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Branding Sells Cereal, Handbags, and Vacations. Can It Sell a Country?

Countries such as Israel now realize they need to engage in public diplomacy as well as foreign diplomacy, and in place branding, not just political advocacy, says Elie Ofek. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

L.A. Philharmonic Shows the American Symphony Orchestra Isn’t Dead Yet

Like many American symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic seemed dying on the vine, unable to attract younger audiences or new sponsors. Then new CEO Deborah Borda came aboard with a plan to revive the brand. Rohit Deshpande discusses his case study on the turnaround. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Warning: Scary Warning Labels Work!

If you want to convince consumers to stay away from unhealthy diet choices, don't be subtle about possible consequences, says Leslie John. These graphically graphic warning labels seem to do the trick. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Minimum Wage Hikes Drive (Lousy) Restaurants Out of Business

Do minimum wage increases harm businesses? Evidence from Yelp-inspired research by Michael and Dara Lee Luca suggests the popularity of the business has a lot to do with it. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit

This study examines the impact of minimum wage increases on restaurant closures in the San Francisco Bay Area, using data from 2008 through 2016 from the review platform Yelp. The study demonstrates that higher minimum wages increase closure rates among lower-rated restaurants, while higher-rated restaurants are largely insulated from changes.

Incentives, Peer Pressure, and Behavior Persistence

Organizations often create initiatives to encourage adoption of new behaviors, or to stimulate performance improvements from existing practices. This research explores whether and how incentivized behaviors at a California hospital persist beyond the duration of the initiative.

Racial Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Online platforms such as Airbnb create new markets by eliminating search frictions, building trust, and facilitating transactions. With the rise of the sharing economy, however, comes the prospect of racial discrimination that is unheard of in established platforms. The authors suggest changes to Airbnb’s site design to reduce or prevent discrimination.

The US Experiment with Fair Trade Laws: State Police Powers, Federal Antitrust, and the Politics of 'Fairness', 1890–1938

In a study of California retail druggists at the turn of the twentieth century, Laura Phillips Sawyer, finds that price-fixing counterintiutively increased competition.