News 2019

Study: After eBay improved its translation software, international commerce increased sharply. A new study co-authored by an MIT economist shows that improved translation software can significantly boost international trade online - a notable case of machine learning having a clear impact on economic activity.

Using limited data, this automated system predicts a company's quarterly sales. Knowing a company's true sales can help determine its value. Investors, for instance, often employ financial analysts to predict a company's upcoming earnings using various public data, computational tools, and their own intuition.

Two Carnegie Mellon University professors expect 2020 could bring new regulations and laws to protect consumers from data privacy risks and block pirate sites. In the coming year, Ari Lightman , professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy , predicts that lawmakers will tighten regulations on social media networks as part of a push for more transparency from digital giants.

If a lie would be bad for their image, people are more likely to ignore financial incentives People are more honest when talking about topics involving high-status knowledge. A new study in the field of behavioral economics shows that this is true even if they have a financial incentive to lie. Questions of trust become more important in business as it becomes more and more difficult to assess statements on increasingly difficult technologies.

Female MPs are roughly 20% more vocal in parliamentary debates where the cabinet minister is female than when the responsible minister is male, finds a new study by UCL. The research, published in the British Journal of Political Science , is the first to consider whether female leadership affects the processes or outcomes of political debate.

Patients with private health insurance face a serious risk of being treated and billed by an out-of-network doctor when they receive care at in-network hospitals, according to a new study by Yale researchers. Addressing the issue could reduce health spending by 3.4% - $40 billion annually, the researchers conclude.

UNIGE researchers demonstrate that far from protecting Americans from international competition, the protectionism put in place by President Donald Trump increases unemployment. The protectionist policy of US President Donald Trump is criticized on all sides around the world, but seems to suit the Americans, who see this economic model as protecting their interests.

Economists analyze how patients and health care providers value Medicaid. A new analysis of a randomized health insurance program in Oregon sheds light on the value the program has for enrollees and providers alike. The study, by MIT economist Amy Finkelstein and two co-authors, suggests that adults with low incomes value Medicaid at only about 20 cents to 50 cents per dollar of medical spending paid on their behalf.

One in three people commit "financial infidelity", with potentially toxic consequences for their relationships, according to a study co-led by UCL which is thought to be the first to investigate the concept. Romantic relationships are built on trust, but partners are not always honest about their financial behaviour - they often hide spending, debt, and savings from one another.

A key decision companies face when expanding overseas is where to set up shop. Although businesses generally refrain from expanding to geographically and culturally distant countries, the importance of such considerations varies based on a company's size and adaptability. New research focused on Chinese companies conducted by Rice strategic management expert Yan "Anthea” Zhang and colleagues shows foreign countries that seem to be good fits in terms of geographic distance may be cultural misfits, and vice versa.

Low-productivity agricultural land could be transformed into millions of hectares of conservation reserves across the world, according to University of Queensland-led research. The research team proposed a new way of understanding the conservation value of "uncontested lands" - areas where agricultural productivity is low.

A new study by scientists from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the University of Bristol and flood analytics company Fathom, seeks to answer an important question related to flooding in the United States - pay now to protect undeveloped areas that are likely to flood in the future or allow developments to go ahead and pay for damage when it occurs.

It's not a one-size-fits-all solution, according to new research from Rice Within the past couple of years, Starbucks and Sephora have come under fire for racial insensitivity. They responded to the criticism and negative publicity by closing their stores for companywide diversity training. But does this type of training actually work? The short answer is yes, it can, but new research from Rice finds that factors such as personality type and personal circumstances must be considered when determining what type of training to offer or how the training should be administered.

As millions of people begin their holiday shopping, they'll come across many familiar tricks online. In some cases, sites will hype limited-time deals with a countdown clock, warn you that the product you're looking at is running out of stock, or tell you that 65 people in your area have recently purchased the item.

A CMU study finds recent increase in fine particulate matter are associated with more premature deaths in U.S In the United States, annual average levels of fine particulate matter - PM2.5, a measure of solid particles and liquid droplets that are 2.5 micrometers or smaller found in the air - declined 24% from 2009 to 2016, then increased 5% between 2016 to 2018.

Government leaders must set a good example to the business community if they want to eliminate corporate corruption, a new study reveals. Financial incentives and criminal punishment will not root out corrupt business practices, but a government culture of honesty, integrity and strong leadership could help to cure corruption.

New research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found overconfidence driven by outstanding performance is the decisive factor when companies behave badly. When high-performing companies and individuals behave unethically it is because past successes make them arrogant or cut corners to maintain strong performance.

Climate change expert Professor Sir David Hendry will explore how humanity has accelerated global warming when he delivers the annual China Institute Li Siguang lecture at the University of Birmingham on Wednesday 20th November. And his talk 'Climate Change in the Long Run' will illustrate how climatologists, volcanologists, dendrochronologists, meteorologists, geophysicists and health scientists are working together to tackle climate change and its consequences.

Recommender systems for online retailers - the algorithms that tell you "customers who bought this item also bought" - are helpful for driving up overall sales figures but also can lead to a narrower array of product choices, according to new research by Carnegie Mellon University's Dokyun "D.K." Lee.

Waste carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels could be used to make valuable products such as plastics, fuels and cement, suggests new research. If done correctly, using waste carbon dioxide (CO2) to make useful products would also help offset the costs of mitigating climate change, argue scientists in a review .