Published: May 18, 2020

Faculty research plays a critical role in building a top business school. When a journal article is very successful, it influences how academics think about a topic and changes how people in industry and government think, too. But the impact does not stop there; this work inspires curriculum and, more broadly, schools鈥 rankings among other research-producing institutions.听

Leeds faculty and PhD student research are published in an elite set of journals, meaning their thought leadership is among the best of the best. However, the school鈥檚 community, especially employer partners and donors, have not always been aware of the importance of this research for the Leeds School and for society at large.听

In 2017, that all changed.听

Former Advisory Board Chair (now emeritus) Gordon Trafton, current Board Chair Ellen Balaguer and board member emerita听Kathryn Marshall brought their ideas to Dean Sharon Matusik and John Lynch, senior associate dean for faculty and research, for how the school could amplify the faculty research for Leeds鈥 stakeholders and better celebrate the achievements of faculty.听

Longtime supporters of Leeds, alumnus Dolf Kahle (InBus'88) and his wife Susan Kahle (Comm'87), also a 兔子先生传媒文化作品 alumna, were excited to support these efforts. They agreed to help formally establish the Kahle Family Research Award in order to highlight excellence in research by Leeds faculty, and share the faculty鈥檚 thought leadership with the school鈥檚 community.

Since then, Leeds has presented the Kahle Family Research Award to one exceptional faculty research paper published in an elite journal in the previous calendar year. Each division will nominate the outstanding paper produced within that division, and a faculty committee then determines the award-winning work.听

As John Lynch describes, 鈥淭his faculty research award lifts up the research excellence of our faculty and raises the understanding of why that research is crucial for a top business school.鈥

Asaf BernsteinRyan C. LewisThis year鈥檚 award was recently presented to Assistant Professors Asaf Bernstein and Ryan Lewis from the Finance Division for their paper titled 鈥淒isaster on the horizon: The price effect of sea level rise.鈥

The article appeared in the Journal of Financial Economics and focused on impact rising sea levels will have on coastal real estate markets. They found that homes vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise (SLR)听sold for 6.6% less than unexposed homes, and the most vulnerable properties 鈥 those that stand to be flooded after one foot of SLR 鈥 are selling at a 14.7% discount. Their work underscores the distinct relationship between financial markets and effects of climate change on coastal real estate prices and suggests there are benefits to establishing policies now, such as requiring increased transparency in coastal real estate transactions, which may help mitigate future costs of climate change.听

The following papers are the rest of this year鈥檚 nominees by division:

Accounting

鈥淎 Growing Disparity in Earnings Disclosure Mechanisms: The Rise of Concurrently Released Earnings Announcements and 10-Ks鈥
Published in the Journal of Accounting & Economics

Nathan MarshallAssistant Professor Nathan Marshall鈥檚 work on earnings disparities shows that more companies disclose earnings announcements concurrently with their 10-K reports instead of on their own. Marshall found that this growing phenomenon has led to lower investor sophistication and more obstacles in the way of reliable earnings information.听

Marketing

鈥淓xtreme Opponents of Genetically Modified Foods Know the Least But Think They Know the Most鈥
Published in Nature Human Behaviour

Phil FernbachNick LightPhilip Fernbach, associate professor and co-director of the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making, and PhD candidate Nick Light coauthored a paper on how those who are most opposed to genetically modified foods often听 think they know about genetically modified foods than they actually do.

Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics

鈥淭he Role of Race is Salary Negotiations鈥
Published in the Journal of Applied Psychology

Sabrina VolponeSabrina Volpone, assistant professor and PhD program director, co-authored this paper exposing how Black job-seekers receive unfavorable outcomes in salary negotiations, due to expectations that they will ask for less than White counterparts.

Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Operations

鈥淥perational Transparency on Crowdfunding Platforms: Effect on Donations for Emergency Response.鈥
Published in Production and Operations Management

Gloria UrreaAssistant Professor Gloria Urrea, co-authored this research focused on finding ways to increase yield for disaster-relief crowdfunding efforts and showed that organizers鈥 updates to the campaigns and the certification that the campaign benefits a charitable purpose both increase donations to the cause.

Congratulations to all of this year鈥檚 outstanding top nominees. We鈥檙e incredibly proud of the work and contributions you make in your respective fields.听