Economics

Ed Lazear photo
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Edward P. Lazear puts today's economic recovery in historical context.
Researchers share results and ideas for tackling extreme poverty through innovations in institutions, management, and technology
Anat Admati photo
A letter by Anat R. Admati and Neil M. Barofsky published by the Financial Times, March 8, 2012
David Brady photo
Professor David Brady explained to an alumni audience how the “Guns and Butter” model of predicting elections tells just part of the story.
Robert J Flanagan photo
In a new book, economics Professor Robert Flanagan explains why symphony orchestras need multiple strategies to keep their finances from ballooning out of control. 
Justin Finnegan, MBA '09
Mountain Hazelnuts of Bhutan has set its sights on a triple bottom line: financial gain for investors, alleviating poverty among farm families, and restoration of an eroded, hilly landscape.
Matt Rothe
Matt Rothe, MBA '07, who watched his family sell their Colorado farm after five generations of ownership, today gives Stanford students lessons in eating smart as sustainable food program manager for Stanford Dining Services.
Egon Durban
The U.S. economy is still sluggish, but venture capitalists who spoke at Stanford said the outlook for investing is bullish.
Kenneth W. Shotts
Elections sometimes give policy makers incentives to pander to implement policies that voters think are in their best interest even though the policy maker knows they are not, says Professor Kenneth Shotts. In general, an effective media reduces this tendency to pander, "but there are some exceptions to this general rule."
Kenneth Singleton
The 2008 turmoil in world oil prices was not caused by an imbalance of supply and demand, argues Professor Kenneth Singleton of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Instead there was an "economically and statistically significant effect of investor flows on futures prices."

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"If you don't have a high school education in America, you are chained to limited options," Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J., told the Goldman Sachs/Stanford University Global Education Conference.
Costa Rica President Laura Chinchilla
Costa Rica now exports 4,000 products and is working to attract more technology companies President Laura Chinchilla told a Stanford Graduate School of Business audience as the nation broadens its economic base from the focus on eco-tourism.
Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni based in Japan find unexpected obstacles as entire industries face disruption and an unknown future since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Streamlining balky government permit processes or convoluted global supply chains are just some of the challenges in the "Valley of Death" faced by fledgling clean energy firms, government officials were told during a Stanford forum.
Believers in free market capitalism were appalled when the U.S. government spent $82 billion to bail out General Motors and Chrysler. But the money saved an important U.S. industry and averted a national economic catastrophe Steven Rattner, the man who led the rescue operation, told a Stanford Graduate School of Business audience.
In the 1980s, John Paul DeJoria weathered 12% inflation and 18% interest rates. It was a tough path but he succeeded in founding John Paul Mitchell Systems, a hair care firm that registered $900 million in sales in 2010.
The Ford Motor turnaround required tough decisions and labor cooperation but CEO Alan Mulally is optimistic about the future.
The United States has recovered from high debt in the past but there are no easy solutions to today's estimated $14 trillion bill, panelists told a business school audience.
A shortage of middle management talent is slowing business development in Africa, but the continent still offers opportunities for entrepreneurs who recognize the differences between Nairobi and Silicon Valley, say business school conference speakers.
By 2040 Africa will have a larger workforce than China or India, speakers told a Stanford Africa Forum 2011 conference, exploring opportunities for business development in the 50-plus nations of that continent whose business opportunities are often overlooked.

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Voters' decisions to support incumbents are influenced by irrelevant events such as football scores that have nothing to do with the candidates' competence or effectiveness, according to new research by Stanford Graduate School of Business scholars. It's something politicians have already figured out.
Consumer and environmental groups, angry over the spreading oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, are calling for a boycott of BP, the oil giant that owns the well gushing oil onto beaches and marshes. According to research by Phillip Leslie and Larry Chavis, boycotts do in fact work and they're something businesses should be concerned about.
The high price of popcorn at most movie theater concession stands actually benefits moviegoers, say researchers, including the business school’s Wesley Hartmann. It helps hold down the price of the movie ticket.
Social pressure plays a major role in determining corporate strategy and performance according to an award-winning paper coauthored by Professor David Baron. The researchers find that social pressure and social performance reinforce each other, greater social pressure is associated with lower financial performance, and financial and social performance are largely unrelated.
Rock groups can lose as much as 40% of their potential sales because consumers don’t know enough about them, says the Stanford Business School’s Alan Sorensen. There are lots of crowded markets out there where lack of information skews sales.

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