Abstract: Brau, et al. (2016, 2017, 2021, 2022) have worked to determine factors of academic achievement in university business courses. The current study continues this thread of literature and introduces four mental health factors. These factors are attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), anxiety, and depression. Using a sample of 864 college students, we find that ADHD, anxiety, and depression significantly and negatively correlate with student grades in univariate and pairwise tests. After applying controls, these three mental health variables lose their significance. In contrast, the ASD variables correlate significantly and positively with course grade in multivariate tests.

Brau, J. C., & Brau, J. L. (2024). The Impact of Mental Health on University Course Grades in an Introductory Business Class. Business Education Innovation Journal, 16(1), 235–252.

Abstract: We summarize this research stream in three sections. The first section describes our early research documenting that automatically enrolling individuals in their employer-sponsored DC plan has a powerful impact on their participation, contribution, and asset allocation outcomes. The second section discusses research on DC plan features other than automatic enrollment that also influence savings outcomes and that simultaneously illuminate mechanisms responsible for automatic enrollment’s effects. The third section reports results from our recent work examining individual decisions that undermine the ultimate impact of automatic enrollment and auto-escalation on long-run wealth accumulation.

Beshears, J., Choi, J., Laibson, D., & Madrian, B. C. (2024). Influencing Retirement Savings Decisions with Automatic Enrollment and Related Tools. NBER Reporter, 3, 16–21.

Abstract: This paper examines consumer willingness to allow unattended in-home delivery under various scenarios of anonymity. Specifically, we study how blockchain-enabled anonymity of sellers, delivery companies, and consumers can influence consumer willingness to allow unattended in-home delivery of a nutritional product in this last mile service triad. Hypotheses build on agency theory and the potential for information asymmetry and opportunism. The analyses are based on data from 784 responses to an online survey of end-consumers who were randomly assigned to treatments in a scenario-based experiment. The results indicate that blockchain-enabled anonymity of the delivery company significantly decreases consumer willingness for unattended in-home delivery. We also find that the joint anonymity of the seller and the consumer significantly decreases the likelihood of a customer allowing unattended inhome delivery.

Brau, J. C., & DeCampos, H. A. (2024). Unattended In-Home Delivery under Varying Scenarios of Technology-Enabled Anonymity. International Journal of Business, 29(2), 15–39. https://doi.org/10.55802/IJB.029(2).002

Abstract: We examine the effect of the composition of the board of directors on the firm's chief executive officer (CEO) hiring decision. Using a novel measure of managerial talent, characterized by an individual's ascent in the corporate hierarchy, we show that firms with non-CEO inside directors tend to hire CEOs with greater managerial skills. This effect obtains for both internal and external CEO hires; moreover, the effect is pronounced when inside directors have stronger reputational incentives and limited access to soft information about the candidate. Our findings demonstrate that boards with inside directors more effectively screen for managerial talent, thereby improving the CEO hiring process.

Kotter, J. D., & Larkin, Y. (2024). Do Insiders Hire CEOs with High Managerial Talent? Review of Finance, 28(1), 271–310. https://doi.org/10.1093/rof/rfad016

Abstract: Changing disclosure requirements and the evolution of US markets in the 21st century have created historic shifts in the exit strategies and payoffs for private firms. The propensity to sell to an acquirer has dominated firm exits in recent decades, especially for smaller private firms in highly concentrated industries. Exceptions to the merger exit preference are venture capital‐backed firms, which exhibit an enduring preference for IPOs, likely due to the reputation effects associated with this strategy. While the premium for IPO exits has exceeded that for M&A exits in the past, we document a reversal in this pricing trend: in more recent years firms that sell out earn higher risk‐adjusted premiums than firms that conduct IPOs. Our empirical tests examine potential drivers of this effect. We believe we are the first to document this reversal in the economics of the exit decision.

Brau, J. C., Sutton, N. K., & Zheng, Q. (2024). The impact of changing disclosure requirements, competition, and private capital on firm exit methods and premiums. Journal of Financial Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfir.12431

Abstract: This paper proposes a new methodology to examine spillover effects using insurer/bank connectedness as an example. Using large standard deviation jumps in daily returns to measure market shocks, our generalized event study approach can address the issues of multiple events happening in one day, positive and negative responses, asymmetries in the connected responses and endogeneity issues. We employ a random forest residuals regression approach that offers more flexibility in the connectedness relationships than standard regression models, yielding results that are more consistent with the literature (i.e., the predominance of contagion over competitive effects in connectedness). We show that standard linear regression models do not appropriately capture these relationships because they do not account for the endogeneity of the shocks to the daily returns. We find evidence that insurers' and banks' returns move in the same direction after shocks, indicating market contagion effects, rather than in the opposite direction, which would indicate market competitive effects.

Butler, R. J., Lai, G., & Merrill, C. (2024). Insurers’ and Banks’ Market Connectedness: Generalized Event Study Estimates from Random Forest Residuals Regression. Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance: Issues and Practice, 49(4), 682–718. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41288-023-00307-8

Abstract: We test the effect of going public on economic growth in the areas surrounding initial public offering (IPO) firms. We compare the effects of IPO filers that complete their IPOs with those that do not, using post-filing stock market fluctuations as an instrument for IPO completion. We show that IPOs that are large relative to the size of their counties lead to a 1.1 percentage point relative reduction in annual county-level establishment growth, with similar effects for employment and population growth. There are no corresponding effects for relatively small IPOs. These negative effects appear to be driven by a crowding out of local sector peers, but the crowding out also disrupts local agglomerations and slows down growth among other businesses that rely on local demand. Overall, our results indicate that macroeconomic gains from IPOs trade off against disruptions in local agglomeration economies where public firms originate.

Cornaggia, J., Gustafson, M., Kotter, J., & Pisciotta, K. (2024). Initial Public Offerings and the Local Economy: Evidence of Crowding Out. Review of Finance, 28(4), 1245–1273.

Abstract: Reporting the economic significance of findings in corporate finance has become increasingly common, but a review of the literature reveals shortcomings in typical reporting practices. Researchers can more effectively communicate the practical importance of findings by using standard measures of economic significance scaled by the standard deviation of the dependent variable, by providing all statistics necessary to calculate economic significance, and by providing benchmarks by which to evaluate the magnitude of economic significance. To support these objectives, I show why measures scaled by the standard deviation are preferable, and I provide benchmarks based on hundreds of established findings from the literature.

Mitton, T. (2024). Economic Significance in Corporate Finance. Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 13(1), 38–79. https://doi.org/10.1093/rcfs/cfac008

Abstract: Blockchain technology offers numerous venues for supply chain applications and research. However, the connections between specific blockchain features and future applications have been unclear to date in its evolution. The purpose of this study is to fill this void. The authors advance the understanding of blockchain in supply chain management by providing a new research framework built on unique blockchain features as applied across core supply chain functions. This study's framework is a feature-function matrix that integrates four overarching supply chain functions (i.e. supplier management, logistics, production processes and customer management) with nine blockchain features (i.e. traceability/provenance, accessibility, visibility, immutability, distributed/shared ledger, validity, peer-to-peer transacting, pseudonymity and programmability). This study's feature-function framework is supported by a structured, systematic review of reviews using PRISMA methods. The authors use the framework to present a future blockchain research agenda in supply chain management. The authors provide a new blockchain feature/supply chain function framework and provide a structured path for future research.

Brau, J. C., Gardner, J., DeCampos, H. A., & Gardner, K. (2024). Blockchain in supply chain management: a feature-function framework for future research. Supply Chain Management, 29(1), 27–49. https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-08-2022-0315