Research Newsletter

"Intermediaries’ Advantage Based on Skill, Not Privileged Access" by Amber Anand, associate professor of finance

The conventional view of intermediaries in financial markets is relatively simplistic – they execute orders on behalf of their clients. However, the role of intermediaries has received increased scrutiny due to another facet of their trading – that for their own proprietary accounts. A significant but unresolved question about this role is whether these intermediaries are passive traders or whether they actively seek and trade on information.

"Envision the Future – Opportunity Evaluation in Entrepreneurship" by Mike Haynie, assistant professor of entrepreneurship

Ask a successful entrepreneur what question they are most often asked at a dinner party, and they’ll most likely tell you that people want to know how to decide if their business idea is one that can be the basis for a successful business.

"Whitman Research Spotlight"

Burak Kazaz and Thomas W. Sloan (2008), “Production Policies for Multi-Product Systems with Deteriorating Process Condition,” IIE Transactions.

Among the many worries of manufacturers is the lifespan of their equipment. Regardless of the product they are manufacturing, equipment declines over time, reducing the quantity of finished products a manufacturer can create. Research by Kazaz and Sloan asks, ‘in each state of equipment deterioration, which product should be produced.’ The main result shows that the optimal production choice for each state can be determined independently of the actions taken in other states, despite the complex interconnectedness between the production decisions and state transitions.

Yitzhak Fried and Ariel S. Levi, (2008), “Differences Between African Americans and Whites in Reactions to Affirmative Action programs in Hiring, Promotion, Training, and Layoffs,” the Journal of Applied Psychology.

Fried and Levi examine the reactions of African Americans and Whites to affirmative action programs applied to four human resource activities: hiring, promotion, training, and layoffs. The results concluded participants generally supported the hypothesis that human resource activity elicited systematic differences in reaction to affirmative action programs between African Americans and Whites.

Guojin Gong, Laura Yue Li, and Hong Xie, (2008) “The Association between Management Earnings Forecast Errors and Accruals,” The Accounting Review.

Mandatory and voluntary disclosures represent two important channels through which managers communicate information to outside shareholders. Xie and his co-researchers investigate the association between errors in management forecasts of subsequent year earnings and current year accruals.