Author: kmenke

Employee checks on industrial equipment in a plant Feature / Management

A Model Could Help Food Processors Operate More Efficiently

Managing production with the declining potency of a catalyst

Book Review / Happiness

A Method to Happiness: Tested in the Lab and in Life

Cassie Holmes’ book combines social science and personal history; jilted on the way to the altar

People with luggage standing under an awning waiting for rids next to an Uber sign. Research Brief / Ride-Sharing Services

A Matching Mechanism to Reduce Uber/Lyft Customer Wait, Improve Revenue

Queuing models aren’t simple but offer big potential service improvements

Sepia photo of four farmers Research Brief / Gender Gap

A History of Plough-Based Farming Leads to Fewer Girls

Modern-day gender ratios are linked to countries’ agricultural roots

High angle blurred view of pillars forming green dollar sign Research Brief / Investing

A Different Way to Evaluate Private Equity Performance

An approach tailored to investor risk appetite and more comparable to stocks

Man on bike riding in bike lane on busy street Research Brief / Transportation

A Data-Driven Approach to Optimizing Bike Paths

A model for cities to boost ridership, without snarling car traffic

Large obsolete passenger airplanes in a dismantling and recycling facility. Research Brief / Pollution

A Cash-for-Clunkers Program Could Reduce Aviation Emissions

Paying airlines to scrap — instead of sell — old planes produces environmental benefits at a low cost

Close up on eyes of a younger woman and older woman next to one another Research Brief / Innovation

A Case Against Experience as a Central Driver of Innovation

Are older inventors weighed down by obsolete knowledge? Young inventors don’t carry that burden

Tall buildings from the perspective of a person looking up Research Brief / Economics

A Broader Measure of Value Creation at Corporations

A tool in the debate over shareholder primacy and wealth disparities

A firefighter in gear carries a fire hose as they walk past a fire truck Research Brief / Management

A Bottom-Up, Instead of Top-Down, Path Away from Sexist Bosses

Encouraging the rank-and-file to value feminine traits reduces the implicit endorsement of a biased supervisor

Various fast food restaurant signs along a road Research Brief / Minimum Wage

A $15 Minimum Wage May Have (Partially) Arrived, But Who Pays?

Study of L.A.-area restaurants gauges effect on owners, customers, landlords

Illustration of bond certificates as a boat in the ocean filled with water Research Brief / Bond Market

A ‘Safer’ Treasury Bond

The government’s floating rate notes feature an added measure of security: higher interest earnings in times of rising rates

Smokey factories in China Research Brief / Sustainability

94% of China’s Pollution Inspections Find No Violation

Researchers offer a model for more effectively targeting wrongdoers

A metal trash can containing four wadded up pieces of paper Research Brief / Investing

46 Possible Stock Market Strategies from Academics Get a Retest

We won’t call it debunking, but not all investing tips hold up

Illustration of buildings Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

$54,000 a Year: It Feels Like More If Your Neighbors Make Less

Ricardo Perez-Truglia’s research uses relocation choices of medical residents to study feelings about relative income

Bottles of pills arranged to represent a bar graph showing the rising cost of medicine. Research Brief / Health Care

$52.6 Billion: Extra Cost to Consumers of Add-On Drug Patents

The figure is a subset, not covering huge expense of extended patents on high-priced biologics like Humira