Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) are blank check companies that raise funds through initial public offerings (IPOs) to merge with private firms. In 2021, the U.S. saw a surge in SPAC deals, with 613 IPOs raising over $161 billion. This rise in popularity contrasts with SPACs mixed performance, which has caught the attention of regulators. We ... Read More

Unconventional start-ups encounter distinct challenges in professionalizing their operations compared to traditional ventures. Our project reveals that while venture capitalists (VCs) often advocate for standardization, many start-ups diverge from conventional practices, prioritizing external engagement and market positioning. Key findings suggest that ... Read More

Do experts make biased decisions? In this study, we examine the decision-making of emergency department physicians who must decide whether to admit or discharge patients. We find evidence suggesting that these physicians are subject to biases in their decision-making. Specifically, we discovered that a physician's decision for a given patient can be ... Read More

The under-provision of online reviews is a major challenge faced by review platforms and businesses alike. In response, many businesses have begun to actively solicit reviews from their consumers. But is this approach beneficial? In examining TripAdvisor’s launch of a review collection program, we found that while hotel participation in review solicitation ... Read More

Employee creativity is the source of new products, services, or processes and crucial to a firm’s survival and success. Social factors play an important role in creativity. The first social factor is power. Power is ubiquitous in and an essential feature of organizations. Through a series of four field studies, we found that power is a double-edged sword – ... Read More

Trial and error, arguably the most common approach to problem solving, is frequently delegated. For example, pharmaceutical companies outsource aspects of drug development to contract research organizations, hedge fund executives hire researchers to mine data for profitable trading strategies, and governments regularly task consultants with finding creative ... Read More

Would people react positively or negatively if organizational decisions were made by AI instead of by traditional decision agents (i.e., human managers)? Whereas high-profile stories covered in news media suggest that the use of AI in organizational decision-making was viewed as unfair and received negatively, recent surveys showed that using AI in decision ... Read More

Education is one of the top expenditures for families, especially in Asia. For example, the average expenditure on a child’s education from primary school to undergraduate level in Hong Kong is more than any other regions/countries in the world. When examined closer, some educational purchases are made to develop a child’s strengths (i.e., strength-focused ... Read More

Recently, a growing number of media platforms have allowed users to pay for a premium version of their service that removes ads. A classic example is YouTube, which launched YouTube Red that is a paid service with no ads. This is puzzling because these platforms historically rely on advertising revenues to grow. In this research we develop a game theory ... Read More

Many retail investors find it difficult to choose financial products and seek the advice of professionals. Women are increasingly becoming an important client segment for the financial advice industry. To the extent that women follow the advice they receive, the quality of this advice can have important consequences for gender inequality in wealth and women ... Read More