Category: Recent Seminars

Kate White Date: 14 October 2026, Wednesday Time: 10.30-11.30 Place: MA 330 “How Political Ideology Shapes Prosocial Consumer Behavior Research” by Kate White University of British Columbia Abstract  This research suggests that there is a lack of political diversity in the stimuli used in prosocial consumer behavior research, which may pose challenges for the reliability and generalizability of such work. We review prosocial consumer behavior research from leading marketing journals over a twenty-year time period and show that the stimuli used exhibit a concentration of causes more commonly associated with liberal values, potentially leading to an imbalance in the ideological diversity of stimuli used in the literature. In a survey of contemporary prosocial consumer behavior researchers, we provide evidence consistent with the possibility that researchers’ political beliefs, disciplinary norms, and…

Laurent Fresard Date: 16 October 2026, Friday Time: 13.30 – 14.30 Online https://zoom.us/j/3370698252?pwd=OWRmQ1hNNWhRWng2QnhsTENzK1hGUT09&omn=93334435355&mynotes=on Meeting ID: 337 069 8252 “Are New Technologies Replacing the Information Produced by Financial Markets?” by Laurent Fresard University of Lugano Abstract  Firms are increasingly collecting and analyzing data. After adopting technologies to exploit customer data collected from their website, firms’ investment becomes less sensitive to their stock price. This effect is consistent with a model in which data technologies improves managers’ internal information about future demand, and reduces their reliance on stock prices for that information. This “replacement effect” is robust to alternative explanations and reverses when data usage is limited by privacy restrictions. Our findings suggest that the diffusion of data technologies reduces the informational role of financial markets in guiding firms’ investment decisions. Bio…

Vicente Cuñat Date: 9 October 2026, Friday Time: 13.30 – 14.30 Online https://zoom.us/j/3370698252?pwd=OWRmQ1hNNWhRWng2QnhsTENzK1hGUT09&omn=93334435355&mynotes=on Meeting ID: 337 069 8252 “Government Arrears and Corporate Policies: Lessons from a Natural Experiment” by Vicente Cuñat London School of Economics Abstract  We study how late payment in public procurement affects corporate policies by analyzing a public program that unexpectedly repaid local government arrears. Our identification strategy compares firms includedin the program with similar firms that were accidentally excluded. Early repayment of arrears leads to real effects and heterogeneous corporate responses. Financially unconstrained firms repay financial debt and accumulate cash, while constrained firms repay suppliers, build cash, and increase investment. This suggests that financially constrained firms can only partially offset the liquidity cost of arrears, while unconstrained firms, with better access to bank credit, fully accommodate them. The accumulation of arrears also deteriorates procurement relationships, which do…

Date: 01 June 2026, Monday Time: 13.30 – 14.30 Place: MA-330 "Contract Design for Coffee Supply Chain Coordination under Uncertainty and Strategic Default" by Mert Hakan Hekimoğlu Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Abstract  In many agricultural supply chains, particularly in emerging economies, trade occurs under significant price and yield uncertainty. Farmers must commit resources at the beginning of the crop season, while wholesale prices at harvest remain uncertain. Forward contracts are commonly used to secure supply and manage risk, but when market prices rise sharply, farmers may strategically default and sell on the spot market instead. The international coffee market provides a salient example, where recent high-price episodes in Colombia have triggered delivery shortfalls and breaches of forward contracts. Motivated by these disruptions, we study contract design when farmers can strategically default…