Content Type: Research Brief
A Simplified Tax Code and Post-Communist Growth
Study suggests flat tax systems boosted GDP in former Soviet republics and satellites
Go Ahead, You Decide How Much Wealth Should Be Redistributed
Can modern decision theory, paired with a half-century-old thought experiment, help make a more just society?
CEOs Risk Alienating Customers with High-Profile Activism
Taking a stand on controversial issues can hurt sales, but the effect is brief
The Role of Chance Encounters in Silicon Valley Innovation
Cellphone signals and patent citations approximate a theory’s long-sought paper trail
A Different Way to Evaluate Private Equity Performance
An approach tailored to investor risk appetite and more comparable to stocks
College Completion and Your Genome (Don’t Get Too Excited)
It’s still early days in genetic research, though advances will aid study of educational attainment and, notably, disease
Across 145 Years and 17 Countries, a Common Thread in Risky Credit Booms
Do investors misprice assets, revise their risk appetite or make some other misjudgment?
Lack of Urgency Can Undermine a Popular Behavioral Nudge
Encouraging pre-commitment to a future behavior helps people do hard things — but it can backfire
How to Properly Incentivize Your Unicorn Finder
VCs and other investors need a contract with their seeker that blunts conflicts of interest
How Dollar Stores Contribute to Food Deserts
Expanding chains drive out independent grocers, reduce access to fresh produce
How Far Would You Go for an Ivy League Kid?
Study finds interest in screening embryos for education propensity, especially if everyone else is doing it
Face-to-Face Meetings, Before an Acquisition, Improve Outcomes for Buyers
Acquiring companies appear to get a better deal following frequent in-person meetings
Do Social Laws Always Cause a Backlash?
Laws that threaten ideological preferences prompt some opponents to adopt more extreme beliefs
How a Stock Analyst’s Face Affects Their Earning Estimates
Trustworthy and dominant-seeming men: access to corporate management. Dominant-seeming women: not so much.
As Concentrated Shareholder Ownership Rises, Wages and Employment Suffer
Where big investors gather, corporate wealth is reallocated away from workers
Measuring the Impact of Currency Moves on Consumer Prices
It varies across goods and services and can be blunted by monetary policy