Content Type: Research Brief
How to Spur Capital Spending: Plan for Failure
Companies might invest more in new ventures if they could see in advance how to redeploy the assets if things don’t pan out
Maximizing Retirement Savings: More Nudging Required
Tweaking 401(k) website design and language can significantly boost worker contributions, yet HR doesn’t always see these opportunities
Abusing a Co-Worker? Watch Your Back
Analysis of 250 studies finds the most common response to negative workplace behavior is an eye for an eye
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics — and Data Visualization
How we interpret time-series data is dependent on the designer’s chosen format
Our Envy of Prospective Events Is Greater Than of Those Past
That’s helpful information in a social media world filled with friends who do enviable things
Which Policies Best Counter Mass Layoffs? Maybe None
A study of military base closures finds that labor-friendly policies had little effect on job growth after the layoffs
Credit Scores, Used to Predict Repayment, Can Restrain Economic Recovery
Rigid adherence to scoring systems can reduce consumer spending when it’s most needed
Once Begun, Corporate Carbon Reduction Efforts Gather Momentum
Companies are surprised: Opportunities to reduce CO2 are more plentiful than expected
Municipal Pension Crisis Made Worse by Democrats in Close Elections
Sixty years of data suggest retirement obligations rise after Democrats scrape into office
How Will You Spend Your IPO Windfall?
“Uh, I already bought a house”: Tech workers spend ahead of actual stock sales
Free Shipping: Our Preference to Spend on Ultimate Goals vs. Preliminary Steps
Prerequisites are valued poorly in a series of six experiments
An Early Episode of How Corporate Profits Shaped Labor Markets
Caribbean plantation owners, faced with slavery’s end, enacted legal barriers to employment elsewhere
Is Anyone Happy about the College Textbook Market?
Buyers find the tomes heavy, costly and too frequently revised, while sellers might like to kill the used book market entirely
A Tool for Finding Mispriced Stocks
Less sophisticated investors reveal their sentiment in certain trades, and a 20-year study measures it company by company
Parents Who Favor Boys Raise Girls Who Score Lower in Math
A clue that parents prefer a son: They have more kids when their firstborn is a girl
A ‘Safer’ Treasury Bond
The government’s floating rate notes feature an added measure of security: higher interest earnings in times of rising rates