Content Type: Research Brief
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
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
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
Taking the Battle for Financial Literacy to Where the Eyeballs Are
Research by Bruce Carlin and Stephen Spiller suggests YouTube videos could help consumers make better money decisions
Happiness and Living in the Moment: Westerners Haven’t Quite Put Them Together Yet
Asians, more than Americans and Europeans, make a point of experiencing joy in the short term
How an Excess of Stock Analyst Optimism Lands on Companies Least Deserving of It
Results of financially weak firms are difficult to forecast; in uncertainty, Wall Street’s views are overly generous
Chinese Investors Learn about Derivatives the Hard Way
An analysis of warrant trading reveals individuals’ poor grasp of complex securities
A Stabler Climate Means Stronger Traditions
The link between environmental stability and cultural change explains why cultures evolve