Monthly Archives: July 2026

Consumers Place More Weight on Distrust Than Trust

Opening the door to a holiday rental after a long journey only to find it hasn’t been cleaned as promised is enough to leave anyone feeling betrayed. According to new research led by Annabelle Roberts, assistant professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, that experience can have lasting consequences. Rather than simply distrusting the property owner responsible, consumers are more likely to approach their next holiday rental host with suspicion. Similar reactions can occur after receiving incorrect information from a customer service representative or being let down by a rideshare driver. “We’re trusting people all the time, whether we think about it that way or not,” Roberts says. “There are many situations where consumers need to decide whether to trust an unknown person, and they may use previous interactions with other people in similar settings as a reference point.”

To understand how trust transfers from one interaction to the next, Roberts and colleagues Emma Levine and Jane Risen of the University of Chicago conducted 21 studies involving nearly 12,000 participants. Ten studies used online trust games in which participants exchanged money with one partner before making trust decisions with another. The remaining studies presented everyday situations, such as asking a co-worker to keep a secret or lending an item to a neighbour. Participants then rated how willing they would be to trust a different person in a similar situation after learning whether their trust had been honoured or betrayed.

Across all 21 studies, the researchers found that even a single interaction shaped future expectations. Positive experiences increased participants’ willingness to trust someone else in a comparable setting, while negative experiences reduced it. Rather than judging each new person independently, people carried lessons from previous encounters into future interactions. The findings suggest that trust is not built from isolated events but from an accumulation of social experiences that influence expectations of others.

Roberts identified two reasons for this pattern. The first is emotional: being deceived or let down is unpleasant, making people more cautious about exposing themselves to similar risks in the future. The second is perceptual. People naturally categorise others into groups, meaning that a bad experience with one rideshare driver, holiday rental host, or service representative can shape expectations of others in the same role. “You’re updating your beliefs about the population with each interaction that you have,” Roberts explains.

The studies also showed that distrust develops more readily than trust. A negative interaction had roughly twice the impact of a positive one, particularly when someone deliberately exploited another person’s trust. Although the research focused on trust between individuals rather than organisations, the findings have important implications for businesses. Companies and service providers may encounter customers whose scepticism stems not from their own actions but from previous negative experiences with similar businesses. Responding promptly to problems and demonstrating reliability can help rebuild confidence over time.

Interestingly, the same pattern did not apply to artificial intelligence. When participants interacted with algorithms in trust games, even unfair outcomes did not reduce their willingness to trust other AI systems. Roberts suggests this is because people do not view interactions with AI as social in the same way they do interactions with humans. “This trust effect is specific to social interactions,” she says. “People don’t lump AI agents together, because they don’t see those interactions as social.” The findings highlight how strongly human relationships shape consumer trust—and how difficult it can be to overcome the effects of a single negative experience.

More information: Annabelle Roberts et al, Learning to distrust: One trust experience changes the expected value of trust, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2026.104930

Journal information: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Provided by University of Texas at Austin

Gender Pay Disparities in Academia: What’s Behind Them?

Leave a Reply

Gender pay gaps in academia have been documented for decades, but why they persist remains an open question. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) examined several leading explanations, including whether differences in research productivity, salary transparency and female representation among faculty account for the disparity. Researchers from the University of California San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy and Rady School of Management analysed faculty salaries across all 10 University of California campuses in anthropology, business, economics, political science, sociology and several smaller social science disciplines. Overall, women earned 23% less than men. After accounting for field, campus and career start date, the gap narrowed to 4.3%, suggesting that other factors contribute to the remaining difference.

One common explanation is that men earn more because they produce more research. To test this, the researchers matched University of California salary records with publication and citation data from Scopus author profiles, while also accounting for academic rank. Faculty with more publications and citations generally earned higher salaries, confirming that research output influences pay. However, including these measures had little effect on the remaining 4.3% gender pay gap. “We tested one of the most common explanations for gender pay gaps in academia: that differences in pay reflect differences in measurable productivity,” said corresponding author Elizabeth Lyons, associate professor at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. “What we found is that productivity matters for pay, but it does not explain away the gender gap.”

The researchers also explored whether salary transparency helps reduce pay inequities. Because faculty salaries in the University of California system are publicly available, the university provided a natural setting to examine this idea. Despite this transparency, gender pay disparities remained. The findings do not suggest that making salaries public lacks value, the authors note, but they indicate that transparency by itself is unlikely to eliminate pay inequities without additional institutional changes.

The study also revealed that gender pay gaps differed substantially across academic disciplines. After accounting for observable factors, significant pay gaps remained in business, sociology and anthropology. In contrast, no statistically detectable gap was found in economics, political science or the smaller social science fields grouped as “other.” One of the most striking comparisons involved economics and anthropology. Women represented fewer than one in five economics faculty members during the study period, yet no measurable pay gap was detected. By contrast, anthropology had roughly equal numbers of male and female faculty, but women still earned about 93 cents for every dollar earned by men. “Women’s representation in the faculty matters and deserves to be better understood, but it won’t necessarily fix the pay gap,” said co-author Gaurav Khanna. “Representation does not necessarily predict pay equality.”

The variation among disciplines suggests that structural differences may influence compensation. Economics and political science often have more centralised academic labour markets and clearer standards for evaluating research. At the same time, anthropology and sociology place greater emphasis on books and monographs, making scholarly output more difficult to compare consistently. Business disciplines may also be affected by differences among specialisations, with men more heavily represented in higher-paying areas such as finance. These differences may help explain why pay gaps are more pronounced in some fields than others.

Although the study does not identify a single solution, it suggests that universities could learn from disciplines where pay disparities are smaller. “The variation across fields matters because it shows these gaps are not inevitable,” said co-author Marta Serra-Garcia, professor at the Rady School of Management. “It also gives universities a place to start—by asking what fields with smaller gaps may be doing differently.” The findings suggest that closing gender pay gaps will likely require more than improving productivity measures, increasing transparency or expanding female representation alone. Instead, institutions may need to examine how discipline-specific hiring, evaluation and compensation practices shape salary outcomes.

More information: Ayelet Gneezy et al, Gender pay gaps in the social sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2524119123

Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Provided by University of California – San Diego

Can China Maintain Grid Reliability While Phasing Out Coal?

Leave a Reply

China’s rapid expansion of renewable energy is transforming its electricity system and raising an important question: can the country maintain grid reliability while phasing out coal? Wind and solar power are inherently variable, and as their share of electricity generation grows, conventional coal plants are expected to operate fewer hours while the power system requires greater flexibility. According to a study published in Energy and Climate Management on 25 May 2026, variable renewable energy accounted for 18.2% of China’s electricity generation in 2024. It could reach 65–70% by 2060, making flexibility increasingly critical to maintaining a stable electricity supply.

Researchers led by Tsinghua University explored this challenge using causal loop diagrams to analyse the interactions among renewable deployment, energy storage, electricity markets, capacity payments, and coal retirement. Their analysis suggests that while China’s current coal capacity payment mechanism can help stabilise revenues for coal plants during the energy transition, it may also create unintended consequences. Because payments primarily support existing coal and gas generators, emerging flexible resources—including battery storage, demand-side response, distributed energy resources, and virtual power plants—may receive limited support. The study also notes that administratively determined payments risk overcompensating generators, discouraging innovation, and delaying the retirement of inefficient coal plants.

The paper compares China’s approach with the United Kingdom’s capacity market, where competitive auctions procure reliable capacity from multiple technologies. This market-based system helps reveal the value of reliability while encouraging broader participation from different resources. However, the authors caution that capacity market design remains important. If all technologies are rewarded equally without accounting for storage duration, short-duration batteries may be favoured even though longer-duration resources are better suited to maintaining reliability during prolonged periods of system stress.

Energy storage is identified as a key source of system flexibility. Battery energy storage systems can absorb excess renewable electricity and discharge it when demand increases, reducing renewable curtailment and improving grid stability. However, China’s earlier storage mandates produced mixed results. Although they accelerated deployment, the average utilisation rate of mandated storage projects was only 9% in 2023. The study attributes this largely to limited market access and insufficient revenue opportunities, noting that thermal generators received 91.4% of ancillary service market revenues during the first half of 2023.

To better integrate storage, the authors recommend deepening electricity market reforms by expanding spot markets, easing restrictive price caps, and creating more competitive ancillary service markets. These changes would allow storage operators to earn revenue through energy arbitrage, frequency regulation, capacity mechanisms, and other grid services. Rather than requiring individual renewable projects to pair with dedicated storage, the study argues that flexibility should be treated as a shared, system-wide resource that can be deployed where it delivers the greatest benefit.

Looking further ahead, the study identifies long-duration energy storage as an essential component of a fully decarbonised power system, estimating that China could require more than 700 GW of such capacity by 2060. It also proposes strategic reserves as a transitional measure, allowing selected retired coal plants to remain available for emergency use outside the regular electricity market. Overall, the authors recommend piloting competitive capacity markets, expanding revenue streams for storage, supporting long-duration storage technologies, strengthening carbon pricing through an emissions cap and price floor, and using strategic reserves where necessary to maintain grid reliability while accelerating the transition away from coal.

More information: Ying Zhou et al, Maintaining security of power supply in the context of technological change driven by low-carbon transition, Energy and Climate Management. DOI: 10.26599/ECM.2026.9400033

Journal information: Energy and Climate Management Provided by Tsinghua University Press

Guiding Principles for the Future of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Leave a Reply

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming healthcare at an unprecedented pace, yet many hospitals lack practical guidance for evaluating new AI tools beyond their financial cost. To address this gap, University of Virginia (UVA) Health emergency medicine physician R. Andrew Taylor, MD, MHS, and Clemson University researcher Arwen B.L. Declan, MD, PhD, have developed the Total Mission Value framework. Their model is designed to help healthcare organizations adopt AI while ensuring that high-quality, patient-centred care remains the primary focus.

The framework is presented in a new paper that argues healthcare organizations should evaluate AI through an ethical lens rather than focusing solely on efficiency or cost savings. Taylor and Declan emphasize that hospitals face increasing pressure to adopt AI quickly, but they need a structured approach that considers how these technologies affect patients, healthcare professionals, and communities.

At the centre of the Total Mission Value framework is a pyramid that places patient care and the patient experience at its highest priority. The model is grounded in ethical principles and supported by economic sustainability, reinforcing the idea that AI should strengthen healthcare delivery by supporting clinicians rather than replacing them or adding unnecessary administrative burdens.

“AI is being adopted in medicine at a scope and velocity we have never seen before, but hospitals haven’t had a good way to weigh these decisions as a whole,” said Taylor, Vice Chair of Research and Innovation in UVA’s Department of Emergency Medicine. He noted that organizations often prioritize cost because it is the easiest factor to measure. In contrast, the new framework encourages hospitals also to evaluate AI’s impact on patients, staff, and quality of care.

While acknowledging AI’s enormous potential to improve diagnostic accuracy, care delivery, operational efficiency, population health, and research, the authors also caution that these technologies present significant risks. AI systems can introduce bias, lack transparency, disrupt the healthcare workforce, and weaken the patient-clinician relationship if implemented without careful evaluation.

To address these challenges, the framework incorporates five ethically grounded priorities: patient care, staff experience, hospital operations, economic impact, and education and research. Patient care remains the highest priority, emphasizing integrity, honesty, trust, compassion, respect, and truly patient-centred care. Staff experience focuses on using AI to strengthen workforce development, teamwork, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Declan explained that healthcare organizations must resist evaluating AI solely through financial or operational measures. “Hospitals are seeing a huge number of new AI tools marketed to improve healthcare. The challenge is to figure out which ones actually will,” she said. She emphasized that meaningful evaluation requires balancing clinical, operational, and financial outcomes while ensuring patient care remains central to every decision.

Ultimately, Taylor and Declan argue that hospitals must never lose sight of their defining mission: providing exceptional patient care. Taylor hopes the framework will accelerate responsible AI adoption by building trust among clinicians and patients. “Technology should help us take better care of people,” he said. “If we keep that as the goal, the efficiency and the savings tend to follow.”

More information: Arwen BL Declan et al, Integrating mission-aligned value with cost to assess the economic impact of AI in healthcare, npj Digital Medicine. DOI: 10.1038/s41746-026-02892-z

Journal information: npj Digital Medicine Provided by University of Virginia Health System

Pusan National Study Sheds Light on Cryptocurrencies’ Hedging Role Amid Market Instability

Leave a Reply

The rapid expansion of sustainable finance has fuelled growing interest in green investments, including green bonds, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) funds, and energy-efficient cryptocurrencies. While these assets are often grouped under the broader umbrella of green finance, little is known about how they interact during periods of market instability. Investors often view green bonds and ESG funds as both ethical and financially resilient investments, while green cryptocurrencies have emerged as lower-energy alternatives to traditional digital assets. Whether these investments complement one another or increase portfolio risk has remained an open question.

A new study led by Professor Sang Hoon Kang of Pusan National University investigated the interconnectedness between seven green cryptocurrencies and three major green financial benchmarks. Analysing daily market data from November 2017 to July 2024, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers examined how risk is transmitted across sustainable financial markets under different market conditions. Their findings were published in Financial Innovation on 9 June 2026. “As green cryptocurrencies are getting more integrated into sustainable investment portfolios, we wanted to understand their hedging capability and how it differs from traditional green finance options,” explained Prof. Kang.

The research team used a quantile vector autoregression framework, an advanced statistical approach that captures market behaviour during bearish, normal, and bullish conditions. Unlike conventional methods that focus on average market relationships, this approach reveals how risk transmission changes during periods of extreme market stress and strong growth.

The analysis uncovered a pronounced U-shaped pattern in market connectedness. During relatively stable periods, interactions between green cryptocurrencies and traditional green assets remained moderate, allowing investors to benefit from diversification. However, connectedness increased sharply during both market downturns and market booms, causing assets to move more closely together and reducing the effectiveness of diversification.

Portfolio analysis showed that traditional green assets offered only limited protection against volatility originating in green cryptocurrencies. Among the digital assets studied, Cardano and Stellar were the strongest transmitters of volatility across the sustainable finance ecosystem. By contrast, green bonds, clean energy indices, and ESG investments consistently acted as net receivers of volatility, absorbing shocks generated elsewhere in the market.

The findings challenge the common assumption that green financial assets function as reliable safe havens. Although green bonds and ESG investments are often regarded as defensive portfolio components, they remained vulnerable to shocks originating in green cryptocurrency markets, particularly during periods of heightened uncertainty.

The study also demonstrated that major global events strengthened these market connections. Interconnectedness rose significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and remained elevated during subsequent geopolitical disruptions, reducing diversification benefits and increasing the spread of risk across sustainable asset classes.

As green cryptocurrencies become increasingly integrated into investment portfolios, recognising these asymmetric risk spillovers will be essential. “While investors may need to adopt more dynamic portfolio strategies, regulators should consider measures aimed at monitoring and managing systemic risks associated with emerging green digital assets,” said Prof. Kang. The findings provide new evidence that sustainability-focused investments are not immune to financial contagion and could help investors, fund managers, and policymakers develop more effective risk monitoring and regulatory frameworks for the evolving green finance ecosystem.

More information: Walid Mensi et al, Are green bonds and green energy markets hedges for green cryptocurrencies? A quantile VAR approach, Financial Innovation. DOI: 10.1186/s40854-025-00868-8

Journal information: Financial Innovation Provided by Pusan National University

The Relationship Between Sports Betting Legalization and Household Savings

Leave a Reply

The legalisation of sports betting, combined with the rapid growth of mobile platforms such as DraftKings and FanDuel, has made wagering more accessible than ever. While these apps market sports betting as an exciting form of entertainment, new research suggests that increased accessibility is also changing household financial behaviour. Rather than simply shifting spending away from other leisure activities, many individuals are reducing their long-term savings and investments to fund gambling.

A study by BYU Marriott School of Business professors Mark Johnson and Jason Kotter, published in the Journal of Financial Economics, analysed financial transaction data from approximately 184,000 households. The researchers found that households reduced their net investments in brokerage accounts by an average of 20% after sports betting became legal in their state. Among the most frequent bettors, investment deposits declined by more than 50%, with roughly 20 cents of every dollar wagered representing money that otherwise would have been invested for the future.

The findings suggest that many people increasingly view sports betting as a legitimate investment opportunity rather than simply a recreational activity. Although betting may occasionally produce large payouts, the researchers emphasise that long-term financial outcomes are overwhelmingly negative. Unlike diversified investments, such as index funds, sports betting rarely generates consistent returns over time, making it an unreliable strategy for building wealth.

Johnson and Kotter were initially surprised by the source of gambling funds. They expected sports betting to replace other discretionary spending, such as dining out or attending entertainment events. Instead, the evidence showed that many households reduced regular investment contributions to finance betting activity. The repeal of the federal ban on sports betting has therefore shifted gambling beyond entertainment by creating the perception that it offers a realistic opportunity for financial gain.

The researchers argue that sports fans may be particularly vulnerable to overconfidence. Because many people closely follow their favourite teams and players, they often believe they possess unique knowledge that gives them an advantage over other bettors. In reality, only a very small proportion of gamblers consistently outperform the odds or achieve profits over extended periods.

The study also found that perceptions of sports betting become more favourable during periods of economic uncertainty. When confidence in traditional investments declines, some individuals begin viewing gambling as an alternative means of achieving financial success. This tendency appears especially common among younger adults, many of whom perceive major financial goals, such as home ownership, as increasingly difficult to achieve through conventional saving and investing alone.

Beyond reducing savings, frequent bettors also increased spending in sports-related categories, including restaurants, bars, and cable television. These complementary expenses further increase the financial impact of gambling, as betting often becomes part of a broader social and entertainment experience. Consequently, households experience both reduced investment contributions and higher overall discretionary spending.

Johnson and Kotter conclude that sports betting is likely to remain a permanent feature of the financial landscape, making education and harm reduction increasingly important. They argue that public awareness should focus on correcting misconceptions about gambling as an investment by highlighting the actual probabilities of long-term financial success. Helping individuals distinguish between entertainment and investing may reduce the financial risks associated with the growing accessibility of online sports betting.

More information: Scott Baker et al, Gambling away stability: Sports betting’s impact on vulnerable households, Journal of Financial Economics. DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2026.104330

Journal information: Journal of Financial Economics Provided by Brigham Young University

Research shows golf delivers nearly €630 million in societal value in Finland

Leave a Reply

A new study published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living has found that golf generates substantial value for Finnish society. While golf players spend approximately €330 million on the sport each year, the total societal benefits are estimated at nearly €630 million. The research assessed golf’s impact in Finland during 2021 by examining both the economic activity generated through player spending and the wider public benefits arising from increased physical activity, improved well-being and reduced healthcare costs. Using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework, the study calculated an SROI ratio of 1.9, rising to 2.4 when broader economic multiplier effects were included.

The research was based on an online survey completed by 1,052 members of the Finnish Golf Union in May 2021, alongside financial data from ten golf courses, national economic statistics and previous research. The study was led by Julia Kettinen, a visiting researcher at the University of Eastern Finland and postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zürich, in collaboration with researchers from Finland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The SROI methodology measures the social, economic and health value generated relative to the investment made, providing a comprehensive picture of golf’s contribution beyond direct financial returns.

Golf players’ annual spending of around €330 million supports a wide range of sectors across Finland. The largest share, approximately €150 million, was spent on shareholder fees, club memberships, green fees and other playing costs. Golf equipment purchases accounted for around €59 million, while domestic golf tourism contributed €50 million. This spending flows throughout the wider economy, supporting employment, local suppliers, subcontractors and tourism services, with significant contributions to wages and regional businesses.

The study also highlighted golf’s important role in promoting physical activity. Survey results showed that 89% of respondents participated in at least four hours of physical activity each week, while 59% engaged in more than two hours of vigorous exercise weekly, well above the Finnish average. As a result, golf participation was estimated to generate around €80.9 million in annual societal savings and additional public revenues. The largest benefits came from increased tax revenue, reduced costs of institutional care for older adults and lower disability pension expenditure.

Overall, the SROI analysis combined three major sources of value: players’ enjoyment and well-being, economic activity generated across Finland and public-sector savings linked to improved health. Together, these produced an estimated €630 million in total societal benefits, with the figure rising to approximately €770 million after accounting for wider economic multiplier effects. The resulting SROI ratios align closely with comparable studies examining the value of sport and physical activity in other countries.

According to Julia Kettinen, the findings demonstrate that golf is far more than a leisure activity. While golfers invest €330 million annually for their own enjoyment, they simultaneously generate roughly €300 million in additional value for society. Beyond stimulating economic activity, golf encourages sustained physical activity, particularly among middle-aged and older adults, for whom regular exercise has the greatest potential to reduce healthcare costs and deliver long-term benefits for society.

More information: Julia Kettinen et al, The social significance of golf in Finland in the year 2021 based on SROI analysis, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2026.1832817

Journal information: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living Provided by University of Eastern Finland

Brexit Nurse Departure Linked to Rising Hospital Death Toll, New Study Warns

Leave a Reply

The sharp decline in European Union nurses joining the NHS following the 2016 Brexit referendum may have contributed to more than 1,200 additional patient deaths each year in England, according to a new study led by the University of Surrey in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen, Harvard Business School and Vienna University of Economics and Business. Published in The Economic Journal, the research found that hospitals which had relied most heavily on recruiting EU nurses before Brexit experienced the greatest deterioration in patient outcomes after the referendum.

Researchers estimate that during the first three years after the Brexit vote, hospitals with the highest dependence on EU nurses recorded 3,714 additional emergency patient deaths and nearly 14,000 extra emergency readmissions following discharge. The study found no evidence that these poorer outcomes were driven by reductions in hospital funding, bed capacity or increases in patient numbers, suggesting that staffing changes played a significant role.

To examine the impact, the research team analysed more than 32 million emergency hospital admissions across 130 NHS hospitals between 2012 and 2019. By combining patient records with NHS workforce data, they compared hospitals based on their reliance on EU nurses before the referendum. While many hospitals successfully replaced departing European staff with nurses recruited from outside Europe, those that had previously depended most on EU workers still experienced worsening patient care, including higher emergency mortality and readmission rates.

The findings challenge the assumption that simply filling vacancies is enough to maintain healthcare quality. Researchers argue that restrictions on international recruitment can shrink the pool of skilled applicants, forcing employers to recruit less experienced workers. Supporting this conclusion, the study found that nurses hired after the referendum were more likely to be appointed to lower NHS salary bands, indicating they generally had less experience or fewer qualifications than the EU nurses they replaced. Staff in the most affected hospitals also reported lower satisfaction with the quality of care they were able to provide.

Professor Giuseppe Moscelli, Professor of Economics at the University of Surrey and the study’s principal investigator, said hospitals were able to recruit replacement nurses, but often from “a smaller and less experienced pool of applicants”, with measurable consequences for patients. He said the findings highlight that the quality and experience of healthcare workers are just as important as maintaining overall staffing levels, particularly in critical hospital settings where skilled nursing directly influences patient outcomes.

The researchers say the study has important implications for countries that rely on internationally trained healthcare professionals. According to Professor Moscelli, immigration policies can produce unintended effects that extend well beyond the labour market, ultimately influencing the standard of care patients receive. He urged policymakers to recognise that healthcare systems competing for skilled international workers must consider not only how many staff they recruit, but also how immigration policies affect the willingness of experienced professionals to work in the country.

More information: Henrique Castro-Pires et al, Immigration, Workforce Composition, and Organisational Performance: The Effect of Brexit on NHS Hospital Quality, The Economic Journal. DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueag088

Journal information: The Economic Journal Provided by University of Surrey

When Social Reform Meets the Marketplace: The Case of #MeToo

Leave a Reply

The #MeToo movement has influenced not only public attitudes towards sexual misconduct but also consumer spending. New research from the University of Arizona suggests that audiences have become less willing to support films containing problematic sexual content, with these changing preferences directly affecting box office performance. The findings indicate that even relatively small shifts in consumer attitudes can translate into millions of dollars in revenue, raising important questions about whether the film industry should adapt its creative and production practices to reflect evolving social expectations.

The study was led by Nooshin L. Warren, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, in collaboration with researchers from Texas Christian University and the University of Oregon. Published in the Journal of Marketing, the research examined 1,523 top-grossing films released between 2010 and 2023. Using a combination of artificial intelligence and manual verification, the researchers analysed portrayals of sexual misconduct, female objectification, gender stereotyping, and gender-related characteristics such as agency and strength. They also incorporated over 300,000 Internet Movie Database keywords, audience demographics, theatrical release data, and real-world scandals to provide a comprehensive assessment of each film.

The results demonstrate that consumer preferences changed significantly following the rise of #MeToo. Films containing depictions of sexual misconduct generally experienced lower box office revenues, with relatively minor differences in content associated with revenue changes of between US$8 million and US$13 million. Warren argues that from an economic perspective, social movements can alter consumer demand, which subsequently influences market supply. Rather than remaining solely a cultural phenomenon, #MeToo appears to have become an economic force capable of reshaping purchasing decisions and industry incentives.

Despite this increased rejection of problematic sexual behaviour, the study found that audiences were less receptive to films presenting non-traditional gender roles. While survey participants expressed support for reducing toxic masculinity and promoting gender equality, they showed less interest in films featuring emotionally vulnerable men or women as primary breadwinners. These findings suggest that although consumers increasingly reject harmful behaviour, their acceptance of alternative gender representations has progressed more slowly, revealing a gap between stated beliefs and actual consumption choices.

The film industry provided an ideal setting for examining these effects because it was both central to the emergence of the #MeToo movement and characterised by lengthy production cycles. Since films typically require years to complete, producers could not rapidly revise scripts or recast projects after #MeToo gained widespread attention. This production lag created a natural environment for observing changes in audience demand while keeping the supply of films relatively stable, allowing researchers to isolate the movement’s impact on consumer behaviour.

Warren argues that the findings extend beyond Hollywood. Many industries, including advertising, publishing, gaming, and consumer brands, continue to rely on traditional gender stereotypes in their products and marketing. As public expectations continue to evolve, businesses may need to reconsider how they portray gender if they wish to remain competitive. Although considerable progress has been made since the gendered advertising of previous decades, the study suggests that both industries and consumers are still adapting to changing social norms, highlighting the continuing influence of social movements on marketplace behaviour.

More information: Chi P. Tran et al, How the #MeToo Movement Has Reshaped Gender Dynamics in the Marketplace: Evidence from the Entertainment Industry, Journal of Marketing. DOI: 10.1177/00222429261464934

Journal information: Journal of Marketing Provided by University of Arizona

India’s Immunization Programme Cut Child Mortality but Suggests Greater Policy Coordination Between Health and Education Is Needed

Leave a Reply

Each year, around 700,000 children die from vaccine-preventable diseases, with nearly all of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. New research by University of Notre Dame economist Santosh Kumar Gautam shows that India’s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) substantially reduced child mortality, while also producing more complex long-term effects on educational attainment. Published in the Journal of Population Economics, the study highlights the need to coordinate health and education policies so that improvements in child survival are matched by investments that support children’s learning and long-term development.

India introduced the UIP in 1985, expanding it district by district before achieving nationwide coverage by 1990. This staggered rollout created a natural experiment, allowing Gautam to compare children born just before and just after the programme reached their district, while taking advantage of the fact that only children under one year of age were eligible for vaccination. Analysing data from a national survey of nearly 900,000 children, the study found that the programme reduced infant mortality by 0.4 percentage points and under-five mortality by 0.5 percentage points—significant improvements at a time when almost one in ten infants died before their first birthday.

The mortality benefits were concentrated among children from rural areas, poorer households and historically disadvantaged caste groups. By contrast, children from wealthier, urban and higher-caste families experienced little change, likely because many already had access to vaccination before the programme was introduced. According to Gautam, these findings demonstrate that large-scale public immunisation campaigns can effectively reach vulnerable populations despite longstanding concerns about weaknesses in healthcare delivery and implementation in developing countries.

The research also found that the programme had mixed effects on education. While exposure to the UIP reduced primary school completion, it increased secondary school completion among surviving children. Gautam suggests these contrasting outcomes reflect changes in the composition of the student population. Vaccination enabled some children with poorer underlying health, who otherwise might not have survived to school age, to enter primary school, lowering average completion rates. At the same time, children who would likely have survived regardless but enjoyed better health because of immunisation were more likely to remain in school and complete secondary education. Limited school capacity and overcrowded classrooms may also have contributed to lower completion rates in the early grades.

“These findings show that vaccines are among the most cost-effective investments countries can make to improve child health and human capital,” Gautam said. “I wanted to understand not only how India’s immunisation program saved lives, but also how it affected educational trajectories and human capital development.” He added that improvements in child survival should be accompanied by policies that ensure schools have the capacity to support growing numbers of students throughout their education.

The study concludes that health and education policies should be designed together rather than pursued independently. Governments that invest in childhood immunisation should also strengthen educational systems so that gains in survival translate into stronger human capital outcomes. Gautam’s research contributes to a broader understanding of how early-life health investments reduce poverty and improve long-term wellbeing, particularly in resource-constrained settings where effective policy coordination is essential to achieving the greatest social and economic returns.

More information: Santosh Kumar Gautam, The effects of childhood immunization programs on health and education: micro-evidence from India, Journal of Population Economics. DOI: 10.1007/s00148-026-01186-8

Journal information: Journal of Population Economics Provided by University of Notre Dame

Carbon-Based Pricing Linked to Greener Tourist Intentions, Hanyang University Study Finds

Leave a Reply

Hotels have long encouraged guests to reuse towels, reduce linen changes, and conserve energy, but tourism continues to generate substantial carbon emissions. Voluntary sustainability initiatives have achieved only limited success in changing traveller behaviour over the long term. New research from Hanyang University suggests that directly linking accommodation costs to the environmental impact of a guest’s stay may provide a more effective way to encourage sustainable choices. The study found that when travellers faced prices reflecting their resource consumption, they reported stronger intentions to conserve energy and water during their stay.

Professor Hakseung Shin of the School of Tourism at Hanyang University led the research. Published online on 22 May 2026 and appearing in Volume 119 of Annals of Tourism Research on 1 July 2026, the study examined whether carbon-based pricing could motivate environmentally responsible behaviour. According to Prof. Shin, sustainability challenges cannot be solved through moral appeals or regulation alone. Instead, he argues that environmental goals should be aligned with market incentives through what he describes as “green capitalism”, allowing pricing mechanisms to encourage lower-impact consumption.

To investigate this idea, the researchers conducted three experiments using realistic hotel and short-term rental booking scenarios. Participants were presented with accommodation options in which charges reflected resource use, including electricity, water, heating, cooling, and linen services. Different pricing structures were tested to determine how they influenced intentions to conserve resources. Some participants faced additional charges for excessive consumption, while others received discounts for using fewer resources. The experiments also compared pricing in which environmental costs were displayed separately with pricing in which those costs were included within the overall accommodation price.

Across all three experiments, carbon-based pricing consistently increased participants’ intentions to adopt environmentally friendly behaviours. Travellers who knew that excessive resource consumption would increase their accommodation costs expressed stronger intentions to reduce their environmental impact. The findings also showed that discount-based incentives encouraged conservation to a similar extent as surcharge-based pricing, providing some of the first experimental evidence that market-based environmental pricing can positively influence sustainability decisions in tourism.

The presentation of environmental costs also played an important role. Participants responded more strongly when additional resource use resulted in a clearly identified surcharge than when lower consumption produced an equivalent discount. Likewise, separately itemised environmental charges generated stronger conservation intentions than costs bundled into a single accommodation price. According to Prof. Shin, these findings suggest that making environmental costs more visible could strengthen their influence on consumer decision-making. He noted that carbon-based pricing systems could be implemented across hotels, Airbnb properties, and tourism booking platforms to encourage lower-impact travel behaviour.

The researchers believe carbon-based pricing could become increasingly practical as smart technologies make it easier to monitor individual resource consumption. Integrating environmental costs into accommodation pricing may help travellers consider the carbon consequences of their choices while supporting the transition to a lower-carbon tourism sector. Prof. Shin predicts that advances in smart technologies and carbon tracking over the next five to ten years could make personalised carbon pricing a common feature of tourism. The authors caution, however, that their study relied on hypothetical booking scenarios and measured behavioural intentions rather than actual behaviour, highlighting the need for future research to evaluate whether these effects are replicated in real-world travel settings.

More information: Hakseung Shin et al, Paying for carbon: CO₂-based pricing mechanisms and pro-environmental behavior in tourism, Annals of Tourism Research. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2026.104209

Journal information: Annals of Tourism Research Provided by Hanyang University Research Strategy Planning Team

Beyond the Numbers: What a Decade of Corporate Sustainability Reports Reveals

Leave a Reply

A new study reveals that while large European companies are disclosing substantially more sustainability information than they did a decade ago, important gaps remain, particularly in reporting on value chain impacts and social issues. Researchers from LMU Munich and the University of Cologne analysed 2.9 million sustainability indicators extracted from ten years of corporate annual reports and sustainability reports. Their findings show marked improvements in transparency around climate-related disclosures, but far less consistent reporting on broader environmental and social performance. The research, published in Nature Communications, provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of corporate sustainability reporting before the introduction of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

The study examined around 9,000 annual and sustainability reports from the 600 largest listed European companies between 2014 and 2023, covering approximately 1.7 million pages. Although these reports were prepared under the previous reporting framework, the researchers evaluated them against the much more detailed disclosure requirements introduced by the CSRD. This retrospective approach allowed the team to assess how closely corporate reporting already aligned with today’s higher expectations for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transparency before the stricter regulations took effect.

To process such an extensive collection of documents, the researchers employed the large language model Llama-3.1-70B-Instruct, which automatically identified and extracted 501 ESG indicators from the reports. According to Professor Thorsten Sellhorn of LMU Munich, previous research and investment analyses often depended on expensive commercial databases that applied inconsistent definitions. The AI-driven approach provides a scalable, transparent, and freely accessible method for systematically identifying what companies disclose and where reporting gaps remain when measured against current standards.

The analysis shows that corporate transparency increased substantially over the decade. On average, companies disclosed 52.4% more sustainability indicators in 2023 than in 2014. Organisations with weaker sustainability performance also narrowed the disclosure gap considerably. In 2014, companies with the lowest ESG ratings reported nearly 40% fewer sustainability indicators than the highest-performing firms, but by 2023 that difference had fallen to just 6.8%. The findings suggest that sustainability reporting practices have become more consistent across companies, even if actual sustainability performance continues to vary.

The researchers also caution that greater disclosure should not automatically be interpreted as deteriorating environmental performance. While direct greenhouse gas emissions generally declined, reported indirect emissions from corporate value chains increased more than fivefold. Co-author Victor Wagner explains that this apparent increase largely reflects companies measuring and reporting a wider range of indirect emissions rather than producing substantially more emissions. The study therefore highlights the importance of distinguishing between improved data availability and genuine changes in environmental performance when evaluating corporate sustainability progress.

Social reporting presents a similarly mixed picture. The proportion of women in senior management increased by 9.2 percentage points during the study period, demonstrating progress in gender representation. However, the gap between executive compensation and median employee pay expanded more than twelvefold, indicating that advances have not been evenly distributed across all social dimensions. To encourage further research and accountability, the team has released both its dataset and analytical code through the Sustainability Reporting Navigator open science initiative, providing policymakers, investors, regulators, NGOs, and the public with free access to a comprehensive resource for comparing corporate sustainability reporting.

More information: Kerstin Forster et al, Assessing corporate sustainability with large language models: evidence from Europe, Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-75160-z

Journal information: Nature Communications Provided by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München