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Ideas by year 2022

One is the loneliest number: game theory shows why sexual misconduct is underreported

A study by Professor Ing-Haw Cheng looks at the reporting of sexual misconduct in the #metoo movement. Individuals underreport misconduct due to strategic uncertainty over whether others will report and corroborate a pattern of behavior.

Bank branching deregulation leads to more risk taking incentives resulting in innovation among borrowers, research finds

Research by Professor Scott Liao shows that banking deregulation leads to more risk-taking incentives among the companies that banks loan money to, because banks are forced to accept more risk due to increased competition.

Large, common share ownership positively associated with social responsibility

Large asset managers holding shares in multiple companies across the same industry are often accused of hurting competition through the substantial concentration of ownership in the hands of a relative few. But research by Professor Jody Grewal shows that what is called “common ownership” also supports higher rates of corporate social responsibility.

Recognition for that extra mile leads to improved job performance

Who doesn’t like to be noticed by their company for going above and beyond the call at work, especially if there’s bonus pay? Yet, subjective performance evaluations can lead to feelings of unfairness when they’re not in an employee’s favour. That’s partly why managers need to tread carefully when deciding how to incentivize worker performance, says a study by Professor Jee-Eun Shin.

Understanding the Dynamics of Workplace Violence Can Improve Employee Health and Safety

A study by Professor Katherine DeCelles says that understanding of the dynamics of workplace violence and how to mitigate it is relevant for any retail organization and for developing effective policies which promote employee health and safety.

Support for art and other cultural objects can be strengthened by highlighting their collective value

Research by Rotman doctoral student Siyin Chen into the sacredness of artistic objects shows that it’s possible to get people to see just about any artwork as sacred – even an amateur drawing -- so long as they believe that the art connects humanity to something bigger than itself.

Maximizing could be key to minimizing our environmental footprint.

Marketing scientists devote much of their work to understanding people’s decision-making and how to influence it. There’s been less effort devoted to what happens after people make their pick. A new by Professor Sam Maglio takes aim at those questions, with implications for how to tackle the problem of over-consumerism and all the planet-polluting stuff it generates.

Developing An Intentional Organizational Culture Not Straightforward

Management researchers know a lot about the effects of culture, whether that’s the shared norms, values, and expectations within a business, a geographic or social community. Far less is understood about what influences the development or change of a culture and how to do that well. That matters, says a review of existing research by Professor Soo-Min Toh because organizations need functional cultures that ultimately serve their goals.

Higher buy costs by mutual funds associated with higher performance

Active investing has been criticized for leading to lower performance, partly because all that trading racks up costs. But research by Dean Susan Christoffersen examining rare information about individual trading transactions among Canadian mutual funds shows that high trading costs can correspond to high fund performance, at least when it comes to securities the fund buys.

What Can Be Done About Anti-Science Believers? Paper Explains How to Increase Public Acceptance of Science

From climate change deniers to anti-vaccine activities, a growing number of people are developing anti-science attitudes. A new article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) examines the psychology of why people are anti-science and provides evidence-based strategies for increasing public acceptance of science.

Even in the operating room, team chemistry matters, study finds

Research into psychology and organizations has mostly concluded that the presence of positive emotions among team members generally improves performance across a range of occupations. But happiness and excitement may be overrated, at least where performance is concerned, suggests new research from the Rotman School’s Professor Tiziana Casciaro and colleagues.

Show them the money: Pay the vaccine-hesitant to get their COVID-19 shots, study suggests

A study initiated before the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines by Rotman PhD student Vivek and Professor David Soberman were two of the co-authors found that a $1000 incentive for the vaccine-hesitant could boost vaccine rates up to 87 percent. With COVID-19 variants now proliferating globally, notions of herd immunity have changed.

Restricted internet access could be key to academic gains, says study.

The internet is typically not associated with serious self-directed learning where teenagers are involved. But a new study of high school students in Malawi shows that, under the right controls, giving students the chance to explore high quality, engaging online sources can boost them academically. Laura Derksen, an assistant professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto Mississauga and the Rotman School co-authored the study.

Newswire hacker case reveals how traders with private information make choices

A group of Russian and Ukrainian cyber-hackers were risk-takers. But their actions after stealing embargoed news releases for publicly-traded companies show trades based on the lifted information were far from reckless, explains Charles Martineau, an assistant professor of finance at University of Toronto Scarborough and the Rotman School and Pat Akey, an assistant professor of finance at University of Toronto Mississauga and the Rotman School.

“Slow” stock analysts the best, says new study. Portfolios that follow their advice do 5-10% better.

Portfolios that lean on the advice of analysts who take an average of 20 months to change their recommendations to sell, buy, or hold a company’s stock have been found to perform five to 10% better than portfolios that follow “fast” analysts – those who change their recommendations an average of every six months according to a study initiated by the late Rotman Prof. Kent Womack and completed by associate professor of finance, Chay Ornthanalai.

Canadian Study Shows Low Incident of False Positive Test Results from Rapid Antigen Tests.

A timely new study investigated the incidence of false-positive results in a large sample of rapid antigen tests used to serially screen asymptomatic workers throughout Canada. The study showed the overall rate of false-positive results among the total rapid antigen test screens for SARS-CoV-2 was very low. Co-authors included Rotman Professors Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans, Avi Goldfarb and Sonia Sennik of the Creative Destruction Lab.