Business Commons^™

From Privacy To Profit: The Evolution Of Name, Image, And Likeness Rights And The Revolution In College Athletics Toward Collegiate Capitalism, Donald M. Remy

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The story of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights in American law is one of adaptation, transformation, and ultimately, revolution. What began as a modest recognition of personal dignity in the late 19th century has evolved into a multibillion-dollar framework that has fundamentally altered the landscape of college athletics. The journey from Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis’s seminal articulation of the “right to be let alone” to the June 2025 approval of the House v. NCAA¹ settlement represents not merely a doctrinal evolution but a profound shift in how American society conceptualizes the relationship between identity, commerce, and fair …

Name, Image, Likeness And The Great American Pastime, Barbara Lauriat

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The ability of high-profile athletes to commercialize name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights is at the center of many current controversies about the future of college sports in the United States. This Article describes how what we call NIL protection— largely based on publicity rights doctrines developed in the mid-20th century—is historically recent, conceptually unstable, and insufficiently scrutinized, even though it now underwrites major entertainment markets in sports. Just as baseball is a sport particularly identified with the United States, there is also a peculiarly American approach to the protection of persona. Using baseball as the central case study, the …

Reassessing Argentina’S 2018 Crisis: Fiscal Imbalances, External Constraints, And Imf Policy, Michael Garcia

Honors Theses

This thesis will evaluate the causes of Argentina’s 2018 financial crisis, examining how it should be evaluated through the lens of fiscal imbalance or by external constraints. The dominant interpretation is shown in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2018 Standby Agreement. It attributed the crisis to excessive fiscal deficits, inflation, and weak monetary discipline. This perspective is supported by the Polak model. The model itself connects domestic credit expansion to balance of payment imbalances. It views external crises resulting from internal policy excess.

This paper offers an alternative interpretation of a post-Keynesian that emphasizes external vulnerability, foreign currency debt, and …

James Stone & Sons Ledgers Collection

Archives & Special Collections: Finding Aids (alphabetical)

Two ledgers which document the financial transactions in the Oxford, Mississippi law firm James Stone and Sons between June 1939 and August 1954.  The attorney Phil Stone was a friend of the young William Faulkner, sharing an intense interest in literature as well as serving as Faulkner’s attorney in later years.

Government Financial Statements: The Influence Of Audit Opinion Type On Attitudes Toward Taxation, Stephanie Ann Vonfintel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The United States government has a responsibility to American citizens to be a good financial steward of their tax dollars. The inability to fulfill this responsibility is evidenced by 28 consecutive years of audit failures, whereby the Government Accountability Office has been unable to issue an opinion on the United States government’s annual financial statements. An experiment varying audit opinion type is used to evaluate whether the United States government failing (or passing) its annual financial statement audits influences attitudes toward federal taxation. Findings show support for federal taxation is strongest when citizens are told that the United States government …

Ai-Assisted Task Completion: Consumer Sentiments By Effort Level, Jason Mickey Martin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines consumer anger in reaction to firms’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist them in the completion of tasks. Specifically, we focus on instances when AI supplements rather than replaces human effort. Using cognitive appraisal theory and psychological contract constructs, this research investigates how the amount of effort consumers invest into a service review and the effort reciprocated by firms influences emotional reactions. Across two studies, using scenario-based experiments, we find that consumers report higher levels of anger when AI is used to aid in responding to high-effort reviews compared to low-effort reviews. The results suggest that …

Examining Moral Susceptibility In Ai Vs. Human-Assisted Decision-Making, Seth James Fogle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are increasingly integrated into decision-making contexts, yet their influence on ethical judgment remains unclear. This study examines whether advice from an AI advisor, compared to a human advisor, affects moral susceptibility in a consumer decision-making scenario. Using a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design (advisor type × price condition), this research tests whether personal agency, perceived objectivity, and diffusion of responsibility operate as psychological mechanisms underlying ethical decision-making.

Results indicate that advisor type did not significantly influence moral susceptibility, nor did it significantly affect the proposed mediators. Additionally, the price condition did not moderate these relationships. …

Trust, Literacy, And Choice: Exploring How Taxpayers Decide Between Self-Preparation And Professional Assistance, Bethany Jo Elam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Each year, taxpayers must decide whether to self-prepare their tax return or hire a tax professional. While the decline in paper filing has made electronic filing the standard, the ease of access to both DIY tax software and tax professionals allows taxpayers to switch between these options each year if they wish. While previous research has focused on tangible predictors such as cost and accuracy, psychological factors, such as trust, remain largely unexplored in the modern tax-filing environment. This study investigates the relationship among perceived tax literacy among taxpayers, various dimensions of trust, and the intention to use tax software. …

The Bleeding Edge Of Misogyny: How Gender-Based Harassment And Infrastructural Neglect Shape Menstrual Distress, Mackenzie J. Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Despite growing attention to menstrual health, organizational research has largely overlooked how workplace conditions shape menstrual experiences. Dominant perspectives frame menstruation as an individual issue that negatively affects work, neglecting how features of the work environment – such as gender-based harassment and access to menstrual-related infrastructure – contribute to menstrual distress. Addressing this gap, this dissertation adopts a bidirectional perspective, examining how social and material workplace conditions shape menstrual distress, defined as the extent to which menstrual symptoms interfere with daily functioning. Drawing on the transactional model of stress and objectification theory, I hypothesized that gender-based harassment would predict menstrual …

Back To The Office Or Out The Door: The Impact Of Return-To-Office Mandates On Employee Well-Being And Turnover Intention, Charlotte Renee Nelson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The widespread adoption of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered traditional workplace arrangements. As organizations increasingly implement RTO mandates, questions have emerged about how these changes affect employee well-being and turnover intentions. Guided by the Job Demands–Resources framework, this study examined the relationship between RTO mandates and two employee outcomes: employee well-being and turnover intention. The study also tested whether work engagement mediated these relationships and whether perceived organizational support and work stressors moderated the relationship between RTO mandates and work engagement.

A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional survey design was employed. Data were collected from 229 U.S. employees working …

The Differential Impacts Of Internal And External Corporate Social Responsibility Activities On Consumer Trust After Covid-19, Kennadi C. Mccoy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores the strategic role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in helping small businesses recover from crises, with a specific focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. Different from many traditional studies that highlight the ethical or reputational aspects of CSR, this research will examine its practical effects: how CSR initiatives during crises influence business success by enhancing consumer trust, particularly by examining the differential impact of Internal CSR versus External CSR. The study suggests that, compared with internally focused CSR, external CSR activities will have a greater impact on consumer trust. In addition, the dissertation suggests that this effect is …

Carbon Emissions And Greenwashing: Do High Esg Scores Reflect Real Decarbonization?, Alison Steenerson

All Master's Theses

This study examines the relationship between environmental scores, environmental performance, disclosure quality, and firm characteristics using a sample of publicly traded firms observed in 2020 and 2021. A two-stage regression framework was used to separate environmental scores into components explained by observable environmental performance, firm characteristics, disclosure practices, and environmental commitments. Results indicate that emissions intensity has a statistically significant but economically small relationship with environmental scores. In contrast, disclosure quality measures exhibited strong positive associations with environmental scores. Firms reporting emissions, participating in CDP, disclosing emissions targets, and adopting science-based targets received higher environmental scores independent of environmental performance. …

Leveling The Playing Field: The Atlantic Coast Conference’S Settlement With Florida State University And Clemson University, Emma Lloyd Best, Kyre Dane Lahtinen

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This Article examines the legal disputes and subsequent settlement between the Atlantic Coast Conference and two of its prominent member institutions, Florida State University and Clemson University. The conflicts centered on the Atlantic Coast Conference’s extension of its media rights agreement with ESPN, which both universities argued were not properly approved under conference bylaws and imposed an unconscionable withdrawal penalty. Florida State University sought to challenge the enforceability of the Grant of Rights and its associated penalties, while Clemson University pursued a narrower interpretation, aiming to limit broadcast rights and financial obligations upon exit. The …

Leveling The Playing Field: The Atlantic Coast Conference’S Settlement With Florida State University And Clemson University, Emma Lloyd Best, Kyre Dane Lahtinen

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This Article examines the legal disputes and subsequent settlement between the Atlantic Coast Conference and two of its prominent member institutions, Florida State University and Clemson University. The conflicts centered on the Atlantic Coast Conference’s extension of its media rights agreement with ESPN, which both universities argued were not properly approved under conference bylaws and imposed an unconscionable withdrawal penalty. Florida State University sought to challenge the enforceability of the Grant of Rights and its associated penalties, while Clemson University pursued a narrower interpretation, aiming to limit broadcast rights and financial obligations upon exit. The Article delves into the history …

The Impact Of A Kentucky Nutrition Education Program Social Marketing Campaign On Resident Health, Trinity Elizabeth Foster

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Poor diet quality and physical inactivity are common health issues in the United States. To remedy these issues among low-income households, the United States Department of Agriculture created the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education Program (SNAP-Ed), which promoted healthy eating and physically active lifestyles through multiple avenues. The social marketing approach of SNAP-Ed uses marketing strategies to relay information to the public. In Kentucky, a statewide billboard campaign was launched in 2018 encouraging residents to focus on nutrition and physical activity. This study investigates the impact of that campaign on health outcomes in counties throughout the state. Using billboard location …

Urban Megaregions In The United States: A Gis-Based Approach To Defining A New Regional Geography, Jonas Rugys

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This study investigates urban megaregions in the United States. The regional concept is examined from its origins in the geographic tradition as well as its transformation in the twentieth century to its current state. A GIS-based methodology for defining urban megaregions is presented and discussed. The results challenge existing assumptions of population and employment growth in the United States.

Antionette's A Culinary Education Center, Maya Wagstaff

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

This project examined the development of Antoinette's, a community-focused culinary education center designed to address low cooking confidence and increased reliance on eating out. The project analyzed how limited food literacy, intimidation in the kitchen, and a lack of inclusive learning environments contributed to reduced self-sufficiency and home-cooking habits. A mixed-methods research approach, including surveys, competitor analysis, observational research, and secondary sources, was used to assess the problem, solution, ideal customer, and overall feasibility of the business concept. Findings have supported a demand for a hands-on culinary education center, closing the cooking class gap by providing inclusive programs for dietary …

Art Deco Wedding Cake, Meriel Robbins

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The goal of this project was to create a wedding cake for a bride that reimagines the extravagant luxury of the 1920s through a more modern lens. Inspired by the Art Deco movement the design utilizes the iconic color palette of white, gold, and black to add geometric and bold color contrast on the fondant tires. Each tire has a unique pattern to showcase elements from the design board such the wedding dress to the invitations that ensure cohesion with the overall wedding theme. The design features many modern techniques such as brush embroidery on the top tier and gold …

Pastry Arts Club Cake For Sojourner House Gala, Maximilien Brown, Finch Plingos, Ava Stutzman, Max Rallo, Seth Caldwell, Jon Kruk

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The purpose of this project was to design and execute a multi-tier decorative cake to present at the annual Sojourner House Masquerade Ball cake competition. Last semester, a group of six students and Chef Livsey dedicated several weeks from October to November to design and execute a seven-tier dummy cake. Each participant put in around 40 hours of work total: fondant wrapping foam cake rounds, molding and hand shaping fondant and gum paste decorations, painting renaissance masterpieces on gum paste canvases with food coloring gel, airbrushing details, pouring isomalt, and much more. The Sojourner House Masquerade Ball is the charity's …

The Scenic Spot, Andrea Shoda

Student Research Design & Innovation Symposium

The Scenic Spot is a National Parks based food truck concept. It has a menu curated for outdoors activities, with healthy, sustainable, and portable options. Working to provide a solution for the lack of food options around the parks.

Negotiating Independence And Representation: The Role Of Galleries In Shaping Emerging Artists’ Careers In London, Filippo Fazzini Matteucci

MA in Art Business Dissertations

This dissertation analyses the impact of gallery representation on the career progression of emerging artists in the London art ecosystem. The research draws on qualitative data, gathered through the completion of four semi-structured interviews. Participants were selected between two London galleries - Almine Rech and Gallery Rosenfeld - and included two artists and two managers. The study examines four interrelated themes: the negotiation between representation and independence; the role of trust and informality in shaping artist–gallery relationships; the influence of visibility through social media platforms; and the participants’ definitions of success. The research reveals that representation and independence are not …

How Do Female Artists In The Middle East Navigate Art Market Legitimacy, And How Do Experiences Differ Between The Levant And Gulf Regions?, Noura Alzaim

MA in Art Business Dissertations

This dissertation examines the journeys and challenges faced by female artists in the Middle East as they strive for recognition and legitimacy within the region’s evolving art markets. By comparing the lived experiences of artists from the Levant, where creativity often flourishes in grassroots and diaspora circles, to those cultivating their careers amid the state-driven, rapidly expanding cultural landscape of the Gulf, the research brings distinct artistic perspectives into conversation. Combining interviews, theoretical inquiry, and analysis of press releases, essays, and market data, the study highlights how history, political context, and institutional structures shape opportunities and obstacles. Central chapters show …

The Impact Of Francisco Franco’S Dictatorship On The Art Market For Spanish Artists: How Did Francisco Franco’S Dictatorship And State Policy Shape The Domestic And Foreign Art Market For Spanish Artists?, Georges Ruiz-Picasso

MA in Art Business Dissertations

This dissertation aims to look at the impact of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975) on the art market for Spanish artists. By segmenting the research in two parts, one on the internal market and the other on the external market, the dissertation wants to determine how and the extent to which Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and state policies shape the domestic and foreign art market for Spanish artists? The study argues that, within the domestic market, the gradual political shift of the regime has permitted a slow progress towards internationalization. Whilst the domestic market experienced a limited productivity, some international Spanish artists …

Sports And Corporate Innovation, Bing Qin

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Driven by the digital economy and intensifying global competition, corporate innovation has become a core driver of sustainable growth. Topmanagement members are key strategic decision-makers, and their individual characteristics critically influence the formulation and implementation of innovation strategies. While existing studies have examined the impact of topmanagement’s cognitive and psychological traits on innovation performance, significant gaps remain in understanding how their routine behavioral preferences—particularly running, a globally prevalent exercise—affect innovation performance through psychological mechanisms. The systematic relationship between running preferences, top management’s psychological traits, and organizational innovation outcomes remains underexplored.

Against this backdrop, the study investigates the mechanismthroughwhich top management’s …

Allyship And Social Support Networks: Examining Feelings Of Safety And Confidence Among Lgbtq+ Sports Officials, Jacob K. Tingle, B. L. Jacobs, A. C. Baeth, M. Katz, C. C. Zvosec

School of Business Faculty Research

For LGBTQ+ employees, research has indicated they feel othered, isolated, and unwelcome within their work communities. In other settings, social networks have been shown to provide stability and a sense of belonging that increases factors associated with mental health, such as self-care, stress moderation, and increased coping behaviors. Because of this, we examined the social networks of self-identified LGBTQ+ sports officials utilizing egocentric network analysis to better understand the influence of LGBTQ+ officials’ social networks on their feelings of safety and confidence and decisions to continue officiating. Participants responded to questions about people (alters) they considered to be allies in …

Exploring Shared Experiences As Citizen Sport Diplomats: A Collaborative Self-Ethnography, Randall J. Griffiths, Jacob K. Tingle, Angela Breidenstein

School of Business Faculty Research

Research purpose: This study was a critical analysis of the lived experiences of three American university professors who served as volunteer citizen diplomats in a bi-lateral U.S. State Department sport exchange program with North Macedonian volleyball coaches.

Research methods: With the aim of capturing the experience of serving as citizen sport diplomats and making sense of it to inform future practice, this research utilized a collaborative self-ethnography approach. This reflexive approach brings together: (a) analytic autoethnography as individuals themselves are engaged in the ethnography and study, and (b) collective ethnography as a team collects and makes sense of shared data …

Moral Outrage To Market Impact: A Multi-Level Analysis Of Corporate Cancel Culture, Sayan Gupta, T. Andrew Poehlman

AMTP Proceedings 2026

Corporate cancel culture is often dismissed as “just social media noise,” but for managers the real stakes show up in markets. This paper develops and tests a three-level framework linking moralized social-media discourse, online brand reputation, and firm-level financial outcomes. Using three canonical cancellations—Dolce & Gabbana’s China controversy, Tesla’s politicization via Elon Musk, and Bud Light’s backlash after its transgender influencer partnership—we first show that these events are organized around spikes in moral-emotional language and structural virality, not generic negativity. We then document how this moral outrage predicts shifts in brand sentiment, associations, and engagement across platforms, before examining corresponding …

Supplemental Files For "From Knowledge To Practice: Deia Perspectives, Faith-Based Policies, And Job Postings", Sarah E. Keil, Meredith Ader, Gina K. Bolger, Ryan Yoakum

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Supplemental files for the book chapter, "From Knowledge to Practice: DEIA Perspectives, Faith-Based Policies, and Job Postings." Tge job posting spreadsheet and reference list are available below.

Job Posting Spreadsheet

The PDF of the Job Posting Spreadsheet includes the following items:

• A comprehensive spreadsheet of the job ads used in this project, with additional information about the institution included (DEIA statement, affiliations, accreditation, etc.)

• A spreadsheet with other information about the institutions, including links to statements of faith, missional documents, etc.

• A spreadsheet with information about how DEIA is defined by various organizations and accrediting bodies

• Color coding key

• An …

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Collective Bargaining In The Usa : Union Success Within And Outside Of The Flawed Legal Framework, Angela B. Cornell

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The labour movement in the US experienced a powerful upswing under President Biden, but even with a labour-friendly administration thousands of new bargaining units labour without collective bargaining agreements years a#er being organised. The many limitations and weaknesses of the collective-bargaining framework under the private-sector statute, the NLRA, contribute to this very unfortunate outcome including enterprise rather than sectoral bargaining, a lack of meaningful remedies for serious bargaining violations, very little interest arbitration when the parties cannot reach agreement and the extremely limited right to strike. Millions of American workers are deprived of the right to bargain collectively because of …

Essays On Stock Market Expectations And Financial Decisions, Shanxiang Yang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays on stock market expectations and financial decisions. The first essay shows significant racial differences in expectations regarding future stock market performance. Using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Survey of Consumer Expectations from 2013 to 2022, we find that, relative to White Americans, Black and Hispanic Americans have lower probabilistic expectations that the stock market will increase. This racial gap in expectations was even larger during the recession caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, suggesting that economic uncertainty exacerbates this heterogeneity in expectations. Furthermore, we show that relative to White Americans, the …