Time Unmasked: Illuminating the Hidden Dimensions of Economic Stratification during COVID-19 in the United States
Iris Buder, Associate Professor of Economics
Co-Authors: Natalie Mortenson, Emma Watts
Forum for Social Economics | October 2024
This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on time use activities in the United States, focusing on gender and parental status differences. Using data from the 2018-2022 American Time Use Survey, the study examines six key time use categories: unpaid care work, leisure, employment, personal care, childcare, and household activities. Findings highlight the pandemic's disruption of established time use patterns, challenging traditional gender roles and caregiving dynamics within households. Although initial shifts suggested a more equitable distribution of household tasks, particularly childcare, this analysis reveals that the caregiving burden continued to fall predominantly on women and mothers. Persistent gender disparities in unpaid care work limit women's engagement in paid employment, exacerbating economic stratification. While minor reductions in gender gaps were observed in some activities, the data suggest that the pandemic has not led to substantial, enduring changes in the allocation of household responsibilities.
For Whom Does One Toil? Time Use Differentials, Social Reproduction, and Occupational Prestige
Iris Buder, Associate Professor of Economics
Co-Authors: David M. Fields, Jacqueline Strenio, Odile Mackett
Forum for Social Economics | August 2024
Research has shown that women and girls do most of the unpaid household work, but few studies, to date, have analyzed how this unpaid work might vary with social class. In this paper, we analyzed data from the American Time Use Survey to examine how occupational prestige influences the time spent on housework, with a focus on gender and race/ethnicity, through the lens of social reproduction theory. We find that women with higher occupational prestige tend to spend less time on housework compared to their lower-ranked counterparts, while men with higher prestige spend more time on housework relative to lower-ranked men. Our findings underscore the complexity of unpaid work under capitalism and highlight the need to consider social class when examining inequalities in unpaid labor.
Cues of Caring: How Students Perceive that Faculty in Online Classes Do (or Don’t) Care
Alex Bolinger, Professor of Management
Co-Authors: Mark T. Bolinger, Kelsey Conner, Jeffrey Morgan, and Sophia Perry
Journal of Management Education | July 2024
This paper used qualitative data collected by a team of three former ISU MBA students: Kelsey Breer-Conner, Jeff Morgan, and Sophia Perry. They conducted qualitative interviews that were analyzed using concept mapping and hierarchical linear modeling to explore themes that students use to describe faculty who teach online classes who are perceived to care (and those that don't). Among the important takeaways was the insight that caring and not caring are not opposite ends of the same continuum, but rather qualitatively distinct. We discuss a variety of implications for faculty who seek to engage in behaviors that students in online classes appreciate - and to avoid behaviors that are associated with inferences of not caring.
Athletic Identity and Discretionary Effort at Work
Tyler Burch, Associate Professor of Management and Alex Bolinger, Professor of Management
Co-Authors: Rob Lion
Organization Management Journal | May 2024
Protecting Your Friends: The Role of Connections in Division Manager Careers
Paul Obermann, Assistant Professor of Finance
Co-Authors: Charles J. Hadlock, Jing Huang and Joshua R. Pierce
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis | March 2024
We look at CEOs of S&P 1500 firms with multiple segments/divisions and how their social connections to their division managers affect labor market outcomes and job performance. In particular, division managers who share a social connection with the CEO are less likely to be dismissed and more likely to be promoted even after controlling for performance. A major part of the paper looks at whether this is efficient for the firm. However, most evidence points toward a favoritism/cronyism effect that is inefficient rather than soft information flow between connected pairs being able to produce superior performance. We show some evidence that connections can be beneficial in situations with more intrafirm information problems.
Teaching in and for the Hinterlands: a Commentary
Alex Rose, Associate Professor of Marketing
Taylor & Francis Group | February 2024
A commentary in which I provide a brief explanation of why I enjoy teaching in a "red state" and I encourage colleagues to consider academic posts outside of liberal areas. I focus on students' receptivity to material analysis and genuine need for economic mobility.
Mental Health Among College Students: Relationships with Actively Open-Minded Thinking, Spirituality, and Psychological Wellbeing
C. Shane Hunt, Professor of Marketing
Journal of Education for Business | February 2024
Mental health, like many other physical diseases can contribute to a significant loss of output in our economy. Higher education institutes can play a significant role in enhancing the mental wellbeing of college students. In support of this endeavor, this research investigates how actively open-minded thinking (AOT) and spirituality (SP) relate to psychological wellbeing (PWB). Data revealed that both AOT and SP have a positive impact on most dimensions of PWB and in some instances, SP acts as a moderator. Our study highlights the importance of SP in the PWB of college students.
How do Auditors’ Use of Industry Norms Differentially Impact Management Evaluations of Audit Quality Under Principles-based and Rules-based Accounting Standards?
Erik Boyle, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation | January 2024
I find that when auditors and clients have disagreements about the appropriate accounting treatment for a transaction, management will evaluate the quality of the auditor’s decision differently based on whether the applicable accounting standard is more rules-based or principles-based. Under a more rules-based accounting standard, the client will evaluate the auditor’s decision based on the underlying characteristics of the transaction; as the standard becomes more principles-based, the client is more likely to be influenced by the presence of industry norms.
Downtown Revitalization Success in Tupelo, Mississippi
Chris Chatwin, Clinical Professor of Finance | Nikole Layton, Clinical Assistant Professor of Management
Co-Authors: L. Daniel Cravens, Tesia Kellar, Ritesh Yadav, Masoom Agrawal, Konstantin Ritter
Journal of Case Studies | January 2024
This case highlights the transformative efforts led by Debbie Brangenberg, who revitalized Tupelo's downtown over a 30-year period. Through strategic partnerships with Main Street America, local organizations, and government entities, Brangenberg's leadership turned a declining business district into a vibrant economic and cultural hub, serving as a model for similar revitalization efforts in other U.S. cities.
Disparities in Mortality Between Appalachian and NonAppalachian Regions of Kentucky
Sonali S. Salunkhe, Assistant Professor of Healthcare Administration
Co-Authors: Sahal Alzahrani and Beatrice Ugiliweneza
Journal of Appalachian Health | December 2023
Although drug overdose fatalities have risen nationally, some geographical regions have been disproportionately affected. The study demonstrated significant intra-state geographical disparities in Kentucky in all-cause, drug-related, and opioid-related mortality, with the Appalachian region having significantly higher rates when compared to the non- Appalachian regions of Kentucky. The findings from this study will be beneficial in identifying trends of drug use in Kentucky to develop interventions and strategies which could shift the substance use epidemic in the future. Also, the information on geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic factors related to these types of mortality can be factored into the interventions’ design specific to targeting population's socio- demographics.
The ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence Chatbot: How Well Does It Answer Accounting Assessment Questions?
Erik Boyle, Assistant Professor of Accounting | Christopher Pearson, Assistant Professor of Accounting | Kristen Thompson, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Co-Authors: David A. Wood, Muskan P. Achhpilia, Mollie T. Adams, Sanaz Aghazadeh, Elizabeth D. Almer, and multiple additional authors
PDXScholar | November 2023
Our paper looks at the performance of ChatGPT on accounting exams. We find that students, on average, outperform ChatGPT by roughly 20-30%. We also discuss positive and negative effects of AI on accounting academics and in the field.
Academic Embeddedness and College of Business Student Outcomes
Tyler Burch, Assistant Professor of Management | Greg Murphy, Professor of Management | Neil Tocher, Professor of Management
Organization Management Journal | November 2023
This study found that embeddedness (a metric of how integrated a person is into an organization) likely plays a large role in why students stay and thrive within academic programs. Factors that bind students to their colleges likely vary as campus life and athletic teams may bind certain students while faculty relationships, experiential learning opportunities and daycare availability may embed other student subpopulations. Therefore, colleges/universities may be far better off by figuring out what binds their student base to the college/university and emphasizing those factors in recruiting and retention efforts. In short, play to your strengths and don't try to be the same as all other programs.
Socioeconomic Status & Health Disparities: Utilizing a Composite Index Across Health Datasets
Iris Buder, Associate Dean, MHA Program Director, Associate Professor of Economics
Co-Authors: Jacob Jennings, Dae Hyun Kim and Norman Waitzman
Forum for Social Economics | August 2023
In the US, socioeconomic status (SES) is often measured using individual proxies such as income, rather than the interaction of income, education, and occupation. In this article, we examine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health outcomes utilizing a composite SES index. To assess whether this composite SES index holds, we evaluate its consistency across four national datasets. The results reveal that the generated composite SES index provides similar SES classifications across the four datasets and offer greater insights into the components of SES for a given group. This is particularly important due to the challenges inherent in measuring SES and its multifaceted impacts on health outcomes.
The Influence of Uncertainty on Financial Reporting Behavior: The Case of P&C Insurers
Justin Wood, Department Chair, Associate Professor of Accounting
Co-Authors: Daniel Ames, Brent Lao, Jomo Sankara
Journal of Business Finance & Accounting | August 2023
We examine how uncertainty about a firm’s future cash flows influences the quality of its accounting information. As uncertainty increases, information asymmetry between managers and stakeholders will almost certainly increase, amplifying the potential influence of uncertainty. We focus on a specific setting where severe levels of uncertainty can influence financial reporting, the property-casualty (P&C) insurance industry and use catastrophes as a shock to the level of uncertainty regarding P&C insurer’s future cash flows.
Does Rocky Mountain Credit Union Competition Still Affect Commercial Bank Interest Rates?
Robert Tokle, Professor of Economics
Co-Authors: Thomas M. Fullerton, Bryce Jones, Steven L. Fullerton
Journal of Regional Economics | February 2023
Cyber Terrorism Cases and Stock Market Valuation Effects
Erik Boyle, Assistant Professor of Accounting
Co-Authors: Katherine Taken Smith, Lawrence Murphy Smith, Marcus Burger
Information and Computer Security | January 2023
We analyze publicly reported cyberattacks on companies that occurred during the period of 2010-2019. We find that company stock price value is significantly negatively impacted in the time period following these attacks, which helps to document one cost of cyberterrorism in today’s markets.
Instant Oil Change Strategic Evolution: How Can Valvoline Balance Maintaining Growth and Profitability with Market Adaption?
Neil Tocher, Professor of Management | Nikole Layton, Clinical Assistant Professor of Management | Tyler Burch, Associate Professor of Management
Journal of Case Studies | 2023
This case study examines Valvoline's strategic challenges as it navigates the evolving automotive market. As Valvoline faces the rise of electric vehicles, connected car technology, and mobile service options, the company must determine how to adapt while continuing to grow its traditional oil change services, which have been central to its success.