To boost employees’ creativity, managers should consider offering a set of rewards for them to choose from, according to a new study. The study, co-authored by Jing Zhou, the Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Management and Psychology at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, is the first to systematically examine the effects of reward choice…

Economists authored a new study showing that aging populations lead to greater implementation of robots in workplace settings. «Demographic change — aging — is one of the most important factors leading to the adoption of robotics and other automation technologies,» says Daron Acemoglu, an MIT economist and co-author of a new paper detailing the results…

Mass customization, where customers order clothing made to their own style tastes and measurements, has been proposed as one solution to overproduction. But the logistical challenges of tailoring garments to individual customer requests and lengthy manufacturing lead times have discouraged most firms from adopting mass customization. They might want to reconsider that decision, according to…

Using ultrasound waves propagating through a solid surface, researchers were able to read text messages and make fraudulent calls on a cellphone sitting on a desk up to 30 feet away. Attacks on cell phones aren’t new, and researchers have previously shown that ultrasonic waves can be used to deliver a single command through the…

While stories in the media present automation as having the potential to eliminate large swaths of jobs in the near future, a new study argues otherwise. These authors found that the employment loss among U.S. truck drivers will be significantly less than the 2-3 million reported by some media accounts. They found that three factors…

New research reveals that the resale ticket market also appeals to sports fans who normally buy season tickets. Resale ticket markets — also known as secondary ticket markets — allow season ticket holders to recoup costs by selling unneeded tickets, as well as creating an alternative supply of tickets that reduce the need for fans…

New research shows that state laws designed to hinder union activity and indulge corporate entities do not enhance economic productivity. «We find that where state policy is captured by corporate interests, this undermines inclusive growth,» Warner said. «These interests see union and city power as a threat, which is why there are groups like the…

For many, an increase in living standards would require an increase in energy provision. At the same time, meeting current climate goals under the Paris Agreement would benefit from lower energy use. Researchers have assessed how much energy is needed to provide the global poor with a decent life and have found that this can…

New research sheds light on whether common approaches for online advertising measurement are as reliable and accurate as the ‘gold standard’ of large-scale, randomized experiments. The study to be published in the March edition of the INFORMS journal Marketing Science is titled «A Comparison of Approaches to Advertising Measurement: Evidence from Big Field Experiments at…

Being good at math relates to better financial and medical outcomes — unless you don’t have confidence in your own abilities with numbers, new research suggests. In two studies, researchers found that the key to success in personal finances and dealing with a complex disease was a match between a person’s math abilities and how…