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.
Financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are hitting low-income families in North Carolina especially hard, according to a new report released by the North Carolina Community Action Association (NCCAA). The study was commissioned by NCCAA to gauge how the pandemic was affecting its efforts to combat poverty and facilitate self-sufficiency in low-income communities.
The North Carolina Community Action Association (NCCAA) commissioned a study to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its efforts to combat poverty and facilitate self-sufficiency in low-income communities throughout the state. We conducted focus groups with individuals served by Community Action Agencies (CAAs) and conducted a corresponding set of key informant interviews with identified leaders in five communities across the state. The research focused on five themes. We generated eight key takeaways from our content analysis of the focus group transcripts and nine key takeaways from our content analysis of the transcripts emanating from our Zoom sessions with community key informants.
The COVID-19 financial downturn will have short- and long-term effects on personal and consumer finance, as explored by a panel of Kenan Institute-convened experts during a press briefing held yesterday. The full recording of this briefing—along with a deeper-dive analysis on the specific implications of the downturn on personal retirement income by Kenan Institute Executive Director Greg Brown, is available in this week’s Kenan Insight.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has been a recurring theme throughout the 2020 U.S. elections, and its health and economic consequences will be felt far beyond November 3. In this Kenan Insight, we look at both the challenges and potential opportunities the pandemic has created for accelerating innovations in healthcare delivery and pharmaceutical development.
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.
Each of the Kenan Institute's 2023 Distinguished Fellows has written a paper as part of their work to support our exploration of workforce disruption. Learn more about our fellows and read their papers, along with key takeaways from each.
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.
On Thursday, March 28, about 250 private equity professionals gathered for the 12th annual Alternative Investments Conference, hosted by the Institute for Private Capital, to discuss portfolio positioning for the late-stage cycle environment.
Over the last two decades, executive compensation research has focused primarily on equity-based pay and incentives emanating from executives' firm-specific equity portfolios, while generally ignoring cash-based bonus plans as a second order effect. Exploiting access to new data sources, there has been a revival of interest by accounting researchers in more deeply understanding the value adding roles played by bonus plans.
As a once-orderly world grows messier in the post-pandemic era, UNC Kenan-Flagler's Christian Lundblad discusses strategic planning for low-probability, high-impact events.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s youth representative at this year’s UN climate conference offers her thoughts on key outcomes, the role of the private sector, and the power of diverse and cross-generational perspectives in finding solutions.
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.
After screening for attentiveness and comprehension, we present subjects with Ellsberg's (1961) two‐urn problem using essentially equivalent but representationally complex matrices. High‐comprehension subjects exhibit rates of ambiguity aversion typical of the standard two‐urn problem, while low‐comprehension subjects appear to randomise.
2024 Distinguished Fellow Jayashankar M. Swaminathan explores how firms can build operational resilience, focusing on governance, risk management, supply chains, technology and regulatory compliance.
In our previous Kenan Insight, we outlined the major findings in our recent report, Seven Forces Reshaping the Economy. This week, we explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has upended education and childcare, ushering in changes to both that will last far beyond the current crisis.
Battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the precipitous drop in the economy and continuing racial justice protests, American colleges and universities are facing their most challenging period ever as they head into the fall semester. In this Kenan Insight, we explore what the long-term impact of such forces will be on higher education, and what policy and strategic actions might help mitigate the damage.