Much has been written about the disproportionate number of women who have suffered pandemic-related job losses during COVID-19, but a related consequence has not been as well explored: the serious disruption of women’s careers, particularly in fields in which “path dependence” matters for success. In this Kenan Insight, we examine this more subtle asymmetry in the pandemic’s impact as indicative of far broader issues for women’s advancement in the workplace.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, institutions of higher education were under immense pressure to live up to their value propositions, with underlying tensions that have been developing for years posing an existential threat to their financial viability. As colleges and universities move classes and operations online in response to the pandemic, questions arise as to what such changes hold not just for now, but for the long-term success of higher education. Can ed tech provide a way forward? Find out in this week’s Kenan Insight.
The coronavirus pandemic has been especially traumatic on our country’s African American working poor. From being disproportionately concentrated in low-wage hospitality and service sector jobs to struggling with caregiving and food insecurity issues due to shuttered daycare facilities and food banks, working-poor African Americans are facing an inequitable share of financial, social and psychological challenges. What can be done to ease the burdens of working-poor African Americans, both during the pandemic and moving forward? In this Kenan Insight, Urban Investment Strategies Center Director and William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship Jim Johnson invokes a little-known federal program, the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC), as part of a strategic response to providing a coherent, place-based development plan.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Within two months, nearly half a million people fled hard-hit New York City. Will they return once the crisis has passed? In this Kenan Insight, we explore how the ongoing pandemic is raising questions about the future attractiveness of large cities as places to live and do business.
While the gender pay gap has received significant attention in recent years, little progress has been made to close it; in fact, in 2019, women still earned only 82 cents for every dollar received by their male counterparts for equal work. Policymakers in recent years have developed creative solutions aiming to close the gap, including bans prohibiting employers from asking for a job applicant’s salary history. However, in this week’s Kenan Insight, new research from our experts examines whether such well-intentioned bans are inadvertently lowering wages for all employees.
David S. Van Pelt Family Distinguished Professor of Marketing, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
As the middle class shrinks and consumer debt, education and healthcare costs increase, a national conversation has focused on the wealth gap within America and the realities of the American Dream.
In honor of tax season, UNC Tax Center Associate Director Courtney Edwards shares how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affected her personal tax liability as an example of some of the ways in which reform may have altered your returns as well.
Entrepreneurial culture celebrates the successful archetypical founder as a “lone wolf”; however, academic literature has found the majority of new entrepreneurial firms, ventures and start-ups are founded not by individuals, but by teams.
...Carolina” kiimageurl=”https://kenaninstitute.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/daan-stevens-yGUuMIqjIrU-unsplash-1.jpg” ]Medicaid work requirements are a relatively new policy, coming into effect January 2018.[/topsliderslide][topsliderslide kilink=”https://kenaninstitute.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020_Arnold-compressed.pdf” kititle=”Promising Practices for Workforce Housing: Implications for Colleges and Universities” kiimageurl=”https://kenaninstitute.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/morning-brew-SQ5Lx-pCvDI-unsplash.jpg” ]Although the first...
Many providers of defined-contribution investment plans, such as 401(k) plans, have advocated for broader access to private investments. In this Kenan Insight, we examine the operating, regulatory and legal constraints involved in allowing that access, and explore what, if anything, retail investors are likely to gain from investing in private funds.
Professor of the Practice of Finance, Director of the Energy Center, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
T. Austin Finch, Sr. Professor of Business Administration, Duke University Fuqua School of Business, and 2024 Kenan Institute Distinguished Fellow
Lecturer, Department: Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing, Northumbria University
The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise hosted UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s annual new faculty dinner Thursday evening at the Kenan Center. The institute, which supports the school’s outreach and research efforts, kicked off the event with an interdisciplinary seminar featuring a presentation by Professor Al Segars on his latest research, “Seven Technologies Remaking the World,” and discussion and Q&A facilitated by Professor Eric Ghysels.
As the U.S. economy begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses grapple with ongoing labor shortages, the debate around increasing the federal minimum wage – which hasn’t budged in over a decade – has returned to the fore. In this Kenan Insight, we examine whether now is the right time to raise the standard minimum, why these benefits may come at a cost, and what approach might work best given the inevitable tradeoffs.
One of the long-standing damages of institutional racism in the United States has been a bleak economic outlook for African Americans. In this Kenan Insight, we ask whether today’s activism might prove to be a defining moment in turning the tide for Black economic futures, and if so, who will play the key roles in creating lasting change.
How will sweeping changes in primary care services and providers affect the primary care workforce? We examine this question as well as how well the increasing demand for these services can be met in the future.