In The News

When the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2014, it allowed states to expand Medicaid services. One of the states that was impacted by this new measure was California.  With other researchers, Wharton Professor Atul Gupta discovered that “…half of the funds that went to California’s Medicaid expansion simply replaced benefits from pre-existing state and county health care programs.” Their discovery challenges whether the expansion of Medicaid services increased the overall health of California’s residents.

 

Amid the strong correlation between football and head injuries, one of the biggest issues for the National Football League is finding an insurance partner to cover CTE-related symptoms. Penn Law Professor Tom Baker suggests that “When insurance companies do act like regulators, they do it because of the liability. And the bigger the liability, the more they have a potential to earn a return for acting like regulators.”

One of the subjects highlighted at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos was workplace productivity. Wharton Professor Adam Grant argues that “[r]educed working hours bolster the quality of labor and creativity”. He also implies that reduced working hours could lead to greater global economic outputs.

In a discussion on the board practices of the Federal Reserve, Wharton Professor Peter Conti-Brown provides a historical account of the rotational voting system implemented by the Federal bank. 

In a discussion on carbon tax legislation, or lack thereof, Penn Law Professor Cary Coglianese examines the covert ways in which climate change has actually incurred an unfair and often disparate charge on US citizens due to events such as property damage from natural disasters and depreciating air quality following mass fires. 

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Wharton Professor Adam Grant offers his perspective of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, which is the ever-growing influence of technology in the workplace. Grant argues that the future working world “requires a new focus on skills” and not necessarily on education. In conjunction with other labor leaders and executives at the conference, Grant implies that organizations have the responsibility of retraining employees to help them prepare for jobs of the future.

Can HR be agile? Wharton Professor Peter Cappelli dissects this complex question. He contends that it depends on the use of the term”agile”. If the term”agile” is used as an adjective, he argues that it is similar to flexible business operations. Instead, Cappelli implies that one should consider the term “agile” as a noun. He asserts that agile is best defined as efficient business practices. Depending on the organizational structure, he also suggests that agile operations may not be necessary.

Wharton Professor Peter Cappelli describes the actions of HumanTouch CEO Moe Jafari, who is cutting his pay because of the current government shutdown. Cappelli suggests that Jafari’s noble actions are crucial to form a sound company culture. Besides culture, Cappelli implies that the reputation of an organization is “…through stories and events”.

Wharton Professor David Reibstein provides his perspective of the new Gillette ad that challenges one’s understanding of masculinity. He argues that if a company feels passionate about a certain issue, then it should not be afraid of negative publicity. Besides the social and moral aspects of the advertisement, he implies that there may be an economic incentive for Gillette to promote a commercial, which is influenced by the masculine theme.

Legal and Business Ethics professor Peter Conti-Brown is featured in this Knowledge@Wharton podcast regarding the financial risks of the banking industry in the new year. Conti-Brown suggests that “We’re seeing a set of spectacular risk-taking around legal liability that is, and continues to be, very troubling.” Furthermore, he argues that strong financial oversight is needed to prevent another economic collapse.

In this Bloomberg article, Wharton Professor Peter Conti-Brown is featured in the discussion of whether President Trump has the authority to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Because of the lack of clarity in the United States Constitution, the Federal Reserve has been treated as an organization that “rests on custom and tradition rather than bedrock law.” Henceforth, there has not been any judicial policies enacted regarding the President and the Federal Reserve.

In the wake of Teresa May’s catastrophic Brexit defeat, Wharton Professor Mauro Guillen reflects on the lessons to be learned from the ordeal. First, departure from major trade organizations is not only difficult but also often unfavorable especially when geographic proximity compromise Europe-dependent industries that are central to the British economy. 

In this Knowledge@Wharton Podcast, Wharton Professor David Zaring highlights the impact of the current government shutdown on IPOs. Unlike previous government shutdowns, Zaring indicates that the Securities and Exchange Commission does not have access to funds that would allow the organization to remain in operation. With a closed SEC, Zaring implies that some companies may have to wait for their respective Initial Public Offerings(IPOs). Furthermore, Zaring emphasizes that the government shutdown also negatively affects investors who have placed funds into certain startups.

In a discussion on the US’ labor monopsony problem, Wharton Professor Ioana Marinescu highlights the how mergers can result in increased market concentration which subsequently influences wage stagnation. Read more about her research and recommendations into proposed antitrust efforts here: 

In this Economist interview, Wharton Professor Kevin Werbach explains the nature of blockchain technology. He argues that its effectiveness is dependent upon the political and social environments of a society. Werbach also indicates that practical regulations are needed for the technology to be innovative. 

In a recent op-ed, Wharton Professor Eric W. Orts offers an alternative solution to appropriation in the Senate, suggesting the status quo of one-state, two senators needs to be revamped.  His suggestion is to, “allocate one seat to each state automatically to preserve federalism, but apportion the rest based on population.”

In a discussion on the promises of 10G cable internet speeds, companies tout the potential uses and need for this technology, but Wharton Professor Keven Werbach questions how its utility will actually be received by the public. 

In a discussion on the increasing burden of CFO’s to become responsible for natural disasters, Wharton Professor Howard Kunreuther explains how disaster preparedness actually provides significant long term returns for companies

Wharton Professor Kevin Werbach is not convinced of Overstock’s actions by paying Ohio state taxes in bitcoin. He indicates that Overstock’s tactic is a “PR-stunt” to make people believe that the state of Ohio is “crypto-currency friendly”. Also, he suggests that paying state taxes in bitcoin provides no benefit to Overstock.

In a discussion on imminent challenges that face employers in 2019, Wharton Professor Peter Cappelli highlights the need for organizations to update workplace sexual harassment policies based on the various state legislations mandating different requirements. 

Wharton Professor Olivia Mitchell discusses her research that establishes an inverse correlation between age and patience, where in which, the older people get, the less patient they become. Based on these findings, Professor Mitchell speculates how this could partially explain the lack of preparedness (financial, health related, and otherwise) amongst the older generation and its profound consequences. 

In light of investigations into former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s conduct, legal experts note the complications raised by a proposed rule from the department that would limit the authority of the Freedom of Information Act. However Penn Law Professor, Cary Coglianese points out how under similar circumstances during the Obama administration, no such actions were honored. 

In this PBS article, Wharton Professor Itay Goldstein analyzes the causes of the stock market dive in 2018. To prevent another economic downturn, he asserts that the Federal Reserve must reduce the interest rate cautiously.

Wharton Professor Susan M. Wachter examines new loans that are currently being offered to purchase new homes. Two particular loans that she analyzes are the “interest-only adjustable rate” and “ability to repay loan”.  Professor Wachter asserts that not only are these loans risky, but that they are dependent upon the supply and demand of their respective housing markets.

In an interview on the Knowledge@Wharton radio show, Professor Alex Rees-Jones contends that there is a relationship between the field of psychology and how people behave towards paying taxes. He proposes that the government adopt cognitive measures, such as offering monetary incentives to combat tax evasion. Furthermore, Rees-Jones implies that if tax payers de-emphasized ’loss aversion’, then tax revenue would increase to help stimulate economic growth in the United States.

In a discussion on key points from a symposium on health services research, Professor Mark V. Pauly was quoted for his comments on the potential and limitation to current research practices. 

Wharton Professor Peter-Conti Brown discusses the disagreement between President Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell of raising interest rates to stimulate economic investment. Because of their disagreement on interest rates, Conti-Brown examines whether Trump will fire Powell. He indicates that the law is unclear regarding whether President Trump has the authority to remove Powell as Fed Chair, Fed Governor, or from the entire organization.

In a discussion on the the Poland Climate Talks, Wharton Professor Eric W. Orts reflects on the need to establish carbon pricing policies to help businesses better anticipate and consider “externalities” in their investments. However, Orts claims that our current economic system does not take into account the externality of carbon and its equivalence being put into the atmosphere.

 Wharton Professor Kevin Werbach joins a Ripple-sponsored panel to offer his insights of the emerging technologies of blockchain and cryptocurrency. He argues that some of the most important questions that need to be answered are what the roles of businesses should have in the technology era, and how can enterprises be certain that financial transactions are completed in a safe manner?