As we begin the new year, we wanted to highlight five topics, beyond the impact of COVID-19 and related uncertainties, that we believe business leaders and policymakers will be grappling with in 2022. Throughout the year, we will focus our efforts to provide solutions-focused analysis on these topics as well as a host of others.
As we begin the new year, we wanted to highlight five topics, beyond the impact of COVID-19 and related uncertainties, that we believe businesspeople and policy makers will be grappling with in 2022. Throughout the year, we will focus our efforts to provide solutions-focused analysis on these topics as well as a host of others.
Much has been made about the labor force participation rate, or the percentage of Americans over 16 who are working or actively looking for work — and for good cause, given the number of unfilled vacancies at U.S. firms. If fewer Americans are working, it is going to be harder for firms to staff all of their openings. Currently, 62.2% of adult Americans are working or looking for work. This compares with a historical average of 63.9% in 2019. With 259 million adult Americans, this 1.7 percentage point decrease in the labor force participation rate translates to a missing 4.4 million workers. And the narrative to date has primarily focused on how many Americans made changes following the COVID-19 pandemic (in response to lockdowns, layoffs, health concerns or care responsibilities) and the sizable fraction of these Americans who are still sitting on the sidelines. Given the steady drumbeat of news about how firms are unable to fill all their positions, there is much interest in how and when we expect these workers to return to the labor force. So, when can we expect them to join the labor pool?
The COVID-19 pandemic increased economic inequities in a number of ways, including in access to external capital – and while 2020 marked a break-out year for venture-backed firms, the pandemic hit many main street businesses hard. In this Kenan Insight, we explore the forces driving the haves and have-nots in this new economic climate, as well as actionable policy solutions as government support programs wind down.
Research from UNC Kenan-Flagler Finance Professor Eric Ghysels attaches explicit costs to a model’s classification errors, in this case concerning pretrial detention decisions, avoiding the one-size-fits-all symmetrical cost function of traditional machine learning.
This article examines the capability antecedents of firm entry into nascent industries. Because a firm's technological investments in nascent industries typically occur before market entry, this study makes a distinction between firm capabilities at the time of market entry and at the time of initial investment.
Please join us for an exclusive conversation with Procter & Gamble Chairman of the Board, President and CEO David Taylor on Wednesday, Oct. 9 from 5–6 p.m. The event takes place in the Kenan Center Dining Room and is part of the Dean’s Speaker Series, hosted by Kenan-Flagler Business School Dean Doug Shackelford.
On Nov. 19, NCGrowth visited High Point, North Carolina, to learn more about the city’s unique legacy, recent developments and future revitalization efforts.
The jumps in the inflation rate over the last few months have been larger and longer-lasting than expected. For much of 2022 economic forecasters, including those at the Federal Reserve, assumed that higher inflation rates would be short-lived—or “transitory” using the preferred jargon of the day. Inflation was expected to start shifting back towards the Fed’s 2% target as supply-chain bottlenecks were resolved and a pandemic-induced shift in demand for consumer goods swung back toward consumer services. Instead, recent inflation prints have set 40-year records and we are seeing more discussion about the possibility of a “wage-price” spiral.
The endowment will provide top UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School students with leadership education, cross-sector collaboration skills and undergraduate research opportunities.
Inflation has come down but may still have some fight left in it. One concern is what happens going forward as the relief from pandemic price pressures disappears, but deflationary tailwinds are no longer there.
By all accounts, there is steady good news coming the Federal Reserve’s way. And yet, the Fed seems to be in no rush to start cutting rates. Dive deeper into what the Fed will do to make sure inflation remains at that 2% goal.
The SunTrust Foundation will give a nearly $1 million grant to NCGrowth, an affiliated center of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, to help create new jobs and stimulate transformative development in three high-potential communities in the Carolinas. These business incubators will help startup companies hire local workers in an effort to address issues such as unemployment, underemployment, low wages and significant poverty.
Discussions at the forum, sponsored by the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, ranged from the federal Opportunity Zones program to making the transition from angel to institutional investing.
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.
When large firms are in search of new leadership, oftentimes a former leader is the answer. There have been many high-profile examples of boomerang CEOs being both resounding successes and spectacular failures. So what do the numbers say?
In addition to academic presentations, the Conference on Market-Based Solutions for Reducing Wealth Inequality took participants out of the classroom and into the community for a walking tour and on-site discussions in nearby Durham, N.C.
2024 Distinguished Fellow Jayashankar M. Swaminathan explores how firms can build operational resilience, focusing on governance, risk management, supply chains, technology and regulatory compliance.