Risk and crisis communication narratives in response to rapidly emerging diseases

The uncertainty inherent in crises can create a narrative space that is often filled by multiple interpretations about both what is happening and what steps should be taken to resolve the crisis. As more information becomes known, these competing crisis narratives gradually merge into a dominant narrative about the crisis, lessons learned from it, and recommendations for the future. This case study examines the swine industry’s response to the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) outbreak. The virus spread rapidly throughout the industry and, in a matter of months, had killed approximately 10% of the U.S. swine population. This analysis examines the crisis communication that ensued during that time. More specifically, 13 specialists representing the National Pork Board, American Association of Swine Veterinarians, veterinarians highly active in treating PEDv, university extension agents, and academic researchers were interviewed for this study. A narrative analysis of the interview content revealed that communication efforts made by swine industry leaders successfully shifted the PEDv story from that of competing narratives to a dominant narrative that helped resolve the crisis efficiently. This success is attributed, in part, to effective use of all available industry resources for both conducting research and sharing information rapidly through pre-established communication networks and widely read resources. Results of this narrative analysis reveal a key recommendation that maybe generalizable to similar crisis events. That is, an effective crisis narrative should focus not only on what protective actions to take, but also on a clear explanation regarding the nature of the crisis. Moreover, such explanations must be translated intelligibly to diverse non-scientific publics and provide a compelling rationale for why the recommended actions are vital.     

Modeling Character: Servant Leaders,Incivility and Patient Outcomes

Journal of Business Ethics - Persistent and pervasive rudeness and lack of respect are unfortunately common in workplaces today. The deleterious effects of this incivility at work may be even worse...     

The effect of US stress tests on monetary policy spillovers to emerging markets

This paper explores the transmission of US monetary policy through US banks to emerging market economies (EMEs) and the role that stress tests play in this transmission. Data on US banks’ monthly commercial and industrial loan originations shows that: (a) US bank lending to EMEs was sensitive to domestic monetary policy changes during the zero‐lower bound period. (b) Effects of monetary easing were heterogeneous across banks and depended on banks’ stress test results, a proxy for their capital strength. Only banks that comfortably passed the stress tests issued more loans to EME borrowers. (c) Effects of monetary tightening were more similar across banks. (d) Banks shifted their lending to safer borrowers within EMEs in response to monetary easing, leaving the risk of their overall loan books unchanged. These results support the hypothesis that bank capital affects the transmission of easier monetary policy, including across borders. We conjecture that bank lending to EMEs during the zero‐lower bound period would have been even higher had the United States not introduced stress tests for their banks.     

2016 Election’s Effect on Energy Sector Wealth and Political Strategies

Atlantic Economic Journal -     

Insights on the mentorship and coachability of entrepreneurs

Mentorship from other experienced individuals has become essential to entrepreneurs and their fledgling ventures, particularly in today’s accelerators. However, even with the acknowledgment that mentoring and coaching improve an entrepreneur’s likelihood of success, we know very little about the nuances of mentor-mentee relationships or the individual characteristics important to an entrepreneur’s coachability. Therefore, we examined mentors and founders across entrepreneurial support organizations to investigate the factors that influence an entrepreneur’s coachability, how coachability translates to venture outcomes, and whether or not the mentor-mentee relationship met the entrepreneur’s expectations. We found that entrepreneurs that are more coachable are ultimately more successful during their time in these programs and are more satisfied with their mentorship experience. This article provides insights for the leaders of accelerators to improve mentorship opportunities and suggestions for entrepreneurs to improve their coachability.     

Place attachment,recreational activities,and travel intent under changing climate conditions

Globally, climate is changing and will likely alter where and when visitors decide to travel. This study looks at how visitors’ attachment to Mount Desert Island (MDI), Maine, affects their intended future visitation under changing climate conditions. Additionally, this research explores the relationship between recreational activities visitors participate in and their attachment to the destination. Visitors were identified on-site and asked to complete an online survey (n = 416). Segmentation analysis was used to group visitors by their level of attachment to the destination: high (27%), medium (49%), and low (24%). Results indicated that those with a high level of place attachment participated in more recreational activities during their trip, although only some activities elicited significant differences. Additionally, those with high attachment said they were less likely to be deterred from visiting MDI in the future under potentially negative changing environmental conditions. Results indicate that under changing conditions, visitors’ place attachment influences future visitation intent. It is easier to retain visitors than attract new ones, so destinations (including gateway communities) would benefit from developing strategies that enhances visitor place attachment to capitalize on repeat visitation and increase long-term economic sustainability.     

Understanding wine tourism in China using an integrated product-level and experience economy framework

Wine tourism in China is an emerging market. This study addresses two research questions: the product offering and the tourist experience in this market. Findings of an exploratory study using netnography were examined by combining product levels theory and the experience economy model. The resulting proposed theoretical framework identified the status of China's wine tourism market as situated in the infancy stage. Results revealed the core product needed more customers’ involvement, and enrichment of the augmented product, to best position the wine destinations. While, enhancing educational, entertainment, and escapist experiences would benefit the whole experiences and increase future loyalty.     

DO TARGETED VOUCHERS INSTILL HABITS? EVIDENCE FROM WOMEN,INFANTS, AND CHILDREN

We examine whether programs that provide vouchers to households continue to influence behavior after the household leaves the program. Using detailed scanner data, we test whether benefit vouchers received through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) change household purchasing decisions and whether these changes persist even after households are no longer eligible to participate in the program. In 2009, the package of goods available through WIC vouchers changed. Examining variation due to this package change, we show that the WIC vouchers change purchasing decisions during eligibility, but that effects fade after eligibility ends. (JEL I38, I18, J13)     

The U.S. Carpet Industry: History,Industry Dynamics,and a Simple Model for Short-Term Forecasting

This article presents a simple model that can be used to assess the current situation of the carpet industry and develop a short-term outlook for it. Using quarterly data over the time period 1999:Q1–2016:Q2, we build a regression model of U.S. carpet industry shipments. We find that the recent leveling-off of shipments is likely to persist. While housing recovery will aid the demand for carpeting, increases in income are likely to be offsetting, as the switch to alternative floor coverings will be ongoing.     

Bootstrapping asset price bubbles

In this paper we propose a method that allows to test for asset price bubbles. The method is mainly based on a bootstrap methodology which helps to compute the finite sample probability distribution of the asymptotic tests which were recently proposed in Phillips et al. (2011) and Phillips and Yu (2009). We apply the method to the Nasdaq stock price index and Case-Shiller house price index. The results indicate that speculation was behind the upsurge in both asset prices.