New research on the gender pay gap and the gender leadership gap indicate we should be especially aware of hiring, downshifting, and attrition.…
Business
Formally called the theory of the firm, the business category focuses on ownership, production and competition. Our goal is to understand business behavior. For ownership, topics include the corporation and sole proprietorships. For production, the focus involves maximizing profits. With competition, topics relate to a continuum that spans the 4 basic market structures: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly.
Beer Cans and Aluminum Tariffs
Craft brewers are upsizing to 16-ounce cans. Whereas U.S. beer sales are down by 1%, they are up 40% for craft beer in 16-ounce cans. A beer can primer: Because the beer industry uses 36 billion cans …
How Sweden Feels About Cash
In an increasingly cashless Sweden, an Ikea cash-free store has created a positive response from management and many customers but not from everyone.…
When a Magazine Cover Counts
While some food magazines use the Thanksgiving cover of their print edition to compete, most of the magazine industry is figuring out a digital shift.…
Why the Kilogram Had to Change
To become more accessible and accurate, a new kilogram has been developed that that is based on ideas rather than an object.…
How Airports Are Like Apple
Looking at the ten most popular large U.S. airports, we see competition that is designed to attract airlines and travelers.…
Why Our Shopping Score Matters
Unknown to most of us, the quality of customer service can depend on the multiple customer lifetime value (CLV) scores that we get from retailers.…
Why the Republicans and Democrats Are Like Coke and Pepsi
The Democrats and Republicans have political power for the same kinds of reasons that Coke and Pepsi or Boeing and Airbus dominate their markets.…
The Pitch That’s An Airline Problem
When you think about shrinking airline seats, you could consider pitch and width, but really the problem is all about property rights.…
Why We Share Homes, Cars, and Clothing With Strangers
An economist can explain why we are willing to share homes (Airbnb), carpools (BlaBlaCar), and clothing (Rent the Runway) with strangers.…