Layperson Talk

Political science studies show that judge ideology influences judicial votes in federal courts, with judges appointed by Democratic presidents being more liberal than those appointed by Republican presidents. Although legal doctrine plays an important role in deciding case outcomes, judges are more likely to obey legal doctrine when such doctrine supports ... 閱讀更多

Managing new products is important for many firms. One challenging problem is how to predict the success of a new product, especially in their early life cycle. Using large-scale retailer data, we find the novel prediction that the early success of a new product among certain customers may have negative—rather than positive—implications for the long-term ... 閱讀更多

Would the affected communities voluntarily obtain herd immunity if a cure for COVID-19 becomes available? The conventional wisdom says “no” because of the fact that an individual's decisions does not take into account its positive externality to others, i.e., if you get a vaccine, you are improving the chance that other will get sick. That is why people ... 閱讀更多

With the increasing demands for innovation and adaption, organizations need employees not in formal leadership roles to take initiatives and exhibit informal leadership among their peers. Prior research has focused on “who” may behave as informal leaders but largely overlooked “when” individuals practice informal leadership. Very little is known about what ... 閱讀更多

Financial analysts are important information intermediaries in capital markets. Traditional research outputs of analysts, such as buy/sell recommendations and EPS forecasts, have been the mainstream focus of market participants. In recent years, analyst forecasts of capital expenditures (capex) have become increasingly prevalent—roughly 70 percent of the US ... 閱讀更多

Innovating firms face a choice whether to patent its innovation or keep it as a trade secret. US National Science Foundation’s Business R&D and Innovation Survey in 2013 found that 41% R&D-doing firms find patents important and 67% find trade secrets important. Firms might consider that information disclosed in a patent is only imperfectly protected by the ... 閱讀更多

Moment marketing is a rich new area of contextual advertising that entails the ability to synchronize online advertising (e.g., sponsored search) in real time with relevant offline events such as TV ads. Although 81% of surveyed digital marketers have launched moment marketing campaigns mostly using TV advertising as trigger events, very little is known ... 閱讀更多

How much should we discount our products or services? Many online sellers offer deep discounts to attract consumers. This is especially the case in online markets where the sellers are often less known to consumers. The question is whether such a promotional tactic helps the sales. It defeats the sellers’ advertising or promotional purposes if the discounts ... 閱讀更多

Short sellers have been known to uncover companies that engage in financial. Indeed, several activist short sellers like Muddy Waters Research and Citron Research make a name for themselves by proactively targeting fraudsters, bringing their misconducts to light, and profiting from their price decline. Not surprisingly, managers should consider the cost and ... 閱讀更多

In an earnings conference call with investors in 2008, Edward J Shoen, chief executive officer and chairman of U-Haul International, Inc., lamented that the Avis Budget Group, Inc., its main competition in one-way, do-it-yourself moving rental trucks, had failed to match U-Haul’s recent decision to raise prices. Calling the lack of response ‘unfortunate for ... 閱讀更多