The growth of the venture capital market should not blind one to its limitations as an engine of innovation. Kenan Institute Distinguished Fellow Josh Lerner lays out three areas of concern worthy of more research.
Since 1965, average idiosyncratic risk (IR) has never been lower than in recent years. In contrast to the high IR in the late 1990s that has drawn considerable attention in the literature, average market-model IR is 44% lower in 2013-2017 than in 1996-2000. Macroeconomic variables help explain why IR is lower, but using only macroeconomic variables leads to large prediction errors compared to using only firm-level variables. As a result of the dramatic change in the number and composition of listed firms since the late 1990s, listed firms are larger and older. Larger and older firms have lower idiosyncratic risk. Models that use firm char-acteristics to predict firm-level idiosyncratic risk estimated over 1963-2012 can largely or completely ex-plain why IR is low over 2013-2017. The same changes that bring about historically low IR lead to unusu-ally high market-model R-squareds.
We investigate the effect of CFO narcissism, as measured by signature size, on financial reporting quality. Experimentally, we validate that narcissism predicts misreporting behavior, and that signature size predicts misreporting through its association with narcissism.
Orientation weekend provided the Class of 2023 a comprehensive overview of both the Kenan Scholars program and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.
Kenan Institute Distinguished Fellow Angelica Leigh, assistant professor of management and organizations at Duke University Fuqua School of Business, explored the effect of societal events, or “mega-threats,” on employees and employers in a talk Sept. 20.
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.
The Kenan Institute and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s inaugural Conference on Market-Based Solutions for Reducing Wealth Inequality on June 1-2 highlighted research on market mechanisms that might also work to ameliorate inequality.
The 2017 Workshop on North Carolina Manufacturing Data Science targets a critical gap in the emerging digital manufacturing ecosystem – achieving data-driven improvements in manufacturing processes to realize broader benefits across the factory and enterprise. It will bring together personnel from North Carolina industry, state government, University of North Carolina (UNC) General Administration, and UNC system universities to discuss current capabilities and future needs for widespread implementation.
Join us for an afternoon with Columbia University professor and Director of the Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies, Jagdish Bhagwati. Register
Join Black Communities Conference co-chairs Mark Little and Karla Slocum as they discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Historic Black Communities. This week explores issues at the intersection of COVID-19 and university engagement.
The arrival of two approved COVID-19 vaccines provides a clear path to the end of the pandemic that held most of 2020 hostage. But a recent resurgence of the virus and skyrocketing rates of infection indicate that a full return to normalcy—including the pre-pandemic work environment— is still months in the future. In this Kenan Insight, we examine the relevant factors that will determine when and how we go back to the office.
Allison, currently Executive in Residence at the Wake Forest School of Business, spoke to a full house at the Kenan Center on Wednesday, Feb. 13, as part of an exclusive conversation on leadership with UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School students.
Greater focus on social justice has brought systemic inequities in the corporate sector to light, leading companies to step up their efforts in attracting and retaining a diverse workforce – but many challenges remain in implementing those goals. Following a joint report between the Kenan Institute and EY, this week’s Kenan Insight breaks down some challenges companies may face while trying to reach their diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
Senior Vice President of Marketing, Entertainment & Interactive Media, Hornets Sports & Entertainment
The UNC School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative (DFI) provides financial and development expertise to communities interested in neighborhood redevelopment and redevelopment, downtown revitalization or affordable housing projects, among other initiatives. DFI helps these communities attract the private investment necessary to successfully finish their desired projects.
Executive Director of the Office of Science, Technology & Innovation, North Carolina Department of Commerce
UNC Tax Center Research Director Jeff Hoopes discusses how the tax system figures into the debt ceiling standoff and why we probably won’t see any dramatic increases in taxes anytime soon.