Business Commons^™

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 …

Understanding Supply Chain Innovation, Kenneth B. Kahn, David P. Cook

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose – Supply chain innovation (SCI) represents a complex construct, capturing the interest of practitioners and researchers alike. There is no commonly accepted definition for the term, field research on the construct appears to be highly fragmented and industry examples demonstrate diverse ways in which it occurs.

Design/methodology/approach – Reviewing definitional literature and top winners of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ Supply Chain Innovation Award, this manuscript identifies salient points about SCI to guide continued research and industry practice.

Findings – Seven points are made about SCI. These pertain to its multiple definitions, technology, relationships, performance outcomes, conceptual …

Should More Teams "Trust The Process" Of Tanking?, Eduardo G. Minuci, Alexander Cardazzi, Candon Johnson

Economics Faculty Publications

In many professional sport leagues, the worst-performing teams receive higher probability of earning top draft picks. This provides teams incentives to purposefully lose, or "tank," if they are not likely to contend for the playoffs or championships. We evaluate the effectiveness of tanking to improve team outcomes by examining the most explicit tanking case in the NBA: the "Trust the Process" Philadelphia 76ers. Using synthetic control, we demonstrate that tanking caused the 76ers to be more successful in terms of winning and operating income. However, only operating income had a plausibly positive present value when calculating discounted present values.

The Ai Revolution In Virtual Try-Ons: A Means-End Chain Model Perspective, Ju-Young M. Kang, Ji Young Lee, Dooyoung Choi, Sumin Helen Koo, Jeehyun Song, Youngjin Bahng

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Leading brands have begun to implement artificial intelligence-driven virtual try-on (AI VTO) technology, which helps reduce returns and increase conversion rates, repeat purchases, and customer loyalty. This research aimed to examine how retail user experience with specific perceived quality factors of AI VTOs influences users’ value equity and downstream loyalty and to investigate the moderating effects of clothing in relation to the self as structure and concern for physical appearance, based on a Means–End Chain model. Data were collected from 509 U.S. online apparel shoppers using a consumer panel. Structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis were used for data analysis. …

Partnerships Establishing And Sustaining High-Quality Youth Pre-Apprenticeship: Exploring Key Roles And Skills, Russel L. Parker, James E. Bartlett Ii, Michelle E. Bartlett

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study examined the partners, roles, structures, and skills needed to develop and operate successful youth pre-apprenticeship programs for CTE programs and explored how they were evaluated. The purpose of the study is to provide insights for CTE leaders on developing and sustaining youth pre-apprenticeship programs, pathways to apprenticeships to offer youth career opportunities and livable wages without attending four-year colleges. This study highlights the roles partners play in successful youth pre-apprenticeship programs, emphasizing collaboration between education, industry, and communities. It identifies collaborators serving business functions such as leadership, marketing, finance, human resources, customer service, general management, public relations, and …

Bridging The Social Class Capital Gap: A Psychological Intervention In The Newcomer Adjustment Context, Grace J. H. Lim, Marko Pitesa

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Motivated by observations that workers from lower social class backgrounds often experience lower career outcomes even after securing desirable jobs, we adopted an abductive approach—combining theory (the newcomer personal capital framework) with qualitative evidence from open‐ended accounts (Study 1)—to identify three challenges these workers face after joining organizations as newcomers: limited cultural capital (i.e., institutional knowledge), lower social capital (i.e., social self‐efficacy), and lower psychological capital (i.e., distress tolerance). Furthermore, in Study 1, we developed and tested a psychological intervention targeting these challenges and found that it effectively addressed them. In Studies 2 and 3, both preregistered field experiments, we …

Stock Market Reactions To Interest Rate Changes: Evidence From Emerging Markets, Binali Selman Eren

The Indonesian Capital Market Review

This study investigates the impact of interest rate decisions made by national central banks, including the Federal Reserve (Fed), and the European Central Bank (ECB), on the stock markets of emerging economies. It analyzed stock market reactions to interest rate hikes and cuts through the use of an event study approach. The findings provided evidence of heterogeneous effects of interest rate decisions by national central banks, the Fed, and the ECB on stock markets in emerging economies. Specifically, the results indicated that, in most emerging economies, stock markets reacted negatively to interest rate hikes and positively to cuts by national …

Identifying Risk-Free Asset Proxies In Companies Listed On The Indonesia Stock Exchange From 2017 To 2023 Using The Zero-Beta Capital Asset Pricing Model, Fajri Alan Ghazali Mr., Lenny Suardi Mrs.

The Indonesian Capital Market Review

This study evaluates Bank Indonesia Certificates (SBI), IndONIA, and gold as zero-beta proxies for Indonesian equities. Using daily returns for 213 firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (2017–2023) and the Jakarta Composite Index as the market return, we estimate firm-level zero-beta CAPMs and compute Wald statistics test to identify the appropriate risk- free asset proxy for each individual company; and firm-level outcomes are then aggregated under a Bernoulli/Binomial criterion with a 95% threshold. Empirical results show that gold satisfies the zero-beta condition for 207 of 213 firms (97.18%), whereas SBI and IndONIA satisfy it for five (2.35%) and six …

Escaping The Crash? The Protective Power Of Liquidity In The Pakistan Stock Market, Sana Saleem, Muhammad Usman, Amna Rafique

The Indonesian Capital Market Review

This study investigates the effect of stock liquidity on the risk of stock price crashes, taking sample of non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange, from 2009 to 2024. A two-step system GMM estimation is applied to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that greater stock liquidity significantly reduces crash risk, whereas illiquidity amplifies it. Two underlying channels explain this relationship; first, liquidity strengthens block holders’ capacity to intervene, discouraging managerial tendencies to withhold adverse information, second, liquidity enhances price informativeness, limiting managerial discretion to manipulate prices through delayed disclosure of bad news. The findings imply that liquid stocks …

The Development Of A Convenient And Consistent Methodology For Flight Proficiency To Certify Multi-Rotor Uas Pilots For State Departments Of Transportation, Colin H. Dees, Joseph M. Burgett

The Professional Constructor

To fly an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly referred to as a “drone,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires pilots to pass a knowledge test. There is no requirement at the state or federal level for drone operators to demonstrate the ability to operate a UAS. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) has created an exam for public and private entities to assess basic UAS flight proficiency. It is the only nationally recognized flight proficiency protocol. NIST does not provide a scoring recommendation and leaves it to the user to determine the minimum criteria to pass. There is …

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 …

Tuned Out Or Dialed In: How Attributions Shape Observer Reactions To Music Listeners At Work, Oguz Gencay, Trevor Foulk, Michael Schaerer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Music listening while working is prevalent in contemporary workplaces, with extensive research demonstrating its psychological and behavioral implications. Shifting focus from intra-individual outcomes, the present research examines the social implications of music listening at work. To do so, we adopt a novel third-party perspective to investigate how observers perceive and react to music listeners. Building on attribution theory, we argue that music listening is an ambiguous behavior that invites observers to make leisure or productivity attributions, thereby shaping how they perceive and treat music listeners. We hypothesize that observers perceive music listeners (vs. non-listeners) as less engaged if they attribute …

Affordable Infill Housing For Zillennials: Enhancing Urban Mobility Through Walkable And Bikeable Access In Jakarta Metropolitan Area, Mewan Indra, Arif Kusumawanto, Agus Hariyadi

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Rapid urbanization in developing countries has intensified housing challenges for younger generations, particularly Zillennials (aged 24–34), who demand affordable, accessible, and sustainable living environments. This study investigates the optimal location for small-scale housing integrated with large-scale developments in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA), emphasizing mobility as the primary criterion. The research is guided by a conceptual framework that synthesizes compact city principles, the 15-minute city concept, and Zillennial lifestyle preferences, with walkability and bikeability serving as mediating variables. Mobility simulations were conducted using the Urban Modeling Interface (UMI), applying Walk Score parameters to evaluate walking and cycling accessibility. Six simulation …

Transportation Needs And Commuting Stress Among Hospitality Employees: A Perspective From The Las Vegas Strip Corridor, Mehmet Erdem, Shashi Nambisan, Jehun Moon, Billy Bai, Juliana Byzyka, William Werner, Bethany Khan

ICHRIE Research Reports

This study examines the determinants of commute-related stress by integrating behavioral and situational perspectives within Las Vegas contexts. Grounded in the spillover theory, this study conceptualizes commuting stress as a cross-domain process in which strain generated during commuting extends into broader psychological outcomes. Employing an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model, this study identifies the key components associated with commuting stress using survey data from 1,224 union workers in the Strip Corridor in Las Vegas. Findings reveal that experiential and situational factors play a dominant role in shaping stress perceptions. Specifically, traffic disruptions and behavioral adaptations (e.g., leaving earlier) emerge …

Identifying And Prioritizing Essential Healthcare Services For A Private Start-Up Healthcare Hub In Laxmipasha, Bangladesh, Ferdous Ara Mostofa

Dissertations

This quantitative study identifies and prioritizes essential healthcare services for developing a private start-up healthcare hub in Laxmipasha, Bangladesh, a rural community with significant gaps in healthcare access. Using secondary data from national and international sources, the research analyzed disease burden, population characteristics, and service availability to determine the most urgent health priorities. A structured, evidence-based framework was used to evaluate services based on mortality and morbidity, service gaps, and potential health impact. The findings indicate that Maternal and Child Health (MCH), Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) management, and infectious disease control represent the most critical priorities for initial implementation. The study …

Leadership Studies In The Master Of Divinity (M.Div.) Curricula Of The Southern Baptist Convention (Sbc) Seminaries, Todd Stinnett

Dissertations

This dissertation chronicles the pursuit of an answer to the following question: In what ways have Southern Baptist Conventions (SBC) seminaries incorporated leadership studies into the curricula of their Master of Divinity (M.Div.) programs? This dissertation is a qualitative, multi-site case study that utilized a descriptive method of research. The research also utilized a qualitative interview that asked seminary administrators about their understanding of leadership studies and the place of those studies in the leadership courses that each seminary provided. One administrator from each of the six SBC seminaries was interviewed for this research. Content analysis was used to discover …

Gamification Of Online And Onsite Corporate Trainings In The Philippines, Jyro B. Triviño, Kylie Rayne S. Cai, Jan Angeli G. Cane, Clarissa Marie R. Fernandez, Faith D. Goli Cruz, Kleid L. Pedraja

Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD)

This study examined Filipino corporate trainers’ views on the effectiveness of gamification in onsite and online training. Using Clark and Braun’s thematic analysis, eight trainers shared their insights into its impact on engagement, motivation, and reinforcement. Results showed gamification can boost participation and structure learning, but its success depends on deliberate integration of game elements and digital tools. This varied slightly between modalities, especially when involving inductive and deductive assessments. Trainers emphasized the importance of incorporating interactive activities, providing feedback, enhancing competition, and offering rewards to strengthen engagement. The study also identified the complementary benefits of online and onsite training …

Women's Work And Wealth: Measuring The Impact Of Incremental Liberations, 1850-1870, Hannah Kelly

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Using a two-way fixed effects difference-in-difference model, this project analyzes data from the IPUMS Full Count census for 1850, 1860, and 1870 at a state level for 48 states. Four models assess the impact of property laws on women's real property holdings, labor force participation, household types, and real property values.

By quantifying the impact of various legal reforms on women's economic empowerment, this project fills a gap in the understanding of the intersection between law, society, and women's economic agency during a transformative period in pre-industrial American history. These impacts can implicate the effectiveness of legislative measures in advancing …

Heartbeats: Sustainable Practices In Business, Natalie Pham, Shareef Awadallah, Lily Lisco, Logan Blissenbach, Nikolaos Verginis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

HeartBeats Co. LLC is a premier audio and software technology brand that brings renewed character and performance to a stagnant space, revolutionizing the listening experience by engineering a digital music platform and headphones that possess distinct style and exceptional performance. While our team identifies and tracks trends in the market, we strive to establish market trends rather than to follow them. We are a company founded on innovation, redefining the music streaming market by combining the importance of wellness with the latest audio and software technologies and innovative functionalities. This document outlines a ten-year plan for efficient and impactful scaling, …

Bare Bones Creamery/Ice Cream, Hanna Pope, Mason Dexter, Stephen Parker, Evan Trumpower, Logan Miller

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Essentially, our project focuses on the fictional company, “Bare Bones Creamery.” Bare Bones Creamery is a company that sells all natural, affordable, no nonsense ice cream targeted towards people between the ages of 18 to 40. Our main goal is to document the process to grow and scale this company to 100 employees in about 10 years. Outside of this, we’ll also develop different departments of the company including finance, accounting, supply chain, IT/ data analytics, human resources, legal, sales, and marketing. Each department will grow with the company and will become more detailed as time progresses. Certain variables such …

Pawpulse Dog Collar, Sean Graham, Hailey Barger, Connor Mulichak, Addison Towne, Kieran Nolan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

PawPulse is revolutionizing pet care through innovative technology that enhances pet health, safety, and well-being. Combining advanced hardware designs, AI-driven analytics, and IoT integrations, PawPulse offers a comprehensive ecosystem that empowers pet owners with actionable insights into their pets' health and activity. As a global leader in pet health technology, PawPulse integrates features like real-time health monitoring, predictive analytics, and location tracking into a seamless mobile app experience.

This project examines the growth and scaling strategies of PawPulse, focusing on critical areas such as Information Systems, Analytics, and Legal frameworks. It details the company's strategic evolution from a startup to …

The Impact Of Brexit On Uk Trade Flows: A Product-Level Analysis, Tyler J. Shean

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The United Kingdom formally left the European Union in 2020, a significant event known as Brexit. The separation caused political and economic consequences for the UK, particularly affecting trade flows in and out of the country. However, the extent of these impacts both in the short and long term-remains uncertain. This paper analyzes the impact of Brexit on exports and imports for the United Kingdom and the rest of the EU. The study also looks at industry-specific data, giving a detailed perspective on sectors that experienced the biggest consequences of the event. The World International Trade Solution (WITS) by the …

Honors Project In Business Admin Group 2, Matt R. Howell, Richard W. Black, Kale R. Kochman, Anthony J. Mast

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our team is performing a strategic analysis on Project Learn, Summit County's non-profit that provides resources to adult learners to complete their GED. Our goal is to provide recommendations for them to expand their market and improve the product that they currently offer. This includes exploring new partnerships, adding additional services, and various other initiatives that we hope will improve the organization's wellbeing.

How Does Economic Policy Uncertainty Affect Individual Contributions To Retirement Accounts?, David I. Becker

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study tests whether Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) is associated with U.S. retirement contributions and whether responses differ across account types. Using annual contribution data for defined contribution plans and Traditional and Roth IRAs with the Baker, Bloom, and Davis EPU index, I estimate multivariate regressions with standard macroeconomic controls and compare contemporaneous and lagged specifications. EPU is positively associated with 401(k) contributions, negatively associated with Traditional IRA contributions in the contemporaneous model, and not statistically significant for Roth IRAs. These results suggest uncertainty may shift how households save for retirement rather than uniformly reducing retirement saving.

A Holistic Approach To Country Branding: Examining A Master Brand And Sub-Brand Framework, Musa Pinar, Aycan Duran Tekoglu, Tulay Girard

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Recently, nation branding has drawn the attention of policymakers worldwide, as nations recognize its strategic importance in achieving and sustaining success in the global competitive landscape. This study provides a conceptual framework based on master brand and sub-brand architecture to examine country branding holistically by integrating macro and micro perspectives, country brand equity, and their effects on consumer preferences. The specific objectives are to 1) identify the dimensions of master brand, sub-brand, and country brand equity and develop reliable and valid measurement scales for each dimension, and 2) develop a conceptual framework that integrates the master brand, sub-brand, and brand …

When Social Inflation Pushes The "Good Neighbor" Away: How Market Exit Behavior Triggers Brand Betrayal And Trust Erosion, Waros Ngamsiriudom, Mohan Menon, Mitra Devkota

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Social inflation, marked by rising litigation severity, shifting jury attitudes, and expanding third-party litigation funding, has intensified financial pressures on insurers operating in disaster-prone markets. In response, many insurers have withdrawn or restricted coverage, creating a sharp disconnect between long-standing brand promises and current market behaviors. This article examines how these systemic pressures produce “brand betrayal,” a consumer perception arising when insurers’ market exit actions contradict their relational positioning as reliable, community-oriented partners. Drawing on signaling theory, relationship marketing, and institutional perspectives, the article develops a conceptual framework linking social inflation to brand trust erosion through market exit behavior. The …

Leading With Integrity: Ethical Leadership, Quota Fairness, And Salesforce Retention, James Deconinck

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study examines how ethical leadership, ethical climate, quota difficulty, distributive quota fairness, and person–organization (P–O) fit jointly shape salespeople’s turnover intentions and actual turnover. Survey data from 203 salespeople in a national computer-industry firm were paired with organizational turnover records collected one year later. Ethical leadership strengthened ethical climate, distributive quota fairness, and P–O fit, while ethical climate further enhanced fairness and value alignment. Quota difficulty strongly reduced fairness. Fairness also contributed to P–O fit, indicating that justice experiences tied to quota allocation shape value congruence in meaningful ways. Both fairness and P–O fit predicted lower turnover intentions, and …

Essays In Housing And Consumer Finance, Spencer Stone

Theses and Dissertations--Finance and Quantitative Methods

In my first chapter, I show how consumer left-digit bias affects borrowing costs in the US residential mortgage market. I find that the distribution of mortgage rates bunch at .99-ending rates just below left-digit changing thresholds, and that this bunching is greater in the distribution of rates selected by borrowers than those simply offered by lenders. Comparing observably similar borrowers within the same 1-bp interest rate band, selecting similar mortgage products, in the same census tract and origination month, I show that borrowers receiving .99-ending rates pay significantly more fees than borrowers receiving the nearest whole-number rate just above them, …

Evaluation And Advancement Of The Students’ Artificial Intelligence Literacy Through Toolkit-Based Teaching Instruction In Fashion Merchandising Education, Xun (Catherine) Sun, Jia Wu, Li Zhao

Faculty Publications - Family and Consumer Sciences

With the rapid adoption of AI in fashion merchandising, there is an increasing need for students to develop AI literacy to meet evolving industry demands. However, higher education faces challenges due to limited discipline-specific pedagogical practices, insufficient student training, and a lack of AI-integrated curricula. Grounded in Bloom's Taxonomy Revisited and IDEO's 3I design thinking framework, this study introduces the #AIforfashionedu toolkit–a how-to-guide toolkit comprising AI-integrated learning activities. These activities were qualitatively implemented in three fashion merchandising-related courses at U.S. institutions. A total of 195 student reflection papers were collected, analysed, and evaluated using a thematic analysis approach. The findings …

A Strategic Analysis Of Project Learn Of Summit County, Alex Kennedy, Tyler Hutchinson, Haley Guest, Zach D. Thomas, Lizzie Sisler

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our group is working with Project Learn of Summit County, a GED and ESL assistance program located in the Akron Public Library. Our group will be performing a strategic analysis and providing them with a strategic plan, to be presented to them at the end of the term. We aim to increase awareness for the program, point out areas of growth, and increase functionality.