Content Type: Research Brief

Male prisoners in a prison yard Research Brief / Politics

Do Private Prisons Lead to Higher Incarceration Rates?

Researchers take on the difficult job of isolating for-profit prisons from a host of other factors

Illustration of a brain and a hand holding up a coin Research Brief / Behavioral Economics

Do People Donate Money to Signal Their Intelligence?

Research suggests such a connection when donations are publicized

Close-up angled image of someone's eye. The eye is reflecting a beach landscape Research Brief / Personal Finance

Do Money Troubles Make It Harder to Daydream?

Popular notion that the poor console themselves with fantasy is perhaps more a comfort to the rich

Illustration of two people pushing two puzzle pieces together with a dollar sign in the middle Research Brief / Mergers and Acquisitions

Do Hospital Mergers Really Cut Health Care Costs?

Matt Schmitt finds that size and location help determine how much, if any, costs fall after deals

Illustration of two men talking Research Brief / Investing

Do Fair Disclosure Rules Lead to More or Less Information?

Managers, forced to inform a broader audience, choose not to gather information even for themselves

Workers stretching at their desk Research Brief / Workplace

Do Corporate Wellness Programs Boost Worker Productivity?

Industrial laundry gains 4% output; better health and better feelings toward employer could account for increase

A laptop open on a table. A doctor is seen on the screen and the patient is seen in a box on the screen during a telehealth appointment. Research Brief / Health Care

Dividing Patients Between Telehealth, In-Office Primary Care and Referral to Specialists

Getting the mix right is the goal of a Medicare pilot, which itself could use substantial improvement

Illustration collage of different faces Research Brief / Diversity

Diversity: Measuring How and Why Groups See It Differently

Perceived differences between “diverse” and “sufficiently diverse”

Crushed and stacked plastic bottles ready to be recycled Research Brief / Sustainability

Ditching Small Plastic Bottles — for Medium-Sized — Could Cut Waste

1.8 million tons of PET plastic bottles end in landfills annually

Haitian citizens take 100-pound bags of rice at an aid distribution point in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Research Brief / Operations

Distributing Aid Fairly Amid Scarcity and Unknown Demand

Building adaptability into an approach improves performance

Scotch barrels stacked inside a distillery Research Brief / Supply Chain

Distillers’ Dilemma: Sell Now or Let Whisky Age Further

Decision analysis for a firm considering adding a longer-aged product to its lineup

Illustration of a woman holding both of her hands to her face Research Brief / Marketing

Did You Forget, or Never Know? How It Impacts Purchasing

A different decision tree is used when product information is forgotten, rather than just unknown

Elderly couple looking through paperwork and receipts Research Brief / Banking

Did Bank Capital Rules Make Credit Card Borrowing More Expensive?

Though defaults are low, rates on credit card loan-backed notes are high

Illustration map of Central Poland and surrounding countries Research Brief / Cultural History

Descendants of Forced Migrants Value Education More Highly

Post-World War II Poland provides a unique setting to study mobility and success

A white clock on a black background that is dissolving on the right side Research Brief / Data Analytics

Deciding When to Decide Can Lead to Better Outcomes

An interpretable model versus black-box algorithms for complex decision making

Research Brief / Supply Chain

Dealers Might Not Profit from Soaring Used-Car Prices

Lenders and private-party sellers constrain a seeming windfall