Some recent citations of our faculty's work in the news media:

Zhiwu Chen Urges CIC to Buy Shares in International Financial Institutions

In an Economic Observer article, Zhiwu Chen commented on the China Investment Corporation’s (CIC) recent deal with JC Flowers & Co. to jointly establish a 4 billion dollar fund for overseas investments. Chen recommended that the CIC seize on the opportunity created by the sub-prime lending crisis to buy shares in international financial institutions.

Martijn Cremers Recognized in Awarding of Crowell Prize

In recognition of his paper “Deviations from Put-Call Parity and Stock Return Predictability,” Martijn Cremers received third place honors in this year’s awarding of the Crowell Memorial Prize. The award has been given annually since 2001 by PanAgora Asset Management.

Jeffrey Garten Comments on Race by Banks to Raise Capital

Garten commented in the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune about the pressure on banks to raise capital and issue write-downs amidst the current economic downturn. Of the lending crisis, Garten said: “We’re in kind of a Catch-22 situation: a recession that is not too severe depends on the resumption of bank lending. Without that resumption, the recession is going to become deeper and longer.” Garten’s Finanical Times column on the U.S. Treasury’s proposed solutions to the nation’s current economic crisis were cited in a New Straits Times article. The article endorsed Garten’s comments on the need for global perspective and international scrutiny as the U.S. moves toward market regulation and stabilization.

Will Goetzmann Stresses the Benefits of a Diversified Portfolio

Money Magazine featured Will Goetzmann’s words of wisdom in an article on the ways in which investors can combat turbulence in the stock market. Goetzmann’s advice, from the article: “Calmly assess if your portfolio is diversified. If it is, that's the best you can do. You may get lucky switching to cash or you may not, but history suggests a diversified portfolio with a significant share in equities will do well in the long term.”

Ed Kaplan and Technion Colleagues Receive Funding for Homeland Security and Counterterror Research

Yale SOM and The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel have received a gift from Daniel Rose, chairman of Rose Associates, Inc. and a 1951 graduate of Yale College, to establish a three-year partnership to conduct homeland security and counterterrorism research. The principal investigators are Ed Kaplan from SOM, and Boaz Golany, Abraham Marmur, and Uriel Rothblum from the Technion. Kaplan and his Technion colleagues will explore difficult strategic, tactical, and operational problems arising in the areas of homeland security and counterterrorism with the intent of developing new tools for decision-making and policy analysis. The research will focus on topics including resource allocation of counterterrorism assets, decision-making under uncertainty, the tradeoff between human intelligence and technology, and exploring sophisticated data analysis techniques to identify the whereabouts of terrorists. A press release to formally announce the partnership is forthcoming.

On April 15, Ed Kaplan presented a plenary talk titled “Adventures in Policy Modeling” at the National Practice Conference of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS). He was honored as Edelman Laureate, receiving a medal for his previous distinction as a recipient of the Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Management in 1992. Kaplan was interviewed on the Baltimore NPR affiliate regarding operations research applications, and presented his joint research with Professors Keith Chen and John Ingersoll titled “Modeling a Presidential Prediction Market” at the Robert Smith School of Business. Kaplan participated in a meeting at Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Social and Decision Sciences on the threats of radicalization in the West.

Ted Marmor Delivers Lecture at Woodrow Wilson Center

Ted Marmor delivered a lecture at an April 16 event, titled “Health Care in Crisis: What’s Driving Health Reform in Canada and the United States?” at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The discussion marked The Ninth Issue of the Canada Institute’s One Issue, Two Voices Series.

Cade Massey’s Study on NFL Draft Cited in ESPN Magazine

Cade Massey’s 2006 study on the 1991-2002 NFL drafts, titled “Loser's Curse: Overconfidence vs. Market Efficiency in the NFL Draft” was referenced in ESPN Magazine. In the study, coauthored by Richard Thaler (University of Chicago), the authors found that the top draft pick is a bad investment because of the high salary costs for an untested rookie.

Ira Millstein Backs ‘Say on Pay’

Ira Millstein discussed the necessity of shareholder “say on pay” in a Deal.com article. Millstein stressed that corporate executives need to improve communications with investors in order to prevent potential pro-shareholder legislation targeting executive compensation following the 2008 presidential election.

Coca-Cola Purchases Stake in Barry Nalebuff’s Honest Tea

Barry Nalebuff’s Honest Tea company, which he founded in 1998 with former student Seth Goldman ’95, was referenced in a Baltimore Sun article on Coca-Cola’s recent purchase of a 40% stake in the company. Under the deal with Coke, Honest Tea will operate independently, with Goldman and a separate board in control for three years, after which Coke will have the option of buying a majority stake.

Joel Podolny Discusses ‘21st Century MBA’ in Economic Times Piece

Joel Podolny contributed an opinion piece to the Economic Times titled “Transforming the MBA for the 21st Century.” The article marks a new partnership with the publication in which Yale SOM and Yale University faculty will contribute monthly editorials to the newspaper’s “View Point” column. “The World Is Not Small for Everyone: Out-Group Status and Homophily as Impediments to Searching for Knowledge Within Organizations,” a working paper co-authored by Podolny, was summarized in the MIT Sloan Management Review. In studying how employees of a multinational consulting firm gathered information, Podolny et al tracked “search chains,” the paths of connections starting from the search-initiating individuals to the people who possessed the necessary knowledge. The authors found that individuals in “out groups,” such as new employees and those on the periphery of the organization’s social network, tend to consult colleagues who are similar to them – and therefore unlikely to have the information they seek – out of fear of judgment.

Geert Rouwenhorst’s Commodity Futures Research Cited

Geert Rouwenhorst’s “Facts and Fantasies about Commodity Futures,” co-authored by Gary Gorton (Wharton School), was featured in a Registered Rep. article on the ways in which the recent boom in agriculture has affected the stock market. Among other findings in their 2004 paper, Rouwenhorst and Gorton showed that over a 45-year period, the risk premium for stocks was greater than that for commodities. “The Fundamentals of Commodity Futures Returns,” a more recent Rouwenhorst-Gorton endeavor, was cited by Bloomberg in an article on Chinese food inflation and its impact on risk premiums.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld Distinguishes ‘Monarchs’ from ‘Generals’

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld was featured in a CNBC “Free Swim” debate about the propriety of former executives and politicians who weigh in on issues affecting their onetime posts. Sonnenfeld noted that there are two classes of former CEOs: “monarchs,” whose forced exits are quiet and permanent, and “generals,” whose highly-publicized departures are often reluctant.

Submissions Welcome
Send information on new research, class speakers, lectures, media, and other faculty news to the Media Relations mailbox.