In description
Recent elections, G20 summits, and CEO pay scandals have brought inequality to the forefront of the news. Economists often point out that decisions on, say, tax policy in this arena depend on society’s – and individuals’ – attitudes to inequality and fairness. But how you feel about a given inequality depends on how it affects you. Our recent research on behavioural economics reveals how consumers care about fairness in the product they are proposed, and how it affects their purchase.
By Brian Hill
“I just make the time to read a book and it gives me this burst of fire in the belly to give me another two or three hours of creativity or productivity.” This cry of passion by author Robin Sharma is a call to arms four HEC researchers have heard throughout their respective careers. Gilles Deleuze, Norbert Elias, Sherry Turkle and E.O. Wilson are so many references inspiring our academics in their devotion to further their disciplines. They share their passion for books in this first Breakthroughs podcast of 2025.
Digital platforms function as private regulators in the society. What are the consequences, direct and unintended, of these platforms’ rule-making choices on individuals, firms, regulators, and social movement organizations?Key findings:- Controlling Social Movements: Platforms mediate resource mobilization for social movements, potentially restricting collective action.- Complementor Compliance: Digital platforms like Airbnb enforce rules within their ecosystems but often fail to ensure compliance on external platforms.- Creating Professional Classes: Platforms generate new roles, such as professional complementors, who adapt to platform-specific demands, reinforcing network effects.
By interrogating the dominance of English and the myth of meritocracy, professors Daniel Martinez and Keith Robson uncover how language and social systems perpetuate exclusion in academia and professional settings. These insights call for a systemic rethinking of norms to promote true equity and inclusion. This conversation is critical, not just for accounting but for global academia and the broader professional world (as exemplified in a recent op-ed by Martinez in Forbes). Here are extracts from the Knowledge@HEC podcast series Breakthroughs.
By Daniel Martinez Ahloy , Keith Robson
When a corporate scandal breaks, everybody knows about it. But how long do scandals remain in the shadows of rumor? Julien Jourdan of HEC Paris and Alessandro Piazza of Rice University (Texas) say that data on sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church shows how community is key when it comes to allowing scandal to emerge and hit the headlines.The key findings in a nutshell:• Community influence: The likelihood of scandals emerging depends significantly on the social structure of the surrounding community.• Social connectedness: High social connectedness in a community (dense social spaces) fosters rumor circulation, increasing the chance of misconduct becoming public.• Broad application: These findings are broadly applicable, influencing policy and organizational approaches to prevent prolonged concealment of misconduct.
By Julien Jourdan
The big data revolution - the integration of vast amounts of data through Artificial Intelligence - has far-reaching economic implications, particularly for the financial industry and jobs in this industry. Why? And could AI potentially trigger the next financial crisis, as recently suggested by Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)? HEC Paris Professor of Finance Thierry Foucault explored how data and algorithms are transforming investment decision-making and trading behavior in financial markets in a November Reskill masterclass. He also tackled the associated risks, and the implications for jobs in the financial industry. Extracts.
By Thierry Foucault
At the end of this year, marked by crucial elections in France and around the world, I would like to draw on recent research to shed light on the overlooked links between finance and politics. It has become a widely accepted idea that rising political polarization causes people with differing affiliations to view the world through distinct lenses and even to believe in different facts. Recent research shows that the financial industry is not immune to partisan biases; finance professionals, too, carry their political identities into their work. Let me take you on a tour of this research!
Ratings and rankings are frequently used to motivate companies to become good corporate citizens. The late Wooseok Jung, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources, and his co-authors, Amanda Sharkey from the University of Notre Dame and David Tan from Johns Hopkins University in the US, studied the response of firms that barely make it into a CSR ranking, such as Tesla. They showed that in a specific context, companies can take significant action in the area of CSR but that these efforts are mostly window dressing.
HEC research professor Craig Anderson has been exploring the impact of “awe” on well-being for over a decade. The specialist in affective science recently published a paper on culture and awe, comparing the emotional approach of Americans and Chinese to this phenomenon. Anderson’s research was at the heart of a 2023 National Geographic documentary “Operation Arctic Cure” which traces the use of awe to alleviate PTSD in veteran soldiers. The American academic shares his insights into a new science reshaping policies in sustainability, marketing and health.
Shocking images get our attention, but the effects might be more nuanced than marketers realise, say Professors L.J. Shrum of HEC Paris and Elena Fumagalli of INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. Their recent paper on ‘shockvertising’ explores the subtle ways in which powerful negative images influence consumers.
By L. J. Shrum
