Signals - Publications - Faculty & Research

31 Jan 2020
News

Study: Most Consumers “Care Little” About Occupational Licenses, Prefer Online Reviews

22 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Reading the Financial Crisis Warning Signs: Credit Markets and the 'Red-Zone'

worried about those credits failing. Layne: What can people look for in terms of signals right now, with the Fed trying to keep inflation under control and things not progressing quite as quickly as they probably would have liked?... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Banking

28 Oct 2012
News

Act powerful, be powerful

December 1996
Case

Du Pont's Titanium Dioxide Business (F)

Provides students with the opportunity to track industry evolution over time, to explore the role that signaling may play in such evolution, and to construct and validate industry scenarios. View Details

Keywords: Industry Growth; Chemical Industry

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November 1989 (Revised August 1994)
Supplement

Du Pont's Titanium Dioxide Business (E)

Provides students the opportunity to track industry evolution over time, to explore the role that signaling may play in such evolution, and to construct and validate industry scenarios. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Supply and Industry; Chemical Industry

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March 1997
Background Note

Asymmetric Information: Market Failures, Market Distortions, and Market Solutions

Presents a conceptual framework for thinking about markets characterized by asymmetric information. Presents the standard economic analysis of "the lemons problem," and demonstrates how asymmetric information may lead to market inefficiencies and alter the distribution... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy

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November 1989 (Revised August 1994)
Supplement

Du Pont's Titanium Dioxide Business (B)

Provides students with the opportunity to track industry evolution over time, to explore the role that signaling may play in such evolution, and to construct and validate industry scenarios. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Supply and Industry; Chemical Industry

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2022
Working Paper

Consumer Reviews and Regulation: Evidence from NYC Restaurants

By: Chiara Farronato and Georgios Zervas

We investigate the informativeness of hygiene signals in online reviews, and their effect on consumer choice and restaurant hygiene. We first extract signals of hygiene from Yelp. Among all dimensions that regulators monitor through mandated restaurant inspections, we... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Reviews; Hygiene; Yelp; Regulation; Food; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Consumer Behavior

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20 Dec 2018
News

GSK, Pfizer and GE shift away from diversification in latest round of health-care deals

October 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Airbus A380—Turbulence Ahead

By: Ananth Raman, William Schmidt and Vishal Gaur

Multiple delays of the Airbus A380 have shocked analysts and investors alike. What are the causes of these delays and how should investors respond to the signals they may be sending about the company's outlook? View Details

Keywords: Investment; Product Development; Outcome or Result; Performance Expectations; Air Transportation Industry

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June 1990
Supplement

Komatsu in 1986

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the impact of a rising Yen on Komatsu's pricing strategy. Komatsu management seems to be signalling the need for price increases. Asks what Cat's new CEO, George Schaefer, should do in response. View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Price; Leadership; Management; Strategy

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Research Summary

Overview

Annie is interested in the effects of digitization and increased material abundance on consumption behaviors and the signals consumption decisions send to others. Annie studies topics including minimalism, digital payments in social relationships, scarcity, and... View Details

17 Nov 2010
News

A New G.M., but Not an End to the Bailout Era

Forthcoming
Article

FinTech Lending and Cashless Payments

By: Pulak Ghosh, Boris Vallée and Yao Zeng

Borrower's use of cashless payments both improves their access to capital from FinTech lenders and predicts a lower probability of default. These relationships are stronger for cashless technologies providing more precise information, and for outflows. Cashless payment... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Lending; Payments; Data Sharing; Financing and Loans; Information Technology; Banks and Banking; Business Model

Citation

January 2012
Article

Paying to Be Nice: Consistency and Costly Prosocial Behavior

By: Ayelet Gneezy, Alex Imas, Amber Brown, Leif D. Nelson and Michael I. Norton

Building on previous research in economics and psychology, we propose that the costliness of initial prosocial behavior positively influences whether that behavior leads to consistent future behaviors. We suggest that costly prosocial behaviors serve as a signal of... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Perception; Performance Consistency; Identity

Research Summary

I give therefore I have: Philanthropy and Prosperity

We suggest and document a surprising means by which people can feel wealthier: giving their money away. We suggest that just as acts of conspicuous generosity signal wealth and power to others, they trigger feelings of subjective wealth and power in the giver--despite... View Details

Article

Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing

By: Michael I. Norton and Samuel R. Sommers

Although some have heralded recent political and cultural developments as signaling the arrival of a post-racial era in America, several legal and social controversies regarding "reverse racism" highlight Whites' increasing concern about anti-White bias. We show that... View Details

Keywords: Racism; Zero-sum Game; Bias; Affirmative Action; Prejudice and Bias; Race; Social Issues; United States