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Environmental Concerns Fail to Stop Shoppers from Buying Fast Fashion

New research from RMIT University suggests that environmental awareness alone may not be enough to stop consumers from buying ultra-fast fashion, as affordability and convenience can outweigh sustainability concerns. The findings highlight the complex decision-making behind purchases that may appear impulsive.

The study, published in the Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, comes amid rapid growth in online fast-fashion shopping in Australia. A Roy Morgan survey found that Temu and Shein gained a combined 1.5 million Australian customers last year. In the year to June 2025, 4.7 million Australians bought from Temu and 2.6 million from Shein.

RMIT study co-author Associate Professor Carol Tan said ultra-fast-fashion shopping was not necessarily thoughtless or impulsive. Participants often weighed environmental concerns against price and convenience, using budgets and careful planning to make their purchases feel more acceptable. Some built wish lists, left products in their online carts and waited for discounts or payday before buying.

The researchers identified two psychological patterns behind this behaviour: “strategic spontaneity” and “cognitive buffering”. Strategic spontaneity describes how shoppers plan for purchases while still experiencing the final decision as spontaneous. As one participant explained: “I add things to my cart and wait for payday or a discount notification.”

Social media also played an important role in encouraging purchases by exposing consumers to trends and making it easy to move quickly from discovering an item to buying it. Participants described seeing fashion content on platforms such as TikTok and soon adding similar products to their carts. Their clicks, searches and saved items could also shape subsequent recommendations and promotions, keeping them engaged with shopping platforms.

Study co-author Associate Professor Saniyat Islam said many participants were aware of ultra-fast fashion’s environmental impact, but that knowledge did not necessarily change their behaviour. Instead, some developed personal rules, budgets or spending limits that allowed them to feel more comfortable about making purchases despite their concerns.

The researchers described this process as “cognitive buffering”. One participant explained the conflict directly: “I know it’s bad for the planet, but when I’m on a budget and need an outfit for Saturday, I just block that out.” Tan said the findings suggest that simply providing more information about the environmental consequences of ultra-fast fashion may therefore have limited influence on shopping behaviour.

The researchers said sustainability messages may be more effective when they address consumers’ immediate priorities, particularly affordability and value for money. Showing a garment’s cost per wear, for example, could help shoppers compare the long-term value of durable clothing with cheaper garments worn only a few times. The study was based on interviews with 20 Australian millennials. It was designed to provide detailed insight into purchasing decisions rather than determine how widespread these behaviours are across the Australian population.

More information: Finela Quiambao et al, Strategic spontaneity and cognitive buffering in ultra-fast fashion consumption: Extending the S-O-R framework through Dual-process theory, Journal of Global Fashion Marketing. DOI: 10.1080/20932685.2026.2715111

Journal information: Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Provided by RMIT University

Study Casts Doubt on Matched Betting as a “Risk-Free” Way to Make Money

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A new peer-reviewed study from Bournemouth University has found a striking gap between how people perceive the risks of matched betting and what some experience in practice.

Matched betting involves using free bets and other promotions offered by online gambling companies to place bets on different outcomes of the same event, such as a football match. The approach is frequently promoted online as a controlled or even “risk-free” way of making money.

Researchers surveyed 2,112 UK adults who were engaged in matched betting and analysed 2,954 personal accounts of their experiences. Participants were asked whether they considered matched betting to be gambling, what difficulties they had encountered and whether they had experienced financial losses. The research team included Bournemouth University researchers Dr Reece Bush-Evans, Dr Helen England, Dr Elvira Bolat, Dr Emily Arden-Close and Dr Ruijie Wang.

“The contradiction between perceived and experienced risk was striking,” said Dr Bush-Evans. “Many participants described matched betting as risk-free or controllable, yet just over half reported having lost money at some point while matched betting.”

The study, published in International Gambling Studies, found that participants frequently distinguished matched betting from conventional gambling. However, their accounts also described experiences associated with gambling-related harm, including financial losses, mistakes, mental strain and emotional impulses. More than half of those surveyed reported losing money through matched betting.

Participants often attributed those losses to human error rather than risks inherent in matched betting itself. “The losses were commonly attributed to mistakes such as incorrect calculations, misunderstanding promotions or pressing the wrong button rather than to risk inherent in the activity,” Dr Wang explained. “What we found particularly interesting was that losses did not necessarily undermine people’s belief that matched betting was risk-free.”

Some participants also reported chasing wins or losses, using additional personal money to place bets, or moving from matched betting into other forms of gambling. The researchers cautioned that because the study captured participants’ experiences at a single point in time, it cannot establish whether matched betting causes subsequent gambling behaviour. They also noted that people who view matched betting as a financial strategy or side hustle rather than gambling may be less likely to recognise potentially harmful gambling behaviours.

The researchers argue that matched betting deserves greater attention from both gambling researchers and those involved in consumer protection. “Matched betting remains surprisingly under-researched despite its visibility online,” Dr Bush-Evans said. The team called for further research that follows matched bettors over time and examines how the practice is promoted through social media, online communities and affiliate marketing.

More information: Reece Bush-Evans et al, “There is no risk, so long as you follow the rules”: perceptions of risk and illusion of control in matched betting, International Gambling Studies. DOI: 10.1080/14459795.2026.2708667

Journal information: International Gambling Studies Provided by Bournemouth University

Films by Women Generate Higher Returns, Yet Budgets Still Favour Men

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Some of the biggest films of recent years – from Avatar: The Way of Water and Jurassic World to Barbie – were co-directed or co-written by women. Yet despite the financial success of films involving women, a new study published in Frontiers in Communication suggests that the industry’s largest production budgets continue to go overwhelmingly to male filmmakers.

“Films with a woman screenwriter but no woman director had 34% higher median profits than films with only men in those roles, despite similar budgets,” said Anja Huwiler, the study’s author and a researcher at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. “Yet 39 of the 44 films in the top 1% of production budgets were male-only productions, and none involved a woman director.”

The study examined almost 200,000 films released between 1994 and 2023, including theatrical and non-theatrical releases. For more than 4,200 films, researchers also analysed production budgets and worldwide gross revenues. The findings showed that women’s participation behind the camera has increased, but progress has been slow.

The proportion of films crediting at least one woman as a director or screenwriter rose from 21.5% in 1994 to 29.4% in 2023. After nearly three decades, fewer than one in three films included a woman in either role. The financial results, however, showed that films involving women could perform particularly well.

Films written, but not directed, by women generated the highest median profit, at approximately $35.9 million – 34% higher than the $26.8 million median for productions with only men as directors and screenwriters. These films also recorded a return on investment of 1.1, compared with 0.88 for male-only films. Films with women as both directors and screenwriters achieved a similar return to male-only productions while working with roughly half the budget.

Despite those results, the biggest budgets remained concentrated among male filmmakers. Male-only productions represented 74.8% of films in the top 10% of budgets, 78.6% in the top 5%, and 88.6% in the top 1%. No film involving a woman director reached the top 1% of production budgets during the 30-year study period.

Among the 44 films in the top 1% of budgets, five were written, but not directed, by women. Their median profit was approximately $113 million higher than that of male-only films, despite slightly lower median budgets. Similar patterns appeared among the top 5% and 10% of productions, where films written by women also recorded higher median profits.

The study did not determine why this mismatch persists, although Huwiler noted that uncertainty in film financing may encourage decision-makers to rely on familiar people and established practices. She also cautioned that the financial data consisted mainly of U.S. theatrical releases and that some groups, particularly women directors, had small sample sizes. Nevertheless, she said the findings offer a financial reason for studios and investors to reconsider existing hiring, greenlighting and budgeting practices.

More information: Anja Huwiler et al, Women in directing and screenwriting: the capital allocation puzzle in commercial film, Frontiers in Communication. DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2026.1838492

Journal information: Frontiers in Communication Provided by Frontiers

AI Is Transforming Business — But Can It Fix Britain’s Supply Chains?

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Businesses hoping artificial intelligence will solve their supply chain problems could waste their investment unless they first address weaknesses in data, skills and management, according to new research. The study, led by the University of East London (UEL), suggests that technology alone is not enough to make supply chains more efficient or resilient.

Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) can help businesses forecast demand, improve supply chain visibility and respond more quickly to disruption. However, researchers warn that simply investing in these technologies does not guarantee better business performance.

Instead, companies need strong foundations to make the technology work effectively. These include reliable and accessible data, employees with the right analytical and technical skills, clear management structures and well-defined responsibility for decision-making. Businesses must also be able to translate the information generated by advanced systems into practical decisions and actions.

Researchers from UEL’s Royal Docks School of Business and Law and the University of Hertfordshire examined more than 500 academic studies published over a decade on the use of big data in supply chains and business operations. Their findings show that even sophisticated technologies can provide little value when the information they generate is not trusted, properly understood or effectively used by decision-makers.

Dr Godfried Adaba, Lecturer in Supply Chain Management, said businesses should avoid viewing AI and other digital technologies as quick solutions to deeper organisational problems. “The message for businesses is that buying the latest AI or data technology is not enough,” he said. “These tools can help businesses but only if the foundations are already in place.”

He added that companies need reliable data, skilled employees, clear responsibility for decisions and managers who understand and trust the information they receive. Without these elements, he warned, advanced technology can become an expensive investment that delivers little practical value.

The researchers recommend that businesses strengthen their data governance, analytical capabilities and decision-making processes before significantly expanding their investment in advanced analytics. They also highlight the importance of building teams that combine technical expertise with knowledge of day-to-day operations, helping ensure that data and technological insights can be translated into meaningful action.

The study reviewed 508 academic papers published between 2015 and 2026, with 145 selected for more detailed analysis. The research covered areas including big data analytics, supply chain visibility, Industry 4.0, resilience, sustainability and governance. Taken together, the findings suggest that AI and data technologies can strengthen supply chains. Still, their success ultimately depends on how effectively businesses combine technology with reliable information, skilled people and sound management.

More information: Godfried Adaba et al, Big data analytics value creation in operations and supply chain management: a review of capabilities, conditions and constraints, Benchmarking An International Journal. DOI: 10.1108/BIJ-03-2026-0172

Journal information: Benchmarking An International Journal Provided by University of East London

Study Finds Personality Matters When Choosing Effective Leaders

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A new study from Michigan State University suggests that the personality traits that help people rise into leadership positions are not necessarily the same qualities that make them effective once they get there. The findings highlight an important distinction for employers: identifying someone who looks like a leader is not the same as identifying someone who will perform well as one.

Published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the study identified several personality characteristics associated with effective leadership, including achievement motivation, orderliness, self-discipline and optimism. These qualities may help leaders stay focused, organised and motivated while guiding employees and working towards organisational goals.

However, the researchers found that people who are most likely to emerge as leaders do not always possess the characteristics associated with strong leadership performance. Assertiveness, for example, was linked to a greater likelihood of becoming a leader, but it was not associated with being an effective one. That distinction could be particularly important when organisations make promotion and succession decisions.

“Leadership can have a substantial impact on organisational effectiveness and employee morale. Therefore, it is important that organisations know what to look for when hiring leaders or helping current employees develop into leadership roles,” said Christopher Nye, a study co-author and professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Psychology.

The researchers also found that there is no single personality profile that defines an effective leader in every setting. The characteristics associated with leadership success varied according to the type and level of leadership. For instance, traits associated with successful student leaders differed from those linked to success among lower-level or upper-level managers.

To reach their conclusions, the researchers conducted a meta-analysis, combining findings from previous studies examining personality and leadership. They looked at two distinct outcomes: which personality characteristics were associated with becoming a leader and which were associated with performing effectively once someone was in a leadership position. This allowed the researchers to distinguish between traits that help people attain leadership roles and those that contribute to success in them.

For employers, the findings suggest leadership selection should focus less on who naturally stands out as a leader and more on whether a candidate has characteristics linked to effectiveness in the specific role. Hiring and promotion processes could incorporate evidence-based personality assessments alongside interviews, performance records and other measures. At the same time, leadership development programmes could target characteristics and behaviours associated with success at different management levels.

“Our findings suggest that organisations may want to re-evaluate the way that they select their leaders to only focus on those personality characteristics that are linked to success,” Nye said. The study was first authored by Nathan Baker, an assistant professor at Wright State University and a psychology doctoral alumnus of Michigan State University. For organisations, the practical message is clear: selecting leaders based primarily on who appears most naturally suited to lead may overlook candidates whose characteristics are better aligned with actually succeeding in the job.

More information: Nathan Baker et al, The many facets of leadership: A meta-analysis of personality facets, leader effectiveness, and emergence, Journal of Applied Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/apl0001378

Journal information: Journal of Applied Psychology Provided by Michigan State University

You Don’t Have to Talk Politics for It to Affect Your Workday

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Most employees aren’t debating political polls in meetings or discussing contentious issues around the coffee maker. But politics can still make its way into the workplace. A study from Texas A&M University suggests that political information employees consume during their personal time can influence how they feel and behave on the job.

Published in Computers in Human Behavior, the study was led by Dr. Ian Hughes, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Texas A&M. Researchers followed 308 full-time U.S. workers over nine consecutive weeks during the 2024 presidential primary season to examine whether political information consumed outside work could spill over into employees’ working lives.

Each week, participants reported their exposure to political content from news, social media, podcasts and other sources, as well as their levels of anxiety, hope, work engagement and willingness to help colleagues. Rather than deciding whether the political information was objectively positive or negative, researchers asked participants how they personally perceived the content they encountered.

The results showed a consistent pattern. During weeks when employees consumed more negatively perceived political information than was typical for them, they reported greater anxiety. That anxiety was, in turn, associated with lower work engagement, including reduced energy, enthusiasm and investment in their jobs. Hughes noted that emotional reactions to political information may continue even after someone closes an app, turns off the television or heads to work.

The effects, however, were not entirely negative. When employees encountered more political information they personally viewed positively, they reported greater feelings of hope. Higher levels of hope were associated with stronger workplace engagement and a greater willingness to help co-workers. The findings suggest that the workplace effects of political information may depend partly on the emotions that the information generates.

Rather than suggesting that politics itself is inherently harmful, the researchers identified anxiety and hope as important pathways connecting political information with workplace behaviour. This distinction adds nuance to discussions about political media, which often focus primarily on stress, conflict and polarisation. Employees may arrive at work carrying emotional responses to events and information encountered elsewhere, even when politics is never discussed on the job.

The researchers are not recommending that people stop following political news or that employers try to control what employees consume. Instead, they suggest recognising political information as one of many potential sources of emotional strain. Strategies such as taking breaks from media, getting sufficient sleep, exercising, practising mindfulness or gratitude, and making time for leisure and recovery may help people replenish emotional resources. Workplace mental health and stress-management supports may also be useful.

The broader message is that the boundaries between political life and working life may be more porous than they appear. Staying informed remains important, Hughes said, but political information can have emotional consequences that extend beyond the moment in which it is consumed. Even when employees never talk about politics with their colleagues, the anxiety or hope generated by what they see and hear outside work may still shape how they experience their workday.

More information: Ian Hughes et al, The work-related consequences of employees’ media-based political information consumption: A nine-wave weekly study during the 2024 U.S. presidential primary season, Computers in Human Behavior. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2026.109118

Journal information: Computers in Human Behavior Provided by Texas A&M University

Local Air Pollution Linked to Congressional Election Results

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The Clean Air Act of 1970 helped standardise pollution limits across the United States. However, individual politicians may still influence industrial emissions in their districts, according to a new multi-institutional study involving researchers at Penn State.

Industrial plants in districts narrowly won by Democrats had about 30% lower emissions on average than plants in districts narrowly won by Republicans, researchers found. The team analysed 37,368 industrial plants and 5,304 U.S. House elections between 1991 and 2016. The study was published in the September print edition of The Review of Financial Studies.

“Firms have a lot more control over their emissions than we think,” said co-author Stefan Lewellen, assistant professor of finance at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. He said the findings suggest that even the “soft power” exercised by local representatives may significantly influence how much pollution firms produce.

Plants can reduce emissions in several ways, including investing in pollution-control technologies such as wet scrubbers, increasing postproduction treatment and recycling, or reducing production. The researchers found 47% higher investment in abatement technologies in Democratic districts, along with greater use of postproduction treatment and recycling. However, they found no major differences in plant productivity.

The researchers focused much of their analysis on closely contested elections, where voters’ overall environmental preferences would be expected to be relatively similar regardless of which party narrowly won. They found that close Democratic victories were associated with about 34% more inspections and roughly 30% more enforcement actions. Most were informal measures, such as cease-and-desist letters, rather than fines or formal investigations.

Although members of Congress have limited direct control over environmental enforcement, which often occurs at state and local levels, the researchers said representatives may exert influence behind the scenes. For example, politicians could encourage regulators to conduct more inspections or pursue stronger enforcement. Such informal influence is difficult to observe directly, making patterns in inspections, enforcement and emissions important indicators.

The study also found evidence that companies operating plants in multiple congressional districts shifted emissions away from Democratic-represented areas. But this reallocation appeared to carry financial consequences. Increasing a firm’s share of Democratic representatives from zero to one was associated with about a 4% increase in the cost of goods sold and a similar decline in its market-to-book ratio, a measure commonly used in assessing firm value.

The researchers also examined respiratory illness and healthcare costs. In areas with many industrial plants, districts represented by Republicans had a 7% to 8% higher incidence of respiratory illnesses and 7% to 13% higher healthcare costs for respiratory-related hospital visits than those represented by Democrats. They estimated that each Democrat-to-Republican House seat transition was associated with 67 additional hospital visits costing approximately $628,000 annually. Lewellen said the findings suggest that politicians’ preferences, alongside formal laws and regulations, can play an important role in shaping environmental and public health outcomes.

More information: Emilio Bisetti et al, Smokestacks and the Swamp, Review of Financial Studies. DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhag039

Journal information: Review of Financial Studies Provided by Penn State

Economists Examine Why People Underreact or Overreact to New Information

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When people receive new information, they often adjust what they believe. But those adjustments are not always proportional to the evidence. Sometimes people change their beliefs too little, while at other times they react too strongly. A new study examines why people may underreact or overreact to information depending on the type of judgement they are making.

The study, published in Econometrica, was conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Lehigh University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The researchers compared how people responded to the same information when asked either to draw conclusions about a current situation or to predict a future outcome.

Economists have long used the concepts of underreaction and overreaction to help explain patterns in areas such as finance and macroeconomics. However, researchers have not reached a clear consensus on why people appear to underreact to information in some situations but overreact in others.

To investigate, the researchers examined two common types of belief updating. The first was an “inference” problem, in which people received information and used it to judge an underlying situation or condition. The second was a “forecast-revision” problem, in which people received the same information but used it to revise their expectations about what would happen in the future.

The researchers discovered a striking difference. Participants tended to underreact to new information when trying to determine an underlying situation, meaning they did not adjust their beliefs as much as the evidence suggested they should. However, when using the same information to predict a future outcome, participants tended to overreact, changing their forecasts more than the evidence warranted.

The researchers call this difference the “inference-forecast gap.” Their findings suggest that the gap occurs largely because people use different mental shortcuts, or rules of thumb, for the two types of tasks. In other words, people may process the same information differently depending on whether they are trying to understand what is happening or predict what will happen next.

“Our findings suggest that this discrepancy may arise because people consider some problems inference tasks and others forecast-revision tasks, leading them to approach the two in fundamentally different ways,” explains Tony Q. Fan, Assistant Professor of Economics at Lehigh University’s College of Business, who led the study. Understanding how people mentally frame a problem may therefore be important for explaining why they sometimes respond inaccurately to new information.

The findings add to a growing body of research on how people revise their beliefs. According to the researchers, whether people underreact or overreact may depend not only on the information they receive, but also on the question they are trying to answer. The study highlights how complexity, mental shortcuts and inaccurate mental models can influence the way people interpret evidence, form judgements and make predictions.

More information: Tony Q. Fan et al, The Inference-Forecast Gap in Belief Updating, Econometrica. DOI: 10.3982/ECTA23334

Journal information: Econometrica Provided by Carnegie Mellon University

Climate Impacts May Be Underestimated by 15% Due to Temperature Measurement Errors

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When policymakers and city officials plan for climate change, they often rely on economic studies estimating how extreme heat affects violent crime, public health, energy systems and crop yields. But new research suggests that inaccuracies in temperature measurements could mean some of these impacts are being underestimated.

A study published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists found that temperature data used in many climate-impact studies can contain substantial measurement errors. These errors can cause researchers to miscalculate the effects of temperature and, on average, potentially underestimate climate impacts by at least 15%.

The study, co-authored by Wake Forest University Assistant Professor of Economics Alex Yu and University of California San Diego Distinguished Professor of Economics Richard Carson, examined commonly used methods for estimating local temperatures. The researchers found that measurement errors can vary considerably depending on location and geography, potentially affecting conclusions about how temperature influences real-world outcomes.

Because physical weather stations are often located miles apart, researchers commonly use statistical estimates, or “proxies”, to determine temperatures in particular cities, neighbourhoods or agricultural areas. However, these estimates can differ substantially from actual local temperatures. In mountainous areas such as Boulder, Colorado, standard weather proxies differed from observed temperatures by an average of nearly 15°F, while errors in flatter, more densely monitored areas such as Chicago could be as low as 1°F.

The errors can also persist over time and vary systematically according to local geography. When estimated temperatures are linked with outcomes such as violent crime, heat-related illness or crop losses, these inaccuracies can cause the estimated effects of heat to be either exaggerated or understated. For one commonly used weather proxy, temperature measurement errors averaged 3.3°F, or 1.85°C—greater than the 1.5°C warming threshold highlighted in the Paris Agreement.

To demonstrate the potential consequences, the researchers analysed more than 20 million crime records. They first estimated the relationship between extreme heat and violent crime using city-level crime and temperature data as a benchmark. When they aggregated the same information to the county level, the estimated effect of extreme heat became smaller, showing how the geographic scale of temperature data can influence study findings.

The implications extend beyond academic research. “If climate-impact studies misestimate how severely extreme heat drives crime rates, crop loss, or health emergencies, policymakers may also misestimate the scale of the responses needed to address those impacts,” Yu said. More accurate temperature information could therefore help governments better assess climate-related risks and plan appropriate responses.

The researchers also offer practical guidance for improving future studies. No single temperature proxy performs best in every location: nearby weather stations may provide better estimates in areas with dense monitoring networks. In contrast, gridded temperature data may be more useful where stations are sparse. Expanding and maintaining weather-station networks, while more carefully matching temperature measurements with where people, farms, businesses and ecosystems are actually exposed, could reduce errors and provide a clearer picture of climate impacts.

More information: Richard Carson et al, Mismeasured and Misunderstood: Unmasking the Temperature Proxy Problem in Climate Impact Estimates, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. DOI: 10.1086/742106

Journal information: Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Provided by Wake Forest University

How Independent Is Decentralized Finance from Traditional Financial Markets?

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The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies has helped fuel interest in decentralized finance, or DeFi, a financial system designed to operate without traditional intermediaries such as banks. However, new research from Penn State suggests that decentralized and traditional financial markets may be more closely connected than they appear.

Siddharth Bhambhwani, assistant clinical professor of accounting at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, compared borrowing and deposit rates from Aave, a major DeFi cryptocurrency lending platform, with U.S. Treasury yields between January 2023 and March 2026. His analysis found that Treasury yields significantly influence cryptocurrency lending rates, even though there is no direct structural link between the two markets. The findings were published in Finance Research Letters.

DeFi allows users to borrow and lend digital assets without going through conventional financial institutions. Transactions are managed by computer programs known as smart contracts operating on blockchains. Users can deposit digital assets into pools to earn interest, while others borrow from those pools and pay interest. Borrowers generally must provide cryptocurrency worth more than the amount borrowed as collateral.

DeFi can appeal to users because of its accessibility. Protocols generally do not assess credit scores, income or employment history. Users who have sufficient digital assets and meet collateral requirements can transact automatically. DeFi markets also operate around the clock and are accessible from many parts of the world. Depositors may be attracted by yields on stablecoins, cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value, usually relative to the U.S. dollar.

These advantages are accompanied by significant risks. Smart contracts may contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited, users generally do not have deposit insurance, and recovering money after a hack or platform failure can be difficult. Unlike banks, which determine savings rates using factors such as market conditions, competition and funding needs, DeFi protocols typically set rates mechanically according to the utilization of their asset pools.

Despite this structure, Bhambhwani found a systematic relationship between Treasury yields and stablecoin DeFi rates. When Treasury yields rise, stablecoin borrowing and deposit rates tend to increase as well. His analysis found that a quarter-percentage-point movement in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was associated with approximately a one-percentage-point movement in stablecoin borrowing rates.

The relationship may reflect investors’ ability to move capital between competing opportunities. Because stablecoins are generally tied to the U.S. dollar, investors can compare returns from depositing stablecoins with those available from Treasury securities. When Treasury yields change, investors may reallocate capital, altering DeFi pool utilization and consequently DeFi interest rates. The same relationship was not found for volatile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, whose large price movements can outweigh relatively small changes in Treasury yields.

The 10-year Treasury yield is particularly significant because it is a widely followed benchmark reflecting broader expectations about economic growth, inflation and monetary policy. Bhambhwani’s findings suggest that stablecoin markets respond to some of the same financial conditions influencing traditional markets. Rather than functioning as completely separate systems, traditional finance and DeFi may therefore increasingly operate as interconnected parts of a broader market for capital.

More information: Siddharth Bhambhwani, DeFi interest rates and treasury yields, Finance Research Letters. DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2026.110678

Journal information: Finance Research Letters Provided by Penn State

The “Cold-Start” Challenge: Online Employment Platforms Fall Short for Skilled Late-Career Workers, Study Finds

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Many skilled older workers hope to move from demanding full-time jobs into more flexible work later in their careers. Still, online freelance platforms may not adequately recognise the professional credentials and reputations they have built over decades, creating a mismatch, according to a new study published in Administrative Science Quarterly.

Digital technology and the growth of the gig economy have created new opportunities for highly skilled professionals to transition from traditional office-based employment to freelance work. For late-career workers, such a move can be particularly appealing because it offers the possibility of continuing to use their expertise while gaining greater flexibility and control over when and how they work.

Yet the study, conducted by researchers at Cambridge Judge Business School and the University of California, Santa Barbara, finds that older professionals can encounter what the researchers call “reputation system misalignment”. Their established professional reputation may carry significant value in traditional employment, but online platforms often assess workers primarily through ratings, reviews and completed jobs generated within the platform itself.

“We call this a ‘cold start’ problem and it’s especially acute for late-career workers seeking to change their working pattern,” says study co-author Sienna Helena Parker of Cambridge Judge Business School. Workers entering a freelance platform may therefore find that years of professional achievement do not automatically translate into the reputation signals needed to attract clients online.

The transition can require late-career workers to reassess both their professional value and their reasons for moving into freelance work. “We find that these late-career workers who make a change to freelance work often need to recalibrate not only their professional worth but also their motivations for making such a move that is more challenging than it might look before they take the plunge,” Parker says.

This misalignment can be especially significant for late-career workers because their motivations often differ from those of younger freelancers. Early-career workers may be more willing to accept a temporary loss of professional status if they believe freelance work will lead to greater opportunities, recognition or advancement in the future.

Late-career workers, by contrast, may turn to freelancing precisely because they want work and career to become less central to their lives. Rather than pursuing further professional advancement, they may place greater emphasis on flexibility and immediate satisfaction in their work. Starting again on a platform where their established reputation carries limited weight can therefore conflict with the very reasons they chose freelance work.

The findings have broader implications as populations age and people remain in the workforce longer. Workers aged 55 and older are among the fastest-growing segments of the workforce in many countries, making successful late-career transitions increasingly important. In the United States, the Department of Labor projects that workers aged 55 and older will account for 23.8% of the workforce by 2033, compared with 15.1% in 2003. Understanding how online employment platforms support—or hinder—these workers may therefore become increasingly important as flexible and platform-based work continues to expand.

More information: Sienna Helena Parker-Waldern et al, Cold Starts and Burning Desires: Reputation System Misalignment and Late-Career Transitions to Platform Work, Administrative Science Quarterly. DOI: 10.1177/00018392261464889

Journal information: Administrative Science Quarterly Provided by University of Cambridge

For Millions of Americans, Work and Health Insurance Are a Roller-Coaster Ride

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In the 46 years since Dolly Parton wrote the workers’ anthem “9 to 5,” American jobs — and access to employment-based health insurance — have changed dramatically. Millions more Americans now work as contractors, freelancers, gig or temporary workers, are self-employed, run small businesses, or hold multiple part-time jobs.

A new study published in JAMA Network Open examines how the variable hours, incomes and employment disruptions associated with these work arrangements are linked to health insurance coverage among low- and middle-income Americans. Researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Michigan found that workers with highly variable hours or incomes, or disruptions in employment, had much lower odds of having access to employer-sponsored health insurance.

These workers were more likely to be young, female and have lower incomes than workers with stable employment. They were also much more likely to rely on Medicaid or health plans purchased through Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces. By contrast, workers in similar income ranges with stable hours and incomes were more likely to have employer-sponsored coverage.

The findings come as 44 states prepare for new Medicaid requirements beginning in 2027. Millions of enrollees will have to document that they are working at least 80 hours a month — about 20 hours a week on average — or meet other qualifying requirements to maintain coverage. Workers with unstable schedules may be particularly vulnerable: although they averaged 33 to 35 work hours per week, 70% of those with volatile schedules fell below 20 hours in some weeks during the year.

Changes are also coming to ACA Marketplace coverage in 2027, including changes affecting eligibility and costs, following the expiration of enhanced premium subsidies for 2026 plans. Senior author Dr. Sumit Agarwal said low- and middle-income workers often depend on Medicaid and Marketplace coverage because they cannot consistently obtain insurance through their employers.

“Millions of people are in those gaps,” Agarwal said, noting that workers with unstable employment may be particularly affected by policy changes that reduce access to programmes designed to supplement the employer-based insurance system. As a physician at U-M Health, he said some patients covered through Michigan’s Medicaid expansion programme are already concerned that irregular work schedules could make it difficult to satisfy the new requirements.

The researchers analysed data from the nationally representative Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which follows participants repeatedly over two years. The study included 1,621 people and examined income changes of more than 25% between 2022 and 2023, weekly fluctuations in work hours, and transitions between employment and unemployment.

When projected to the U.S. population, the findings represent millions of workers: an estimated 14.6 million had volatile incomes, 11.4 million had volatile work hours, and 2.9 million experienced an employment disruption. Lead author Dr. Vineeth Amba said unstable jobs represent a growing share of the low- and middle-income workforce. The findings suggest that for many Americans, changes in work hours and income are closely intertwined with changes in how — and whether — they obtain health insurance.

More information: Vineeth Amba et al, Volatile Employment and Health Insurance Gaps Among Low- and Middle-Income Workers, JAMA Network Open. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.33883

Journal information: JAMA Network Open Provided by Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan