Research

The Colonial Roots of American Coercion: Extractive Institutions, Geopolitical Alignment, and Sanction Selection

This thesis examines how colonial legacies shape contemporary foreign policy alignment and vulnerability to U.S. economic sanctions. Using an original country-year dataset (1980–2005), it argues that extractive colonial institutions, characterized by resource concentration, weak sovereignty, and dependent economic structures, orient postcolonial states toward Russia (as measured by UN General Assembly voting), increasing their likelihood of U.S. sanctions targeting.

Mangrove Conservation and Sustainable Shrimp Farming: Assessing the Cost of Change and Farmer Perspectives on Transitioning to Integrated Mangrove-Shrimp Systems in Vietnam

Shrimp aquaculture expansion in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta has driven significant mangrove loss, as traditional extensive farming involves clearing mangrove forests for pond construction, resulting in little to no mangrove coverage and reduced coastal protection and ecosystem services.

Does Leaders’ (Un)Ethicality Challenge or Threaten Employees: A Stress-Appraisal Explanation of Leaders’ Influence on Employee Well-Being

Fueling (vs. depleting) employee well-being is challenging yet critical for organizations. Leaders’ ethicality or unethicality is a key contributor to employees’ well-being. While research has documented associations between ethical and unethical leadership and employee well-being, the psychological process through which leader behavior influences employees is not as well understood.

Methods for Stratified Rations of Exposure-Adjusted Incidence Rates for Groups with Enumerated Adverse Events

In clinical and biological research, comparisons of treatment effects often involve rare events observed over unequal exposure times, making crude event counts misleading. This study focuses on exposure-adjusted incidence densities as a principled approach for comparing event rates while accounting for varying time at risk and stratification factors such as demographic or geographic characteristics.

Make Bias Visible: Algorithmic Hiring and the Role of Governance in Early-Stage Recruitment

Artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly shapes early-stage recruitment, often determining which candidates advance before human review. Although often framed as efficient and objective, these systems can reproduce or amplify labor-market inequalities by generating disparate impacts–outcome-based differences in selection rates across protected groups, regardless of intent (Barocas & Selbst, 2016).

Beyond the Brushstroke: Examining the Power of Pricing and Provenance in the Fine Art Market

The art market operates under substantial price uncertainty and information asymmetry. This thesis examines how pre-auction estimates shape bidder behavior and hammer price outcomes, and whether observable characteristics explain variation in estimate uncertainty, sale success, and hammer price realization.

From Policy to Practice: How Gender Diversity Resulting From the Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule Impacts Short-term Financial Outcomes for Companies

Corporate board diversity has become a focal point in governance discussions, particularly following changes involved in the Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule. This study examines the correlation between board gender diversity on a sample of Nasdaq-listed companies and short-term financial performance using annualized stock returns and yearly return on assets (ROA) data.

Increasing the Power of the Vote: Ranked Choice Voting and Partisan Sentiment

This thesis is an investigation into how the two major parties interact with ranked choice voting – an alternative to traditional means of conducting elections. My primary research question explores what the relationship is between stated political affiliation and opinion on ranked choice voting among eligible voters in the US.

Mind Matters: Effects of Mental Health on College Students’ Academic Performance

Rates of anxiety and depression on college campuses are rising at an unprecedented rate. Analyzing longitudinal survey data and academic records from undergraduate students at a large public research university in the United States, this paper investigates the effects of mental health on college students’ academic achievement.

Chief Sustainability Officers: Symbolic or Substantial?

Businesses have begun to realize the environmental, social, and economic benefits that they can unleash by integrating sustainability into business strategy. As a result, firms have elevated sustainability responsibilities to senior leadership with the introduction of the chief sustainability officer (CSO).

Assessing the Quantitative Business Impacts of Paid Family Leave

The United States’ lack of a federal paid family leave policy (PFL) is a result of concern about the cost of the policy and the potential negative impact on business performance.

The Effect of Political Affiliation on Consumer Preferences for Sustainability Marketing Messages

As issues like climate change begin to worsen, sustainability initiatives are becoming increasingly important to counteract negative impacts on our planet. However, not everyone places the same importance on sustainability.

Outside the Box: Measuring the Unintended Consequences of Ban the Box Policies at an Industry Level

As firms continue struggling through the contemporary labor shortage, traditionally overlooked populations present an opportunity to expand the workforce. Ban the box (BTB) policies have emerged as a popular mechanism to improve ex-offender hiring, in particular, by prohibiting criminal background inquiries on job applications.

ESG Investing, Changing the Business World for the Better

The twenty-first century has marked the growth of the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profits. What was initially a catchphrase used by the most environmentally conscious firms, the triple bottom line has become a priority for firms around the globe. Rather than solely focusing on short-term profitability, the business world is looking to long-term wealth generation strategies that empower stakeholders. The emphasis on firms to balance wealth generation with environmental preservation has culminated in the prominence of ESG investing.

Shapley Values, Random Forests, and Lasso Regression for Explaining Factor Important in U.S. Cross-Sectional Returns

An asset’s expected return is based on a set of risk factors and the asset’s exposure to each factor. A core pillar of factor investing research has been the identification of new factors that can best explain cross-sectional returns. Researchers have identified hundreds of factors, but many of these factors are redundant, containing similar information about risk. A key challenge is using this vast collection of discovered factors to determine which factors are actually the most important.

Introduction to ESG Investing

The term ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing was coined in 2005, but it has only recently become a priority in the business world. Sustainability no longer exclusively refers to climate impacts, but it also considers the effects companies have on their internal employees and the communities in which they work. In order to create a resilient company, business leaders must take into account environmental, social, and governance challenges.

GCC: Europe’s Best Hope to Meet Their Energy Goals

With increased tensions with Russia and the ambitious energy goals set at the Paris Climate Accord, Europe is scrambling to find new sources of low-emissions energy. The Gulf States (GCC) are Europe’s best hope to meet their energy goals in the medium to long-term while simultaneously tapering their reliance on Russian natural gas in the short-term.

A Defense of SDG 17: Why Collaboration is our Best Chance at Success

Often seen as a “blueprint for change,” the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) require a strong commitment on the part of member-states to follow through on the expectations set forth by the international community. That being said, no single country can address the issues without multi-lateral support. For that reason, I contend that SDG 17: “Partnership for the Goals,” is a prerequisite to realizing the impacts of any other goal.

Application of Machine Learning for Meme Coin Scam Detection

Rising technologies enable people to create, list, and trade cryptocurrencies much easier, cheaper, and faster. However, the low entry barriers and censorship-free environment are abused by scammers. Many new cryptocurrencies—including meme coins created around memes and inside jokes and have no fundamental values—were devised following the launch and success of these technologies.

Opportunities and Challenges for Implementing Circularity in Textile Production

The textile industry produces substantial waste and environmental impacts in its production of textile goods. Waste management strategy is an issue in the textile industry as companies seek new ways to reduce environmental impacts of their production. The purpose of this research is to understand how textile companies are currently managing and reducing their waste and integrating sustainability into their production.

Working from Wherever, Whenever: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic that are Shaping the Future of Work

The COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of workers to adapt to a remote working environment nearly overnight. This reality tested the limits of enterprise technology, making this transition uniquely remarkable. For these reasons, the early 2020s present an important time to revisit the utility of worker autonomy and job meaningfulness to prepare for a post-pandemic workplace.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Saudi Arabia’s Economy

Saudi Arabia is economically evolving as they diversify their economy away from oil because of scarcity concerns. Understanding the impact that entrepreneurship has on their economy is valuable considering Saudi Arabia released Vision 2030, which is a set of entrepreneurial-driven initiatives that aims to diversify their economy.

Should You Should Others: Sustainable Marketing’s Impact on Brand Perception and Green Sportswear Consumption

Historically, the sportswear industry has paid little attention to issues of sustainability. However, today’s consumers are increasingly incorporating sustainability into their purchasing decisions. Sportswear firms have begun to confront these converging realities with sustainable sportswear products. For these new products to maximally succeed, marketers must apply sustainable marketing best practices. This thesis provides a first look at developing these principals through the use of an experimental consumer perception survey featuring twelve unique stimulus advertisements varying across four brands and three constructs: utilitarian, sustainable assertive, and sustainable gentle product claims. The findings of this research suggest that utilitarian claims, in comparison to sustainable claims, promote higher perceptions of sportswear product quality. Assertive claims exhibit a significant negative impact on consumers’ willingness to recommend sustainable sportswear. Finally, the combination of brand, product, and claim add a complexity to sustainable sportswear introduction that must be met with an intimate understanding of consumers.

Author: Christopher Dean Karras, Class of 2020
Advisor: Katrijn Gielens, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

Promising Practices for Workforce Housing: Implications for Colleges and Universities

Although the first affordable housing program begin in 1917, the United States still faces a significant shortage of affordable housing today. The shortage disproportionately affects low-income workers who cannot afford to live near their jobs and face growing commutes. In order to mitigate the worsening effects of the shortage on lower income workers, non-governmental organizations are increasingly engaged in workforce housing development. This research draws on the extant literature, key informant interviews and surveys of affordable housing experts, and case studies of actual workforce housing development projects to create a set of “promising practices” that colleges and universities can deploy to develop much-needed workforce housing for some of their employees.

Author: Emily Arnold, Class of 2020
Faculty Advisor: Jim Johnson, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School