Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, finding affordable housing was a persistent problem in the U.S. In this Kenan Insight, we look at the factors driving the nationwide affordable housing crunch, particularly for those most affected by it — low income, single-parent families.
North Carolina is one of the major migration destinations in the U.S. A newly created dashboard that uses 2015-2016 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) county-to-county migration data provides key insights into both the origins and economic characteristics of recent newcomers to the Tar Heel State.
As long-standing leaders in sustainability, the Center for Sustainable Enterprise and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise are proud to host the University of North Carolina Sustainability Awards.
In December 2019, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Center for the Business of Health (CBOH) began a research partnership with Sharecare, a leading digital health company founded by technology entrepreneur, Jeff Arnold, to assess the economic value of changing various health behaviors via mobile health (mHealth) interventions.
During the past 40 years, the income gap between top and bottom earners has expanded exponentially, with the top 1% controlling about 20% of national income and the bottom 50% holding less than 13%. In this Kenan Insight, we examine the role of two factors contributing to regional inequalities in the U.S and Europe: job automation and telecommuting.
In response to the economic chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government launched its largest fiscal stimulus in modern history—the CARES Act. But with $2 trillion invested in small businesses, unemployment benefits and direct cash payments to households, the CARES Act has still fallen short of its goals to spur consumer spending and restore employment. This Kenan Insight analyzes what went wrong, and offers suggestions for the anticipated next round of federal economic aid.
This article examines the consequences of accounting policy choices for individual banks' downside tail risk, for the codependence of such risk among banks, and for regulatory forbearance, or the decision by a regulator not to intervene.
The mounting health and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic raises many questions about how this unprecedented event will affect the U.S. economy. In this Kenan Insight, we explore how people’s expectations about their own financial situation may hold some answers as to how the larger economy will perform.
Apprenticeship programs have not historically been successful in reaching a diverse array of people. A report by the institute-affiliated NCGrowth examines trends within apprenticeship and offers a set of best practices to continue diversifying these programs
2022 was a tumultuous year: NASDAQ, a tech-heavy stock index, closed the year down more than 30%; inflation proved more stubborn than policymakers initially thought and reached 40-year highs; Russia invaded Ukraine, sending commodity prices even higher; and central banks cranked up rates in response, the Federal Reserve raising interest rates at an unprecedented pace in recent history from around zero to over 4%. As we entered 2023, the global economy stood “on a razor’s edge,” the World Bank warned in its latest projections. Add to that a divided Congress with razor-thin majorities, political wrangling over the debt ceiling, and increasingly frequent catastrophic weather events, and it leaves one wondering where we are all headed.
Every year, millions of students enroll in post-secondary programs with hopes of attaining the education they need to get ahead in the job market. But in the U.S. higher education system, “college acts like a lottery,” says Ben Miller, director of the Postsecondary Education Center for American Progress. Some students graduate with applicable skills and higher earning potential, while others leave unemployed with ever-increasing piles of debt.
Firms continue to strive for greater representation on corporate boards. One California law, attempting to mandate such greater representation, has encountered a recent setback. Two experts discuss obstacles to more diverse corporate leadership and offer approaches for surmounting them.
With 45 states offering a range of SBIR Outreach and SBIR Match programs specifically designed to enhance the federal SBIR program, such programs provide a useful lens for examining the nature of the multilevel innovation policy mix.
Economists and investors traditionally see uncertainty as a bad thing that suppresses growth and valuations, but new research shows that downstream uncertainty from customers in the U.S. supply chain can foretell expansion for firms and the economy.
Following last week’s debate about the overheating economy, Kenan Institute experts return this week for round two – this time focusing on policy. In this week's insight, Kenan Institute’s Executive Director Greg Brown and Chief Economist Gerald Cohen debate the pandemic’s influence on U.S. fiscal policies.
The Trends in Entrepreneurship Report brings together expertise and data from academia, industry and policy to highlight relevant topics facing entrepreneurs and investors today. For the 2022 annual report, we invited researchers to submit trends based on their own emerging research. We welcomed submissions related to current topics in entrepreneurship, with a particular interest on trends related to funding; ecosystems; teams and talent; emerging technologies; and addressing diversity, equity and inclusion in entrepreneurship and small business. Each trend was reviewed for quality and relevance by our editorial board
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (May 31, 2022) — Learn how the Department of Labor’s monthly employment report and recent market gyrations will affect expectations for the Fed’s interest rate policy and views on the economic outlook when the Kenan Institute’s new series of virtual press briefings returns this week.
How do firms try to retain workers in a tight labor market? New research finds that employers use a variety of pay and nonpay mechanisms but that multiplant companies may find the nonpay options more cost-effective.
Junior Kenan Scholar Andrea Prego is recognized for her tireless work in the Latinx community. This year Prego was named to LatinxEd’s “20 Under 20,” a competition focused on elevating Latinx students across North Carolina.