Author: kmenke
How Life Insurers Insulate the Markets from Turmoil
Valentin Haddad’s research finds that insurers’ patient investing shields risky assets — and those who hold them — from steeper declines
When It Pays Not to Help Your Customers Comparison Shop
Rakesh Sarin creates a model that shows consumer “ambiguity” about product quality should drive marketing and brand management strategy
Why Can’t We All Get Along? On Some Things, We Do
The narrative of a growing cultural divide, while partly true, conceals a more nuanced picture
Using Ancestral Characteristics to Study Modern Economics
A database of pre-industrial sampling supports historical and ethnographic research
How Local Governance Came to England’s Economy
Nico Voigtländer found that to combat arbitrary taxes and corruption, merchants persuaded the king to cede control
To Wall Street, There’s No Crisis Like a Banking Crisis
Tyler Muir finds that neither war nor deep recession darkens investor sentiment like sudden turmoil in the financial system
Keynes vs. FDR: Lessons from the Great Recession
Sebastian Edwards finds Keynes’ public take-down of Roosevelt’s gold policies still relevant today
An Aerial, as Opposed to Ground-Level, View of Time
A novel framework proposes to reduce angst over schedules and lives
The Moat That Keeps Complex Asset Strategies Profitable
Andrea Eisfeldt finds that hedge funds with infrastructure to execute sophisticated arbitrage crowd out less-expert investors
When Ebola Strikes, Where Should Help Go?
Improving epidemic forecasting helps response teams target aid more effectively
A Shocking Tale of Sovereign Default and Private Contracts Nullified
Sebastian Edwards brings to life a widely forgotten chapter of U.S. history starring FDR, his no-name economist and the demise of the gold standard
How the Seemingly Rapid Advance of Democracy Goes Astray
Using voting records from a unique transition in the 19th-century Caribbean, Christian Dippel examines the embrace of self-interest by new legislators
Online Coupons Work in the Moment but Don’t Seem to Alter the Seller-Shopper Relationship
Studying 1 million Alibaba users, Hengchen Dai mostly confirms the transactional nature of internet retailing
Behavioral Nudges Timed to Certain Days are Effective Motivator
Dates of milestones — major and minor — can spur us to action
A History of Plough-Based Farming Leads to Fewer Girls
Modern-day gender ratios are linked to countries’ agricultural roots
Are Interest Rates Really So Low?
Adjusting for inflation — and, crucially, for taxes — shows bond investors fare better than they might think