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Environmental justice and economic divides: a shared challenge

Governments across the globe are increasingly confronted with two pressing challenges: environmental degradation and the persistence of economic inequality. While each has long been the subject of policy debate, there has been little effort to understand how they are connected, or to examine whether initiatives designed to mitigate one might also shape the other. Addressing this gap, a new study entitled The Economics of Inequality and the Environment, co-authored by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the Journal of Economic Literature, offers the first comprehensive overview of how environmental protection and social inequality interact.

At the heart of the study lies the concept of social welfare, understood as the sum of individual well-being derived from consumption, leisure, and environmental quality. The researchers emphasise that environmental policy affects all three components, not only through improvements in air, water, or climate, but also through shifts in incomes and prices. Because these changes are felt differently by rich and poor households, environmental policies are rarely neutral in their distributional effects. A tax on fossil fuels, for example, may alter the relative welfare of different groups even before considering its environmental benefits.

As co-author Ulrike Kornek, a PIK researcher and Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics at Kiel University, explains, this perspective has concrete implications for climate policy design. The success of instruments such as carbon pricing depends heavily on whether they widen or reduce the income gap. Governments can redistribute revenues to protect poorer households, but this raises further questions about the overall impact on emissions. Moreover, the degree of inequality within a society influences its collective willingness to invest in environmental protection, while climate change itself tends to deepen existing disparities, creating a feedback loop between the two issues.

The study investigates these links through three main channels. The first is the distribution of benefits from environmental policy. Poorer households, often lacking the resources to adapt to extreme weather, tend to gain more from measures that reduce climate risks. Fewer days of excessive heat, for instance, can improve productivity and wages, while reducing workplace accidents. Similarly, climate stability supports agriculture, potentially lowering food prices and enhancing food security. In this way, environmental policy can serve not only ecological but also social objectives.

The second channel concerns the distribution of costs. Policies that increase the price of essentials such as petrol or heating fuel tend to affect poorer households disproportionately, particularly in industrialised countries. At the same time, industries exposed to climate regulations may pass on costs through reduced wages or lower returns on capital, indirectly shaping the gap between rich and poor. The third channel highlights the feedback from inequality to environmental outcomes, what the researchers term the “equity–pollution dilemma.” Here, redistribution that improves the economic position of poorer households can inadvertently increase spending on carbon-intensive goods. At the same time, persistent inequality may weaken the political consensus needed for ambitious climate action.

To strengthen the evidence base for policymaking, the authors call for more empirical studies that measure “income elasticities”—the extent to which changes in household income alter behaviours such as energy consumption or willingness to pay for climate protection. They also stress the need for more precise environmental data to map these interactions in detail. As Kornek concludes, inequality and environmental degradation cannot be addressed in isolation. Only by recognising their interplay can governments design strategies that deliver both fairness and sustainability, ensuring that efforts to protect the planet also support social cohesion.

More information: Ulrike Kornek et al, The Economics of Inequality and the Environment, Journal of Economic Literature. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20241696

Journal information: Journal of Economic Literature Provided by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

The Uneven Playing Field of Subsidiaries

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When a large corporation acquires a smaller company or establishes a new subsidiary, one of its first strategic decisions is how closely to integrate the new unit — both operationally and financially. This balance determines whether the parent shoulders most of the risks and profits alone or chooses to share them with outside investors. The choice is rarely straightforward, as it involves weighing the benefits of control against the dangers of exposure. Korean chaebols such as Samsung and Hyundai illustrate one approach: they retain firm management control while reducing their financial commitments by inviting other investors to participate. In doing so, they maintain influence over subsidiaries without bearing the full risk burden.

This intriguing phenomenon inspired Metin Sengul, professor of management at Texas McCombs, to investigate why firms often create a deliberate “wedge” between their rights to control subsidiaries and their rights to claim financial returns. He notes that this wedge is not accidental but carefully designed and adjusted to serve different corporate strategies. In collaboration with Tomasz Obloj of Indiana University, Sengul examined French government data covering 133 manufacturing companies. Together, they studied 843 cases of subsidiaries that were either created or acquired between 1997 and 2004, providing a rich foundation for analysing ownership structures.

Their findings revealed that, on average, parent firms maintained a 21% wedge between control rights and financial rights. For instance, a company might retain 100 per cent control over a subsidiary’s operations while claiming only 79 per cent of its profits. Importantly, this wedge was not uniform but shifted according to two internal factors: relatedness and multimarket contact. Relatedness refers to how closely a subsidiary’s activities align with its parent’s other operations. The greater the similarity, the smaller the wedge became, as firms tended to increase their financial stakes in subsidiaries that promised synergies.

The logic behind this behaviour is apparent. When subsidiaries are strategically aligned with the parent’s other businesses, opportunities for cost savings, innovation, and coordination increase. Parent companies, therefore, have more substantial incentives to capture a larger share of the profits. A case in point is PSA Group, the French automaker behind Peugeot and Citroën, which tended to hold tighter ownership of subsidiaries that shared suppliers or manufacturing technology. Here, synergy translated directly into financial commitment, as complete alignment increased the benefits of internalising profits.

In contrast, when uncertainty was high, parents often preferred to spread the risk. Sengul highlights the 1990s partnership among GM, Chrysler, Daimler-Benz, and BMW to explore hybrid vehicle technologies. At that time, the commercial prospects of hybrids were highly uncertain, long before Tesla reshaped the market. None of the companies assumed majority control or financial dominance. By sharing both authority and risk, they collectively invested in innovation while insulating themselves from the potentially steep costs of failure.

The dynamics of multimarket contact added further complexity. Parent firms tended to take higher financial stakes when subsidiaries competed with a moderate number of rivals across multiple markets, because those subsidiaries often generated substantial profits under manageable competition. Yet when the overlap with competitors was too significant, parents deliberately reduced their control and financial rights to avoid provoking retaliation. Sengul’s research ultimately demonstrates that ownership decisions cannot be reduced to financial logic alone. Instead, they represent carefully calibrated strategies designed to balance control, risk, coordination, and competitive dynamics. As he concludes, ownership is about more than control — it is about creating and capturing value in an increasingly complex and competitive corporate landscape.

More information: Metin Sengul et al, Ownership as a Bundle of Rights: Antecedents of the Wedge Between Control and Cash-Flow Rights Within Firms, Strategy Science. DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2022.0114

Journal information: Strategy Science Provided by University of Texas at Austin

Do Steeper Taxes Prompt the Rich to Seek New Homes?

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In debates about taxation, it is often claimed that raising rates drives wealthy individuals to uproot themselves in search of more favourable fiscal climates. Yet how frequently do these threats materialise? A recent article in the American Journal of Sociology, titled “Taxing the Rich: How Incentives and Embeddedness Shape Millionaire Tax Flight,” investigates this very question, exploring the tension between financial incentives to relocate and the countervailing pull of social embeddedness within communities.

The article, by Cristobal Young and Ithai Lurie, focuses on two watershed events that have reshaped the dynamics of tax migration among high-income earners: the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the COVID-19 pandemic. The TCJA, the authors note, altered incentives by exposing a greater portion of income to state-level taxation, thereby making relocation potentially more attractive. By contrast, the pandemic disrupted long-standing networks of personal and professional ties, weakening the embeddedness that often keeps top earners anchored to particular places. To examine these shifts, the study draws on Internal Revenue Service data covering the nation’s highest earners from 2016 to 2023.

The findings complicate the conventional wisdom. Young and Lurie report that the TCJA alone did not produce a measurable surge in tax-motivated migration. By contrast, the pandemic period saw a discernible rise in millionaire movement, though the effect proved to be transitory. This contrast suggests that relocation was less about the lure of reduced tax burdens than about the erosion of social capital during a time of upheaval. In states such as New York and California, departures were more closely tied to weakened community bonds than to headline tax rates.

The study therefore lends support to theories of embeddedness, which posit that economic decision-making is constrained—and often redirected—by the strength of social networks. For affluent individuals, the value of personal and professional ties, along with the prestige and opportunities they confer, can outweigh the financial appeal of moving to lower-tax jurisdictions. Wealthy residents, in other words, are often deeply rooted, and those roots exert a stabilising influence even in the face of higher fiscal costs.

Ultimately, Young and Lurie argue, these results reveal that state “competitiveness” cannot be reduced to the question of tax burdens alone. Factors such as infrastructure, public services, and overall quality of life also play critical roles in determining whether a state retains its most prosperous citizens. In their conclusion, the authors emphasise that policies focused solely on tax reduction overlook the broader conditions that make a place attractive, writing: “Competitiveness is not just about reducing costs; it also involves building opportunity and quality of life.”

More information: Cristobal Young et al, Taxing the Rich: How Incentives and Embeddedness Shape Millionaire Tax Flight, American Journal of Sociology. DOI: 10.1086/737165

Journal information: American Journal of Sociology Provided by University of Chicago Press Journals

Net zero commitments: public relations spin or real transformation?

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A new study has revealed that many of the world’s largest corporations have adopted net-zero carbon pledges more to protect their reputations than to drive genuine climate action. Researchers argue that these commitments often reflect a desire to conform to social and regulatory expectations, rather than a blueprint for meaningful change.

The findings, published in Applied Corpus Linguistics by University of Birmingham researchers Dr Matteo Fuoli and Dr Annika Beelitz, show that net zero has become a dominant theme in corporate communications. Yet the pledges frequently lack transparency, measurable targets, or credible strategies, raising concerns that companies are using climate language primarily for symbolic reputation management.

Analysing over 1,200 sustainability reports from Fortune Global 500 firms between 2020 and 2022, the researchers found that a combination of legal mandates, peer pressure, and social expectations drives adoption of net-zero goals. Oil and gas companies appeared particularly focused on legitimacy, while financial firms leaned heavily on alliances and peer alignment to showcase their climate credentials.

Dr Fuoli cautioned that “net-zero pledges are a step forward, but their credibility hinges on transparency and measurable progress.” Without more substantial commitments, he warned, net-zero narratives risk becoming another form of corporate greenwashing. Recent rollbacks in climate commitments by energy giants such as BP and Shell further underscore the fragility of these promises in the face of geopolitical and economic pressures.

The study also found that companies often framed net zero in vague, aspirational terms, describing it as a “journey” or “ambition.” While many strategies included emission targets and progress reports, more substantial actions—such as investing in renewable energy or structural reform—were downplayed in favour of what the researchers call a “techno-optimistic” reliance on innovation.

Dr Beelitz stressed the need for greater scrutiny, noting that “real climate leadership requires not just words, but measurable, enforceable action.” She urged regulators, investors, and civil society to hold corporations accountable, warning that unless pledges translate into systemic change, net zero risks becoming yet another hollow corporate buzzword.

More information: Matteo Fuoli et al, Corporate buzzword or genuine commitment? A corpus-assisted analysis of corporate ‘net-zero’ pledges by major global corporations, Applied Corpus Linguistics. DOI: 10.1016/j.acorp.2025.100142

Journal information: Applied Corpus Linguistics Provided by University of Birmingham

The Science of Stigma Says to Just ‘Move On’

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The stereotypical image of an employee often evokes someone seated at a desk, working a predictable nine-to-five schedule in front of a computer. Yet, for many workers, daily labour looks very different. Their routines involve strenuous physical tasks, exposure to hazardous environments, and irregular hours that extend late into the night. Consider the neighbourhood garbage collector: theirs is a role that society frequently labels as “dirty,” not only in a literal sense but also through the social stigma attached to such work.

Recognising the toll of these perceptions, Scott Dust, PhD, professor of management at the University of Cincinnati’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business, collaborated with doctoral candidates Sodiq Babatunde and Ben Fagan to examine how stress and stigma intersect to affect the well-being of individuals employed in these so-called “dirty jobs.” Their findings were published in the Journal of Management & Organization in a study entitled “Shake it off: The role of self-consciousness in dictating whether dirty work reduces satisfaction through emotional exhaustion.”

Babatunde underscored the essential contributions of these workers, emphasising that they play a vital role in sustaining public health and safety. “Dirty workers keep the environment clean, help us live healthy and keep us safe,” he explained. “These individuals are essential workers. They do things that many of us cannot or will not do, yet they continue to face stigma for their efforts.”

Fagan added that the key to addressing this issue lies in amplifying the sense of dignity and value these workers derive from their jobs. “The way to combat this,” he noted, “is to ensure that the pride they feel in what they provide for society outweighs the sting of judgement they may encounter.”

The data supported this perspective. The research demonstrated that individuals with higher levels of self-confidence are less susceptible to the adverse effects of public perceptions about their careers. As Dust explained, “Although easier said than done, those who are less concerned about how others view them are more resilient. They are better able to ‘shake it off’ and sustain job satisfaction, regardless of whether their work is labelled as ‘dirty.’”

Importantly, the team did not place the responsibility solely on the workers themselves. Their study also outlined strategies for managers and organisations to actively support employees in these roles, helping to reduce the burden of stigma and create work environments where essential labour is recognised for its dignity, necessity, and value.

More information: Sodiq O. Babatunde et al, Shake it off: The role of self-consciousness in dictating whether dirty work reduces satisfaction through emotional exhaustion, Journal of Management & Organization. DOI: 10.1017/jmo.2025.10021

Journal information: Journal of Management & Organization Provided by University of Cincinnati

Dynamic pricing boosts revenue but risks customer trust

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Algorithmic pricing has quietly become a feature of everyday life, shaping the costs of everything from Uber rides to Amazon purchases. Anyone who has rushed to book a car to the airport on a Friday, only to discover the fare had jumped sharply, or who has checked the same product online twice in a day and found the price altered, has experienced its effects first-hand. At its core, algorithmic pricing uses automated systems to adjust the cost of goods and services in response to variables such as customer demand, stock availability, competitor activity, and even individual consumer data. This can make pricing appear responsive and efficient, but it also introduces risks that businesses must navigate carefully.

While the financial appeal of such systems is clear, boosting profits by squeezing out additional margins, there are pitfalls if implementation is insensitive or opaque. History offers some striking examples: Uber drew widespread condemnation in 2012 for sharply raising prices during Hurricane Sandy, and more recently, ticket platforms have faced consumer fury over surge pricing for popular concerts. Gizem Yalcin Williams, assistant professor of marketing at Texas McCombs, highlights that the backlash is often rooted not just in the prices themselves but in perceptions of fairness. A sudden shift in cost can leave customers feeling cheated, even when the product or service remains unchanged, undermining the trust on which long-term relationships depend.

Williams highlights the psychological aspect of these price shifts. If a shopper sees the price of an item drop after purchase, resentment may arise from the sense of having overpaid, regardless of how satisfactory the product proves to be. Conversely, encountering a higher price later may trigger satisfaction, as buyers believe they acted wisely and secured a bargain. These perceptions reveal how deeply emotions, rather than cold calculations, colour responses to dynamic pricing. The stakes are high because in the age of social media, a sense of unfairness can spread rapidly, damaging a brand’s reputation far beyond a single customer interaction.

The personalisation of pricing intensifies these issues. Algorithms no longer merely reflect supply, demand, or production costs, but increasingly integrate customer-level data drawn from demographics, location, or browsing history. Although the exact formula remains opaque, shoppers are acutely aware of the possibility that their personal information may have influenced the outcome. Two customers paying different amounts for the same product can feel that the system has unfairly singled them out, even if the underlying rationale was commercially sound. This perception of unequal treatment creates new marketing challenges, eroding loyalty and heightening scepticism about corporate motives.

There are also broader implications beyond consumer sentiment.
Regulators and legislators are increasingly paying closer attention to dynamic pricing practices. In the United States, for example, grocery chain Kroger faced questions in Congress over its exploration of algorithmic pricing in stores, a reminder that legal scrutiny may follow if companies misjudge the acceptability of these tactics. Williams and her co-authors, drawing on surveys of pricing managers and interviews with experts, caution that companies must establish clear guardrails to ensure effective pricing strategies. Transparency, oversight, and sensitivity to consumer tolerance are not optional extras but essential strategies for avoiding reputational and legal consequences.

Ultimately, the research emphasises that algorithmic pricing is not a simple plug-and-play tool. Many firms adopt artificial intelligence in the hope of boosting efficiency or cutting costs, but often fail to prepare for the challenges of design, integration, and monitoring. Williams emphasises the importance of deliberate and strategic adoption. Even in contexts where automation drives decisions, human judgment and oversight remain vital. Companies must strike a balance: using the power of algorithms to stay competitive while ensuring that fairness, transparency, and customer trust are not casualties of efficiency. As this field evolves, the real test for businesses will be less about technological capability and more about maintaining credibility in the eyes of the very consumers they seek to serve.

More information: Gizem Yalcin Williams et al, Algorithmic pricing: Implications for marketing strategy and regulation, International Journal of Research in Marketing. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.05.001

Journal information: International Journal of Research in Marketing Provided by University of Texas at Austin

Cryptocurrency reporting made less rigorous by firms in good times before standardisation, study shows

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In the years leading up to the introduction of formal accounting standards for cryptocurrency reporting, companies adopted inconsistent approaches to disclosing their involvement with the emerging digital asset. Rather than being able to rely on consistent numerical data, investors were often left to piece together the significance of a firm’s crypto activities from contextual narrative explanations.

A review of disclosures from five major corporations—GameStop, Tesla, MicroStrategy, Coinbase, and PayPal—traced against the volatile swings of cryptocurrency markets between late 2018 and the “crypto winter” of late 2022, revealed a striking pattern. Firms tended to increase both the frequency and readability of their disclosures during boom periods, when cryptocurrency was ascendant, but pared back and obscured them when markets turned sour.

“Firms may intentionally simplify or ‘dumb down’ complex information in order to ‘sell’ investors on contentious issues such as cryptocurrency,” explained Ramy Elitzur, Professor of Accounting at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “When conditions are favourable, companies are eager to highlight or promote their involvement. In contrast, during downturns, they strategically distance themselves to avoid scrutiny or negative associations.”

Professor Elitzur, along with his colleague Professor Wendy Rotenberg of Rotman’s accounting and finance faculty, applied advanced artificial intelligence techniques to examine how these companies communicated about cryptocurrency. Tesla, for instance, primarily treated cryptocurrency as a financial asset or medium of payment. At the same time, Coinbase and PayPal were more involved on the supply side—providing trading platforms or selling cryptocurrency to customers.

To deepen their analysis, the researchers compared corporate disclosures with broader measures of public interest, using Google Trends to track curiosity about cryptocurrency and individual companies, alongside data on Bitcoin’s fluctuating price. They then applied recognised readability tests, supplemented with machine-learning tools, to assess the quality of the disclosures themselves. GameStop consistently emerged with the highest-quality reporting, offering detailed explanations throughout. MicroStrategy, by contrast, regularly scored lowest for readability—an outcome that has taken on greater significance given the company’s involvement in a recent class action lawsuit alleging false or misleading statements and a failure to disclose negative information. “It is not surprising that poor or opaque disclosures can feed into legal disputes or investor mistrust,” Professor Elitzur observed.

Until late 2023, companies received little clear guidance on how to account for cryptocurrency activities, which left significant discrepancies between the reported book value of digital assets and their actual market value. That gap was narrowed by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board’s issuance of ASU 2023-08, which required firms to report crypto holdings at fair market value, with changes reflected directly in income statements. While the standard improved transparency, it also introduced greater volatility into earnings for companies with significant cryptocurrency exposures.

Even with these new rules, the Rotman researchers argue that further regulatory refinement is necessary. “Our findings indicate that reporting standards should go beyond ASU 2023-08 by mandating more concrete and explicit disclosure requirements,” said Professor Elitzur. “Investors need clearer, higher-quality information in order to make sound decisions about companies engaging in this fast-moving and often opaque market.”

More information: Ramy Elitzur et al, Text Analysis of Corporate Cryptocurrency Disclosures in Varying Market Conditions, Journal of Alternative Finance. DOI: 10.1177/27533743251349221

Journal information: Journal of Alternative Finance Provided University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management

The BLM surge brought funding to Black founders – then the doors closed again

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Five years ago, following the murder of George Floyd, Black-founded startups briefly experienced a surge of attention from venture capitalists (VCs). In the two years after his death, the share of VC dollars directed to Black businesses rose by 43%. Yet this surge proved short-lived, according to new research from Cornell University.

Matt Marx, professor at Cornell’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, explained that the most significant change came from investors who had never backed a Black entrepreneur before May 2020. “It’s not so much that investors already supporting Black founders doubled down,” Marx noted. “It was more than those previously absent from the conversation suddenly appeared on the scene.”

This fleeting enthusiasm, argue Marx and his co-author Qian Wang, amounted to tokenism. In their study Minimum Viable Signal: Venture Funding, Social Movements, and Race, published in Management Science, they suggest that many investors sought to burnish reputations rather than commit to long-term structural change. As evidence, most VCs who entered the space after 2020 funded just a single Black business and rarely engaged deeply, such as by taking a board seat.

A companion paper, Funding Black High-Growth Startups, forthcoming in the Journal of Finance, reveals more profound structural inequities. Analysing PitchBook data on 150,000 founders and 30,000 investors between 2000 and 2023, the researchers found that Black-owned startups raised only about one-third as much capital in their first five years compared with similar non-Black firms. Even when controlling for industry, year, and state, the gap persisted.

The research points to “screening discrimination”: the tendency for VCs to make decisions based on perceived group differences rather than actual abilities. Interestingly, Black-founded startups perform better when backed by Black VCs, suggesting that shared networks and market knowledge enable more accurate assessments. Marx stressed this does not imply taste-based discrimination or overt racism, but rather the challenges of network exclusion and information gaps.

Accelerators such as Techstars and Y Combinator offer a partial remedy. Because entrepreneurs can apply directly rather than rely on introductions, the funding gap between Black and non-Black founders narrows significantly. “By comparison to venture capital, the gap is way lower,” Marx observed. “You don’t have to already be in the club.”

Ultimately, the studies highlight both the fragility of post-BLM commitments and the ongoing challenges faced by Black founders. While the short burst of attention was significant, without structural shifts in how networks operate and how investors evaluate opportunity, funding disparities are likely to persist.

More information: Matt Marx et al, Minimum Viable Signal: Venture Funding, Social Movements, and Race, Management Science. DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2024.06410

Journal information: Management Science Provided by Cornell University

Economic analysis highlights major benefits of COVID-19 vaccination, especially among seniors

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As the United States prepares for the rollout of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, new research underscores the economic value of continued broad vaccination. The study finds that vaccinating every adult over 65 with a single dose of the updated mRNA vaccine would ultimately save more money than it costs, thanks to its ability to prevent hospitalisations, deaths, long- and short-term illness, and productivity losses such as missed workdays. The findings are based on a computer model that excluded people with immune-compromising conditions.

The research also highlights benefits for middle-aged adults, showing that vaccinating people aged 50 to 64 represents a sound economic investment. Even among healthy young adults aged 18 to 49, the study concludes that broad vaccination could be cost-effective under certain conditions. For older adults, a second dose of the vaccine was found to be economically favourable, while in those under 64 without immune compromise, it was not.

Published in JAMA Network Open, the study comes from a team led by University of Michigan researchers Lisa Prosser and David Hutton, who have long collaborated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine cost-effectiveness research. Their model estimates that for every 100,000 vaccinated adults over 65, 391 hospitalisations and 43 deaths could be prevented. Among those aged 18 to 49, vaccination could prevent around 39 hospitalisations and one death per 100,000. Across all age groups, between 7,600 and 8,900 cases of COVID-19 of any severity could be avoided.

Despite these findings, vaccination uptake has waned. CDC data show that as of early 2025, only 28% of Medicare beneficiaries over 65 had received the latest vaccine, while just 23% of adults of all ages reported being vaccinated. Still, COVID-19 remains a significant cause of death, with over 47,000 Americans listed as having died from it in 2024, although this represents a substantial decline from earlier in the pandemic.

This work builds on earlier studies by Prosser and colleagues demonstrating that the national vaccine effort in 2020 and 2021 more than paid for itself within a year, largely by offsetting medical costs. The team’s model incorporates a wide range of factors, from vaccine costs and COVID-19 testing to treatment expenses, lost productivity, and the risk of long-term post-COVID conditions. Importantly, the estimates are conservative, meaning the actual economic benefits may be even greater.

The CDC currently recommends that everyone over six months of age receive at least one dose of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, with older adults and those who are immunocompromised advised to obtain a second dose six months later. Although hospitalisation rates for COVID-19 have declined, researchers caution that continued vaccination remains both a life-saving and economically sound strategy, particularly for older populations.

More information: Lisa Prosser et al, Cost-Effectiveness of 2023-2024 COVID-19 Vaccination in US Adults, JAMA Network Open. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.23688

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

US Oil and Gas Emissions Drive Unequal Exposure and Health Risks

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A major new study led by researchers at University College London and the Stockholm Environment Institute has revealed that air pollution from oil and gas is responsible for 91,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of severe health conditions across the United States each year. The work, published in Science Advances, highlights stark racial and ethnic disparities, with Black, Asian, Native American, and Hispanic communities bearing the most significant health burdens. It is the first study to fully measure the health effects of outdoor air pollution from every stage of the oil and gas lifecycle, from drilling to end-use in vehicles and power plants.

The research team found that pollution from oil and gas activities is linked annually to 10,350 pre-term births, 216,000 new cases of childhood asthma, and over 1,600 lifetime cancer cases. Using advanced computer models, they mapped air pollution across the country, then combined this with established health data to calculate outcomes. Strikingly, one in five preterm births and adult deaths from fine particulate pollution were tied to oil and gas, while nearly 90% of childhood asthma cases linked to nitrogen dioxide stemmed from this sector.

The study shows that the final stage of the oil and gas lifecycle—burning fossil fuels—accounts for 96% of the health burden, with the most significant overall impacts in populous states such as California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. When population size is taken into account, residents of New Jersey, the District of Columbia, New York, California, and Maryland face the heaviest per capita burden. The findings underline how consumer end-use dominates the health damage caused by the industry.

Notably, the study demonstrates that marginalised racial and ethnic groups consistently experience greater health risks. Native American and Hispanic communities are most affected by upstream and midstream pollution, while Black and Asian populations face disproportionate harm from downstream and end-use emissions. In areas like southern Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” and eastern Texas, Black residents endure especially severe health outcomes, including higher rates of premature mortality, childhood asthma, and preterm births. These inequities are rooted in historical zoning policies, such as redlining, which forced specific populations to live near industrial hotspots.

The researchers also identified cross-border effects, attributing 1,170 early deaths in southern Canada and 440 in northern Mexico to US oil and gas pollution. Given that oil and gas production has risen by 40% and consumption by 8% since the study’s reference year of 2017, the authors suggest their estimates are conservative. Senior author Professor Eloise Marais noted that the survey gives “science-backed numbers” to the unfair exposures and burdens that communities have long recognised.

Co-author Dr Ploy Achakulwisut emphasised the urgency of transitioning away from fossil fuels: “Hundreds of thousands of children, adults, and the elderly in the US could be spared from illness and premature death every year.” By quantifying the immense and unequal health toll, the study strengthens the case for accelerating the phase-out of oil and gas to save lives in both the near and long term.

More information: Karn Vohra et al, The health burden and racial-ethnic disparities of air pollution from the major oil and gas lifecycle stages in the United States, Science Advances. DOI: 0.1126/sciadv.adu2241

Journal information: Science Advances Provided by University College London

Nostalgia as a Catalyst for Value in Company Acquisitions

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When companies change hands, the common assumption has been that employee nostalgia is a hindrance to progress. Conventional wisdom suggests that workers who long for their pre-acquisition days are resistant to change, and that such feelings must be suppressed if employees are to adapt quickly to the practices of their new employer. Yet new research challenges this narrative, arguing instead that nostalgia can be an asset rather than an obstacle during corporate transitions.

A study published in Strategic Organization by UC Riverside School of Business professors Boris Maciejovsky and Jerayr Haleblian demonstrates that nostalgia plays a vital stabilising role in periods of uncertainty. Takeovers are often accompanied by fear—fear of job loss, diminished status, or curtailed advancement opportunities—which can push employees to search for work elsewhere. Nostalgia, the researchers found, offers employees a source of comfort that anchors them amidst disruption, reducing the risk of premature departures. As Haleblian noted, nostalgia serves as a “temporal bridge,” linking employees’ past identity with their post-acquisition reality, thereby maintaining their sense of belonging.

Drawing on insights from psychology—particularly emotion regulation, social and narrative identity, and attachment theory—the researchers argue that nostalgia is far more than sentimental yearning. It functions as a powerful mechanism that helps employees preserve meaning and continuity. Maciejovsky emphasised that nostalgia should not be dismissed as maladaptive: “Our findings reveal that nostalgia can transform negative reactions into constructive outcomes, thereby reducing the talent loss that so often undermines acquisition success.” In short, nostalgia reframes change in ways that promote resilience.

The study highlights the crucial role nostalgia plays when new figures and long-standing cultural markers replace familiar leadership, which is disrupted. Managers who understand this dynamic can reframe nostalgia not as resistance but as a meaningful expression of employees’ desire to protect identity and values. This perspective is particularly urgent in today’s business climate, where acquisitions—especially in the technology sector—are routinely pursued as a way to capture talent and innovation. The practice, often called “acqui-hiring,” has notoriously poor retention rates: in the U.S., nearly half of key employees leave within a year of acquisition, and three-quarters within three years, resulting in talent gaps that diminish company value by as much as 15%.

To counter this, the study outlines two strategies for managing nostalgia constructively. The first is an identity-preserving intervention, which involves retaining familiar company symbols, workspaces, and narratives that validate the legacy of the acquired organisation. By maintaining elements of continuity, employees are reassured that their history is not being erased. The second strategy centres on relationships. Team-building activities, heritage celebrations, and shared rituals can foster a sense of connection that bridges both cultures, helping employees form bonds that ease the transition.

Examples of these strategies are already visible in practice. American Airlines, for instance, has honoured its predecessor companies by restoring historic liveries, such as TWA paint schemes, on its aircraft. Far from being superficial gestures, such actions function as powerful tools to integrate employees while respecting the legacies of acquired firms. The researchers also note that strategies should be tailored: workers with critical expertise respond most strongly to identity-based interventions, while so-called “cultural carriers” can serve as conduits, blending traditions from both organisations through relationship-driven practices.

The study, co-authored with Tim Wildschut and Constantine Sedikides of the University of Southampton, is entitled How Nostalgia Facilitates Post-Acquisition Target Employee Retention: An Agenda for Future Research. The authors call for further exploration of how nostalgia operates across different types of organisational change, how it affects acquirer and target employees differently, and where its limits lie. As Maciejovsky observed, “Transparency about change is essential, but so is recognising how emotions like nostalgia can be managed strategically. When harnessed thoughtfully, nostalgia does not hold companies back—it becomes a powerful force for retention and long-term success.”

More information: Boris Maciejovsky et al, How Nostalgia Facilitates Post-Acquisition Target Employee Retention: An Agenda for Future Research, Strategic Organization. DOI: 10.1177/14761270251372754

Journal information: Strategic Organization Provided by University of California – Riverside

Unravelling Quiet Quitting: Stevens Researchers Launch Cross-Disciplinary Study into Workplace Trends

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Have you ever felt yourself slipping into a mode at work where you do only what is necessary — no staying late, no volunteering for extras, no extra mile? This is not simply laziness; it has a name and a history. The phenomenon, known as quiet quitting, describes employees fulfilling their contractual duties while drawing a firm line at anything beyond. Although it does not involve an actual resignation, it signals a withdrawal from discretionary effort and from the unspoken demands of modern workplaces.

Quiet quitting is not new, but its revival in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic has raised important questions. Burnout, job dissatisfaction and a lack of purpose are commonly cited explanations, but two researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology believed there was more to uncover. Assistant Professor Justine Herve, a labour economist, noticed the flood of hashtags and headlines on the subject and was curious about why it had re-emerged so strongly. Her colleague, Assistant Professor Hyewon Oh, a consumer psychologist focused on wellbeing, was equally intrigued. Both wondered whether quiet quitting reflected a simple disengagement or whether it hinted at something more profound in people’s lives.

The pair teamed up to investigate and soon found that quiet quitting is often misunderstood. Herve points out that employees who adopt this approach are still performing their duties as expected. They are not necessarily disengaged; instead, they are protecting their time and energy by refusing tasks that extend beyond agreed-upon hours. As she explains, “Refusing to go beyond what is contractually required is not the same as failing to engage during work hours.” For Oh, this overlap between workplace behaviour and broader questions of meaning made quiet quitting a perfect topic for cross-disciplinary study.

Their research began with a hypothesis: that the resurgence of quiet quitting was linked to reduced feelings of control during uncertain times. Using CloudResearch, an online platform for surveys, they recruited 1,400 participants and asked questions designed to measure perceptions of control over daily life. The results strongly supported their hypothesis. When individuals felt less control, they were more likely to exhibit quiet quitting behaviours. These findings were published in June 2025 in Human Resource Management under the title Quiet Quitting in Times of Uncertainty: Definition and Relationship with Perceived Control.

The study situates quiet quitting within a larger context. Periods of upheaval — political instability, economic downturns, health emergencies or climate crises — all erode the sense of control people have over their circumstances. The pandemic, Herve notes, was an “aggregate shock” to that perception, explaining why quiet quitting became so visible in its aftermath. The authors also identified two pathways through which loss of control leads to this behaviour: heightened feelings of replaceability and a reduced emotional connection to the employer. Though the relationship is complex, the central lesson is clear — uncertainty undermines commitment, prompting people to retreat into doing only what is required.

Still, the researchers believe quiet quitting can be addressed. When employees feel valued, autonomous, and able to contribute meaningfully, they are less likely to limit themselves to the bare minimum. Oh emphasises that this is not about perks or extra tasks but about cultivating genuine agency. Involving employees in decisions, showing how their efforts link to broader goals, and giving ownership over projects can reinforce a sense of control and purpose. For Herve and Oh, the chance to combine economics and psychology at Stevens demonstrates the value of interdisciplinary research — and sheds light on why this much-discussed trend speaks to more profound questions about work, wellbeing, and the human response to uncertainty.

More information: Justine Hervé et al, Quiet Quitting in Times of Uncertainty: Definition and Relationship With Perceived Control, Human Resource Management. DOI: 10.1002/hrm.22317

Journal information: Human Resource Management Provided by Stevens Institute of Technology