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Structured Management Protocols Help Firms Thrive
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Structured Management Protocols Help Firms Thrive

It stands to reason that better-run companies attract and retain better workers, but what are the actual practices that make a business run better? “We know a lot about the labor market, and we know a lot about incentives across firms and within firms,” said Daniela Scur, assistant professor of strategy in the Charles H. Dyson...

Women Indirectly Hurt More by Noncompete Pacts
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Women Indirectly Hurt More by Noncompete Pacts

Nine out of 10 startups fail, and even among venture-backed fledgling companies, the success rate is only about 25%. It’s even tougher for women entrepreneurs, who face challenges their male counterparts don’t, according to new Cornell University research. One reason is noncompete agreements – legal compacts or clauses in a contract specifying that an employee...

Study Shows How Corporations Influence Policy Through Nonprofit Donations
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Study Shows How Corporations Influence Policy Through Nonprofit Donations

In 2003, the Coca-Cola Foundation announced a $1 million donation to the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry, supposedly to “improve child dental health.” Shortly after receiving the gift, the children’s dental group changed its stance on sugary beverages, no longer calling them a “significant factor” in causing cavities, but instead saying the scientific evidence was...

Automatic Entry into Career Advancing Competitions Could Help Women
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Automatic Entry into Career Advancing Competitions Could Help Women

Women continue to be underrepresented in leadership roles, a dilemma a new study suggests could be helped by eliminating self-nomination from competitive selection processes.  Instead of trying to affect change by encouraging women to “lean in” to climb the corporate ladder, or attempting to control for employer bias, the study says that redesigning the selection...

What’s in the Pandora Papers? And Why Does South Dakota Feature So Heavily?
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What’s in the Pandora Papers? And Why Does South Dakota Feature So Heavily?

A trove of confidential documents outlining how global elites squirrel away their wealth to avoid tax has been laid bare in the “Pandora Papers.” Consisting of around 12 million documents, the data was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that worked with media organizations around the world to...

Low-Income People Saw Smallest Drop in Travel During Covid-19
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Low-Income People Saw Smallest Drop in Travel During Covid-19

Low-income people were the least likely to reduce their local travel during the COVID-19 lockdown, probably because they still had to go to work, a case study in Columbus suggests. In fact, their average travel distances increased during the pandemic, as they were often forced to find work further away from their homes. Meanwhile, high-income...

Neurodiversity Can Be a Workplace Strength, If We Make Room for It
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Neurodiversity Can Be a Workplace Strength, If We Make Room for It

Emma can recognise patterns within complex code. James can develop several different solutions when faced with complicated problems. But it is unlikely either will find a job where they can put their specialist skills to work — or any job, actually. Emma has dyslexia. James has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These conditions...

The Science of Product Placements – and Why Some Work Better Than Others
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The Science of Product Placements – and Why Some Work Better Than Others

In “The Variant,” an episode from the Disney+ hit streaming show “Loki,” it’s tough to miss the barrage of product placements, with fast-paced action and dialogue taking place in front of Charmin toilet paper, Dove soap and Arm & Hammer deodorant. At one point, Loki barrels down an aisle with vacuum cleaners and fights off...

Stimulus Payments Increased Spending Among Low-Income Populations in the US
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Stimulus Payments Increased Spending Among Low-Income Populations in the US

The coronavirus pandemic disrupted the U.S. economy, yet the dynamics of micro-level consumer spending among low-income populations are not well understood. A study published in PLOS One by Song Gao at University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States and colleagues suggests the stimulus program largely curbed the post-lockdown spending declines and stimulated spending following pandemic-related income loss by...