CBA Brown Bag Series

Join us for our weekly Faculty Brown Bag seminars. These seminars are presentations of outstanding research and teaching ideas. They feature local, national, and international speakers invited to address a broad range of business-related topics. Our goal is to stimulate new research ideas, and foster new initiatives and transdisciplinary collaborations.

Next Seminars

Better to Be Loved by Some? Flaunting to Minimize the Impact of a Negative Event on Firm Outcomes, presented by Dr. Erin Bass (UNO - College of Business Administration)

Dr. Erin Bass actively researches how firms acquire and develop resources and capabilities, how firms are evaluated by stakeholders and the strategy of corporate social responsibility. Her research has appeared in notable journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of Management, among others.

Firms can use a range of proactive impression management behaviors to minimize the impact of a negative event on firm outcomes. When a negative event is unpredictable, we theorize that firms can engage in ostentatious behaviors that display the firm’s affluence and robust resource base. We term these behaviors “flaunting.” We present a two-part model that investigates how a firm minimizes the impact of an unpredictable negative event on firm outcomes and why it is effective at doing so. In part one, we illustrate how flaunting generates net positive stakeholder group evaluations by enhancing distinctiveness among stakeholder groups. In part two, we theorize that the net positive stakeholder group evaluations buffer the impact of an unpredictable negative event on firm outcomes. This buffering effect is amplified when the flaunting firm actively manages stakeholder group distinctiveness. Thus, while flaunting can be both off-putting and enticing to different stakeholder groups, we theorize that the love of some is worth the risk of being disliked (or worse) by others.

Previous Seminars

Introduction to directEDGAR's new platform, presented by Dr. Burch Kealey (UNO - College of Business Administration)

Dr. Kealey's research is primarily focused on the areas of corporate governance and more specifically the role of compensation in aligning the interests of owners with managers. His work on data extraction through the Security and Exchange Commission's EDGAR system has helped numerous other researchers around the World.

Capital Controls and the Global Financial Cycle, presented by Johannes Matschke (UC Davis)

Johannes Matschke is a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include banking and financial regulation, macro-finance, and international Finance and Time Series. He analyzes the implications of financial frictions on the optimal design of regulatory policies both from a theoretical and applied perspective. He also studies financial crises and related international spillovers as a consequence of financial integration.

This presentation will argue that emerging markets may rationally decide to implement procyclical capital inflow restrictions. We will first reveal that countries, which actively manage their capital controls, increase their restrictions in response to global financial distress or elevated risk aversion. In a second step, we will provide a new model that justifies this behavior. Intuitively, regulators from emerging markets find it optimal to manipulate the risk premium and reduce borrowing costs. However, investors are more sensitive to the risk premium during periods of heightened international uncertainty or risk aversion, which increases intervention during such periods.

Labor Unions and Post-Acquisition Integration Capability: Evidence from Goodwill Impairment, presented by Dr. Youngki Jang (UNO - College of Business Administration)

Dr. Youngki Jang is an Assistant Professor in the School of Accounting, CBA, University of Nebraska at Omaha. His research interest is concentrated in Empirical Financial Accounting.

We examine whether operating inflexibility posed by labor unions affects goodwill impairment. We predict such inflexibility hinders resource reallocation after the acquisition, thereby preventing the acquiring firm from realizing synergies included in goodwill. Consistent with this prediction, we find that the strength of labor unions is positively associated with the likelihood and magnitude of goodwill impairment losses. Our results are robust to a battery of tests that address the potential endogeneity. Furthermore, we find that managers who possess superior ability mitigate the negative consequences of labor unions on goodwill impairment. Overall, our findings suggest that operating inflexibility posed by labor unions is an important determinant of goodwill impairment that indicates a failure to realize the expected synergy from the acquisition.

Gender Gaps in Time Use and Entrepreneurship, presented by Lin Shao (Senior Economist, Bank of Canada)

Lin Shao is a Senior Economist for the Bank of Canada since 2016. Her research interests are Macroeconomics, Economic Development, and Firm Dynamics.

The prevalence of entrepreneurs, particularly low productivity non-employers, declines as economies develop. We show that this decline is more pronounced for women and that the gender gap in entrepreneurship reverses with development --from an over-representation of women in entrepreneurship in less developed economies to underrepresentation in more developed economies. This paper explores whether gender asymmetries in time devoted to non-market responsibilities can explain this pattern across countries. Given the flexibility afforded to entrepreneurs, constraints on available market time can be an important factor impacting the selection into entrepreneurship. Such time constraints are tighter for women particularly those in less developed economies. To quantitatively assess the importance of time constraints, we develop a general equilibrium model of occupational choice where selection into entrepreneurship is driven by discretionary time and ability. Using a calibrated version of the model, we find that observed gender gaps in time use account for a significant share of cross-country differences in entrepreneurship, productivity, and firm size distribution. Our results highlight the importance of factors such as child-care policy or societal norms in not only influencing gender differences in labor market outcomes but also the quantity and quality of businesses in an economy.

Rural-Urban Migration, Structural Transformation, and Housing Markets in China, presented by Dr. Aaron Hedland (Former Chief Domestic Economist at White House CEA)

Dr. Aaron Hedlund is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri and a Research Fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He was previously the Chief Domestic Economist and Senior Adviser at the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 2020 to 2021. His research focuses on the intersection of macroeconomics, finance, real estate, and labor.

Association between Potentially Avoidable Emergency Department Visits and Medical Expenditure among Frequent Users of Emergency Room, presented by Dr. Hongmei Wang (University of Nebraska Medical Center)

Dr. Hongmei Wang is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director at the Department of Health Services Research & Administration for the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Wang’s research interests focus on socioeconomic determinants of health and economic evaluation of health care programs and medical intervention strategies. She is particularly interested in examining how individual choices, organizational schemes, and sociocultural structures collectively influence population health and health-related behaviors. Dr. Wang has collaborated with community partners to evaluate the effects of community intervention strategies on promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors and reducing obesity. Recently, Dr. Wang has been studying multi-level factors that influence cancer screening rates and examining efforts in primary care settings and at the community-level to reduce risk factors for cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Wang also enjoys collaborating with colleagues and community partners to conduct cost studies and economic evaluation of medical and community interventions.

The Role of FDI in Accounting Services Exports from the U.S., presented by Dr. Kristie Briggs (Creighton University)

Dr. Kristie Briggs is an Associate Professor of Economics at Creighton University. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with fields of specialization in international trade, economic development, and the economics of innovation and intellectual property rights.

She enjoys an active research agenda both independently and with her students. Kristie has published in journals such as Southern Economic Journal, Research Policy, and Applied Economics; she has given numerous presentations and was an invited speaker at the U.S. Department of the State. 

Dr. Briggs' study investigates the role that inward and outward FDI play in creating accounting services exports from the United States. The U.S. exports approximately $827 billion in services each year and has an overall trade surplus in services of approximately $260 billion. Furthermore, services account for approximately 69 percent of GDP and 71 percent of employment. It is perhaps not surprising that leveraging services trade is a leading priority for the U.S. Trade Representatives to support economic growth and domestic employment.

The Effects of Land Markets on Resource Allocation and Agricultural Productivity, presented by Dr. Chaoran Chen (York University)

What are the effects of land markets on resource allocation and agricultural productivity? Despite the importance and large efforts devoted to understanding land markets, the answer to whether land markets improve resource allocation and productivity remains elusive. We study the effects of land rental markets on agricultural productivity using evidence from a land certification reform in Ethiopia together with a quantitative macroeconomic model that captures institutional costs beyond access to land certification. We show that rentals significantly improve agricultural productivity by reducing misallocation and that the empirical effects of a land certification reform only capture a fraction of the overall effects of land markets.

Dr. Chaoran Chen is currently an Assistant Professor at York University. Before joining York, he received his Ph.D. degree in economics from the University of Toronto in 2017 and then taught for two years at the National University of Singapore.

His research interests are in macroeconomics and economic development. Dr. Chen’s work focuses on understanding the observed cross-country productivity differences through the lens of resource misallocation, structural transformation, and technology adoption, using both general equilibrium models and microdata. In addition, he is also interested in incomplete market models and inequality.

Searching, Recalls, and Tightness: An Interim Report on the COVID Labor Market, presented by Dr. David Wiczer (Stony Brook University)

We report on the state of the labor market midway through the COVID recession, focusing particularly on measuring market tightness. As we show using a simple model, tightness is crucial for understanding the relative importance of labor supply or demand-side factors in job creation. In tight markets, worker search effort has a relatively larger impact on job creation, while employer profitability looms larger in slack markets.

We measure tightness by combining jobseeker information from the CPS and vacancy postings from Burning Glass Technologies. To parse the former, we develop a taxonomy of the non-employed that identifies job seekers and excludes the large number of those on temporary layoff who are waiting to be recalled. With this taxonomy, we find that effective tightness has declined about 50% since the onset of the epidemic to levels last seen in 2016, when labor markets generally appeared to be tight. Disaggregatingmarket tightness, we find mismatch has surprisingly declined in the COVID recession. Further, while markets still appear to be tight relative to other recessionary periods, this could change quickly if the large group of those who lost their jobs but are not currently searching for a range of COVID-related reasons reenter the search market.

Dr. David Wizcer is an Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at Stony Brook University, located in Stony Brook, NY. He concentrates primarily on macroeconomics and labor economics.

Homeless, presented by Dr. Kai (Jackie) Zhao (University of Connecticut)

For a sizable fraction of the homeless population, homelessness is a temporary state often triggered by shocks to income. In this presentation, we will examine economic policies that may help reduce the flow to homelessness for these individuals. We constructed a model economy that is calibrated to especially capture the lower tail of the income distribution where bad enough shocks to income leave some people homeless.

We used the model economy to examine the effectiveness of several policies such as rental subsidies, housing vouchers, and relaxation of borrowing constraints in reducing the flow to homelessness at the steady-state.

Dr. Kai (Jackie) Zhao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Connecticut. His research interests include macroeconomics, public policy, inequality, saving, health and the Chinese economy.

Canva as a Content Presentation Tool, presented by Angelika Stout (UNO - College of Business Administration)

With the threat of becoming a total Zoom-bie drawing nearer every day, keeping students engaged in content can be a constant challenge. Canva can help! Spicing up content delivery with new visual layouts, templates, images, and modalities can help sustain interest in course content.

With a variety of fresh templates for presentation slides, infographics, posters, graphs, and brochures along with an expansive and diverse library of photos and clipart, Canva can help any novice presenter design and deliver content with a professional polish. This brown-bag will present basic uses, features, templates, and examples within Canva. Participants are encouraged to set up a free Canva account prior to the session.

A UNO alumna (BSBA 2011, MA 2013), Angelika Stout teaches four sections of Business Communication each semester. After earning a master's in English, she worked as the founding program coordinator for UNO's Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking, helping shepherd the program through the approval process. Her teaching experience includes teaching basic writing, English as a second language, composition-level writing, and professional/business writing.