock market capitalization (MCAP), and industrial production (IP), which are all scaled by the gross domestic product (GDP) and used in natural log form. Additionally, we included the natural logarithm of a measure of monetary policy uncertainty, which represents the uncertainty variable. In terms of methodology, the study uses monthly time series data from 1990:M1-2022M4 (384 …

Mental And Physical Humanlikeness In Artificial Intelligence Influencers: Effects On Humanness, Eeriness, And Consumer Responses, Terry Kim Ph.D., Hyunjoo Im

Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI) influencers, nonhuman characters powered by AI, have garnered a significant following on social media in recent years. Through two between-subjects online experiments (n = 957), this study investigates the impact of AI influencers' appearance realism and self-disclosure on consumer perceptions (humanness and eeriness) and their downstream responses (intention to self-disclose, intention to follow the advice, and brand attitude). Drawing from anthropomorphism and theory of mind, this study emphasizes the distinction of two dimensions of AI influencers' humanlikeness (physical and mental) which differently affect the humanness and eeriness of the AI influencer. Results indicate that the AI …

Predicting Anomalies, Boone Bowles, Adam V. Reed, Matthew C. Ringgenberg

Faculty Publications

We show that stock returns exhibit predictable patterns before the publication of anomaly trading signals. Moreover, anomaly trading signals derived from financial data are themselves predictable, making it possible to trade before financial statements are released. A trading strategy based on predicted anomaly signals earns an annualized return of 2.80% in the quarter before the signal is released. In recent periods, this return predictability is concentrated in signals that are harder to forecast, and returns are increasingly earned several quarters before signals are released. Our findings suggest anomalies are more anomalous than previously recognized.

Who Invests In Crypto? Revealed Types And Economic Drivers Of Retail Investment, Darren Aiello, Scott R. Baker, Tetyana Balyuk, Marco Di Maggio, Mark J. Johnson, Jason Kotter

Faculty Publications

Using transaction-level data from millions of U.S. households, we provide the first comprehensive characterization of retail cryptocurrency investment. Crypto investors are distinguished not by demographics but by a latent behavioral type revealed through consumption patterns—one that also predicts higher participation in traditional equity brokerages. The economic forces driving crypto investment, including income shocks, workplace peer effects, and inflation exposure, mirror those driving traditional investment. Crucially, households whose consumption matches the crypto-investor profile are more responsive to all these drivers across both asset classes, suggesting that investor type is a more relevant distinction than asset class.

When Money Moves In: The Consequences Of Housing Wealth, Darren Aiello, Jason Kotter, Gregor Schubert

Faculty Publications

We construct a novel dataset of millions of household moves over 25 years to examine how housing wealth affects purchase decisions. We find that a $1 exogenous increase in housing equity leads movers to pay a $0.06 premium on their next home, controlling for property characteristics and time-varying local prices. This behavior is driven by search frictions— wealthier households pay a premium rather than incur additional search costs. In aggregate, these decisions spill over to the broader housing market and cause upward regional price pressure. A 10% increase in equity gain among incoming movers increases local house price growth by …

When Money Moves In: The Consequences Of Housing Wealth, Darren Aiello, Jason Kotter, Gregor Schubert

Faculty Publications

We construct a novel dataset of millions of household moves over 25 years to examine how housing wealth affects purchase decisions. We find that a $1 exogenous increase in housing equity leads movers to pay a $0.06 premium on their next home, controlling for property characteristics and time-varying local prices. This behavior is driven by search frictions— wealthier households pay a premium rather than incur additional search costs. In aggregate, these decisions spill over to the broader housing market and cause upward regional price pressure. A 10% increase in equity gain among incoming movers increases local house price growth by …

Out Of The Office: Market Impacts Of Institutional Investor Distraction, S. Owen Davidson, Michael S. Drake, James R. Moon Jr., James D. Warren

Faculty Publications

Research has long recognized that institutional investors possess significant information processing advantages. Yet even these investors face limited attention constraints, implying that periods of distraction may attenuate their advantage. We examine the effects of a plausibly exogenous shock to institutional attention arising from the annual buy-side focused Equity Research and Valuation (ERV) conference for Chartered Financial Analysts on institutions’ information processing. Validation tests using conference call data indicate that fewer buy-side analysts are present on calls during ERV conferences and that questions are shorter, consistent with the presence of substitute or backup analysts. In our main analyses, we find that …

Do Audit Partner And Audit Committee Member Ideologies Influence Engagement Partner Selection And Financial Reporting Oversight Effectiveness?, Robert Felix, Sattar Mansi, Mikhail Pevzner, Timothy Seidel

Faculty Publications

This study examines whether the ideological orientation of the audit partner and audit committee members— defined as their personal belief systems and inclinations, including their attitude toward risk, ambiguity, and novelty—has an impact on engagement partner selection and the effectiveness of oversight in the financial reporting process. Drawing on prior evidence that the two main US political parties reflect different ideologies, we hand-collect political donation data to construct ideological scores for audit partners and audit committee members. Our findings highlight several intriguing relationships. First, audit committees are more likely to select an ideologically dissimilar partner. Second, greater ideological dissimilarity between …

Do Cohort Restatements Generate Contagion? A Re-Examination, Melissa F. Lewis-Western, Timothy Seidel, Michael S. Wilkins

Faculty Publications

Gleason, Jenkins, and Johnson (2008) provide evidence that restatements lead to stock price declines among non-restating industry peer firms, suggesting that investors perceive contemporaneous manipulation within the industry. In contrast, Kedia, Koh, and Rajgopal (2015) find that restatements—especially less severe ones—encourage peer firms to initiate earnings manipulation. These divergent findings, together with the rising prevalence of less severe restatements and advances in monitoring technologies, motivate a re-examination of manipulation contagion. Although we are able to replicate the results of both seminal studies, we find that the results in Kedia, Koh, and Rajgopal (2015) are sensitive to design choices that affect …