The individual mandate that requires most Americans to purchase some level of health insurance continues to be one of the most controversial aspects of the Affordable Care Act, even though, beginning in 2019, there is no longer a penalty for noncompliance in most states. A new study conducted by investigators at the Mongan Institute Health Policy...
A novel new way of determining the value of employee stock options has yielded some surprising insights: Options granted to woman and senior managers are worth more because they hold them longer. And options that vest annually rather than monthly are worth more for the same reason. The new valuation method, which combines standard option...
The chili pepper, from an evolutionary perspective, is the tomato’s long-lost spitfire cousin. They split off from a common ancestor 19 million years ago but still share some of the same DNA. While the tomato plant went on to have a fleshy, nutrient-rich fruit yielding bountiful harvests, the more agriculturally difficult chili plant went defensive,...
People make statistically-informed judgments about who is more likely to hold particular professions even though they criticize others for the same behavior, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “People don’t like it when someone uses group averages to make judgments about individuals from different social groups who are otherwise...
Researchers have long known that sick children can affect a company’s bottom line, as employees are distracted or have to take time off to care for their children. Far less is known about the impact a parent’s work life has on their children’s health. In a paper published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, researchers report that...
Teams that come from behind do not have a greater chance of winning in overtime, according to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers in a study published in the Journal of Economic Psychology, debunking theories of how psychological momentum in sports and in life lead to success. “People talk about momentum as an indicator for...
The more a company’s board is independent from management, the less likely it will become entangled in corporate misconduct, according to new findings, from a meta-analysis of 135 studies, published in The Journal of Management. The site of independence also matters. Independence on the audit committee particularly shelters firms from misconduct, researchers found. At the same...
Now is the time many people make New Year’s resolutions: Save money. Eat better. Lose weight. Stop smoking. Studies have shown that about 41 percent of people make New Year’s resolutions, but only about 8 percent are successful in achieving their goals. “It’s easy to be seduced by the promise of “new year, new you,” only...
Smoking is a hard habit to kick but when you do, the health benefits are almost immediate. According to the American Lung Association, your heart rate drops to normal levels in 20 minutes, your lung function improves in a couple of weeks and your risk of heart disease drops by half in a year. “But as...
Young women in China, living in a rapidly changing society with more personal independence, disposable income and exposure to Western media than ever before, are also altering their views of female beauty. “The beauty industry is booming in China, and these young women I interviewed in focus groups are really endorsing the Anglo-European image of...
