Business, Economics and Innovation

In a new paper, Elizabeth Embry, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Kansas, offers a theory linking health effects of trauma to performance outcomes at work, suggesting how managerial awareness of trauma manifestations is a necessary step toward workplaces becoming supportive or healing.

In a new paper, Murali Mantrala, the Ned Fleming Professor of Marketing at the University of Kansas, finds that crowdsourced forecasts from ordinary customers are more accurate than those of expert fashion buyers. The research also determines an ideal crowd size and composition for predicting demand for fashion items in retail buying decisions.

Streetcar systems that prioritized taking people to highly desired locations tended to outperform those whose goals were economic development, a new University of Kansas study shows. Understanding this goal tension can help future systems meet public needs.

In a new paper, Jack Zhang, assistant professor of political science at the University of Kansas, finds that heightened political risks from the U.S.-China trade war increased firm exits by 34%. His study highlights the collateral damage tariffs can cause in an age of global value chains.

The Kansas Statistical Abstract 2023 is now available online. This data compendium is published annually by the Institute for Policy & Social Research at KU. It includes information on a wide range of topics about Kansas, with information in downloadable tables, maps and graphs.

In a new paper, Michael Lash, assistant professor of business at the University of Kansas, proposes a novel approach for incorporating human experts in machine learning models. This increases reliance, trusting and sense-making of the explanations returned by artificial intelligence.

In a new working paper, Kevin Pisciotta, assistant professor of finance at KU, finds that not only does online sports betting lead to increased betting activity, it also leads to higher credit card balances, less available credit and a reduction in net investments.

A $500,000 Forging Opportunities for Research, Growth & Entrepreneurship grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce will help KU create software, infrastructure and financial mechanisms needed to bridge the gap between academia and industry, growing the state’s economy while enhancing the university’s teaching and research missions.

KU is the lead institution for a new National Science Foundation Gen-4 Engineering Research Center — Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH) — that will focus on developing sustainable refrigerants to address climate change. EARTH is led by Foundation Distinguished Professor Mark Shiflett in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering at the KU School of Engineering.

In a new paper, Donna Ginther, the Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Kansas, reveals that individuals who finish their doctorate in situations where the average team in their field is larger have worse career options.