Business and Management

Applicant: Elizabeth Pierce

Title: Does Fraud Announcement Affect Market Share Price: Evidence from Public Companies

Co-Applicant: Kaustav Misra

Department of Study: Accounting and Economics

Submitted: March 2016

Project Abstract: This project aims to determine the effects of announcement of cyberbreach on the market price of public companies.  Over the last few years, these types of breaches have become more frequent and have involved larger volumes of records.  Under the guidance of the faculty member, undergraduate research scholar(s) will familiarize themselves with the history cyberbreaches, gather information on market prices for the public companies involved and determine the effects of the announcements of these breaches on market price.  Gathered information will be used to publish an article in a peer reviewed national journal and case studies to be used by college professors for accounting information systems and economics courses at the undergraduate and graduate level.  Finally, the undergraduate research scholar(s) will present their findings at conferences.

Applicant: George Puia

Title: An integrative approach to inbound foreign direct investment

Submitted: March 2016

Project Abstract: The original research on foreign direct investment (FDI) explored the decision process to directly own and manage operations in foreign locations and explored factors relative to economic location advantages and the need for management control of intellectual property. More recent research has flipped the direction of the investment question to explore inbound foreign direct investment, e.g., what criteria must a location meet in order to secure investment from overseas. The latter question has great significance to Michigan and particularly the Great Lakes Bay Region. To date, research on inbound FDI has been divided into two distinct streams: macro-economic factors and micro-behavioral factors. The macro inbound FDI literature explores a region's political and economic context and provides policy recommendations related to regulation. There is a more recent body of work that considers lifestyle and asks the extent to which executives evaluate the living conditions of the location their expatriate executives would face as part of the FDI decision. This paper attempts to integrate these to streams into a single model of inbound FDI. The results will have significant implications for both research and public policy.

Applicant: Kevin Meyer and Zachary Cohle

Title: Economic Teaching and Stress Identification

Period of Support: January 1, 2024 – June 30, 2024

Abstract: Students experience stress when taking a university economics course. While stress can benefit the student by providing motivating to learn and practice the material, overly stressed students will find it difficult to concentrate and build critical thinking skills. The research goal of this project is to measure student stress levels in individual economics classes and estimate the relationship between stress and learning outcomes. In addition, some classes will have the students write journal entries before stressful events, such as exams, to observe whether becoming more aware of stress levels has a positive effect on grades. The student researcher will work on a literature review, coordinate data collection across classes, prepare the data for regression analysis, and summarize the data in tables and graphs. The anticipated project outcome is at least one peer reviewed journal article. The student outcome is 1) research experience to enter on their CV, 2) a presentation at the SVSU student showcase, and 3) co-authorship of a potential publication.

Applicant:  Kevin Meyer

Title: Does Virtual Reality Affect Non-Market Valuation of Clean Lake Water?

Submitted: October 2018

Proposal Abstract: This proposal is to fund an additional semester for an existing faculty led research grant. As detailed below, the project involves two students administering a survey to respondents in a public setting (campus, farmer's markets, etc.). Half of the respondents view a virtual reality video that displays a lake before and after pollution, while the other half views pictures of the lake. Our original goal was to collect 200 surveys during the Fall semester, however at the time of this writing we only have about 90. There are various reasons for the underestimate, including 1) difficulty in convincing people to take the survey (most notably, off-campus), and 2) an average time of 10 minutes per person per survey. With an additional semester of funding I believe we could get a total of 200-300 surveys for the project, which would provide enough statistical power to detect modest size effects in the data. Finally, I am requesting funds for the two students to travel to an academic conference to discuss the project and present our findings.

Applicant: Kevin Meyer

Title: Does Virtual Reality Affect Non-Market Valuation of Clean Lake Water?

Submitted: October 2017

Project Abstract:  This project proposes to use virtual reality to measure a participant's willingness to pay to improve lake water quality. A 360 degree virtual reality camera was used to film various Iowa lakes before and after they became visibly polluted through algal blooms. The camera captures both high definition video as well as surround sound. This footage will be presented to laboratory participants using a virtual reality headset, whose full head movement will allow them to become fully immersed in the scene. The participant will then be asked a simple binary choice question on their willingness to pay a specified amount to return the lake to its' clean state. Their responses will be compared to two different control groups. The first control group will read a description of the lake in both the clean and dirty state. The second control group will get both a description and a picture of the lake.

This project provides an opportunity for two students to learn how to conduct an experimental, survey based research project. They will help design the initial survey that subjects answer before and after they participate in the experiment. This survey will need to be refined through at least one focus group that the students will help administer. Once the survey is completed, the students will help locate subjects and perform the experiment. They will record the data and organize it in a database. Once enough data has been collected, they will help analyze the results through statistical methods. I anticipate opportunities for the students to present the work at national conferences for environmental economics.

The results of the project will shed light on the importance of the degree of reality to a subject's ability to perceive and value environmental quality. The project is expected to produce a peer-reviewed journal article as well as several conferences presentations.

Applicant: Kaustav Misra

Title: Impacts of Race and Gender of Family Business Owners on Regional Economies

Submitted: March 2017

Project Abstract: The phenomena of family business is not at all an old idea, but increasing attention to family business research has risen during the last decade. There is no doubt that family business helps to grow the economy, but not all family businesses are equally productive. Previous literature looked at the family business ownership’s characteristics, such as race, gender, and other demographic factors to understand issues starting up a new business or surviving in businesses, but what has not been explored is how family business owner characteristics determine firm’s performance, hence the effect on the whole regional economy. There are millions and millions family businesses operating in the USA under various types of ownership. It is interesting to observe that there is a regionally focused pattern of ownership in family businesses. More explicitly it is quite distinctly visible that some regional areas have more Chinese family business owners than any other racial groups. There are some areas where most family businesses are owned by the white population, but there are also regional locations where we see that owners of family businesses are coming from diversified backgrounds. So it will be interesting to see how these regions are different in terms of their economic performance. We plan to use longitudinal county and/or city level data for the entire country for at least five consecutive years: 2010-2015 and use two performance related indicators, GDP per capita and unemployment rate to measure the impact of diversified family businesses on regional economies. We are hoping to show that a diversified economy is better than a non-diversified economy. We believe results from this project will help urban planners, government officials, and family business scholars to understand the importance of diversity among family business ownerships and developing various policies to encourage other racial groups to become entrepreneurs or business owners. Engaging a student in this project will provide hands on experience and helping the college to maintain its accreditation are the other objectives of this project.

Applicant: Amy Hendrickson

Title: Testing the Emergency Alert System: An Examination of the Regulatory Requirements

Submitted: March 2017

Project Abstract: This project is an examination of the regulatory requirements related to the Emergency Alert System. This system was created by the Federal Communications Commission to provide the President with an outlet to communicate with the nation during times of crisis. It has never been used. However, at the state level, the system is regularly used for everything from storm warnings to amber alerts. The functionality differs dramatically from one region to another, limited by outdated technology and a largely volunteer workforce. This project will include three components: (1) examination of the Michigan system within the context of the Flint water crisis; (2) evaluation of the ongoing FCC rulemaking process intended to modernize the system; and (3) comparison with international approaches.

Students will learn about transparency requirements and the availability of public documents by working with the faculty member to catalog public safety messages related to the Flint water crisis. They will be introduced to research strategies for using government documents including the public comments filed with the FCC. They will practice how to construct an effective search using legal databases and become familiar with the Bluebook citation style. Students will also learn about the ethical requirements for lawyers working for the government.

Applicant: Prashanth Anekal

Title: Impact of Supply Chain Competency on Economic Complexity and Economic Development

Co-Applicant: Kaustav Misra

Submitted: March 2017

Proposal Abstract: Over the years, business and industrial activities have become increasingly competitive and global with operations spanning across national boundaries. Countries are striving to create value and gain an upper hand in the global marketplace. In such an environment, a nation’s competitiveness is largely dependent on certain institutional, infrastructural and technology factors that collectively constitute the Supply Chain Competency of the nation. This study explores the role of Supply Chain Competency in the economic development of a nation. The study proposes Supply Chain Competency to be an enabler of complex economic activities at the national level, which is proposed to have a positive impact on economic development. This study intends to highlight the importance of supply chain competency and identify the various components of supply chain competency and their effects on economic development. It is intended to serve as a road map for institutional and organizational stakeholders in their quest toward regional and national economic growth.

The undergraduate research scholar will be (a) introduced to existent literature on supply chain competency, economic development and related topics; (b) introduced to the basics of research methods, instrument development and data collection. The undergraduate research scholar will be required to work with faculty in developing and writing an article that can be presented at a reputed conference. The developed article will be targeted for publication in a peer reviewed journal.

Applicant: Izabela Szymanska  

Title: Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices (STEP) Project

Submitted: March 2020

Abstract: Founded in 2005 by Babson College in collaboration with six academic affiliates in Europe, the STEP (Successful Transgenerational Entrepreneurship Practices) Project is a global applied research initiative that explores the entrepreneurial process within business families and generates solutions with immediate applications for family business leaders. With people living longer, increasing demographic and societal changes, family businesses in different parts of the world are exposed to new challenges that make traditional methods of succession and governance no longer appropriate. Looking at the demographic cohorts of global family business leaders helps shed light on differences in generational outlook and how family businesses are dealing with the challenges associated with succession and governance in the modern era. Student assisting in this project will hone their quantitative and qualitative research skills, as well as learn hands-on the craft of academic writing. Student participation in STEP Project creates opportunities for research and project management skills development and networking with local business community leaders.