Economics & Statistics
SMU Research Day 2016: Students present their research to the SMU and Dallas community
SMU graduate and undergraduate students presented their research to the SMU community at the University’s Research Day 2016 on Feb. 10.
Sponsored by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, the research spanned more than 20 different fields from schools across campus. Continue reading
Charity, social justice and earth-friendly activism replace big houses, diamond rings and ostentatious living for status seekers
Keeping up with the Joneses has taken on a whole new meaning, according to new research by a professor in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, Dallas. Rich people traditionally flaunted their wealth with ostentatious living, designer … Continue reading
SMU 2015 research efforts broadly noted in a variety of ways for world-changing impact
SMU scientists and their research have a global reach that is frequently noted, beyond peer publications and media mentions.
It was a good year for SMU faculty and student research efforts. Here’s a small sampling of public and published acknowledgements during 2015, ranging from research modeling that made the cover of a scientific journal to research findings presented as evidence at government hearings. Continue reading
Survey finds executive cybersecurity decisions are evolving from compliance to proactive cyber-risk management
A new research study from SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security finds that executives are changing the way they manage and invest in cybersecurity, moving away from limited, reactive approaches and adopting systemic risk management frameworks that combine hardware, software and operations protocols to mitigate cyber risk.
The study, Identifying How Firms Manage Cybersecurity Investment (HYPERLINK STUDY TO TITLE), was sponsored by IBM Security and based on a semi-structured survey of 40 executives across financial, retail, healthcare and government sectors. Participants, most of whom were chief information security officers (CISOs), were selected primarily from large firms. Continue reading
SMU Tower Center, Latino Center for Leadership Development create new strategic policy program
SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies has formed a strategic academic partnership with the Latino Center for Leadership Development, Latino CLD.
The new Latino CLD-SMU Tower Center Policy Institute will identify and implement policy-focused solutions to the Latino community’s most pressing concerns, from educational and economic opportunities, to voting rights and immigration reform, to the under-representation of Latinos in elected and appointed roles at the federal, state and local levels, as well as corporate boards. Continue reading
Why firms prefer not to disclose product quality — and how regulators might respond
Rather than explicitly revealing information about the quality of their products and services, many firms prefer to signal quality through the prices they charge, typically working on the assumption that a high price indicates high quality. New research by Maarten Janssen and Santanu Roy provides a new explanation for why firms choose not to disclose quality directly – and explains how prices that are set to signal quality can distort actual buying decisions.
Their study has an important policy implication for regulators: there may be a case for imposing mandatory disclosure. Continue reading
CoinDesk: Research — Over $11 Million Lost in Bitcoin Scams Since 2011
With cryptocurrency Bitcoin increasingly popular for digital world transactions, the digital currency news site CoinDesk covered the research of SMU Bitcoin experts Marie Vasek and Tyler W. Moore, both in SMU’s Computer Science and Engineering Department.
The study found that fraudulent schemes have scammed at least $11 million in Bitcoin deposits from unsuspecting cyber customers over the past four years. Continue reading
Data-driven assessment ranks U.S. Metropolitan Areas by arts and cultural assets
NCAR, SMU’s National Center for Arts Research, today released its first annual Arts Vibrancy Index.
The index ranks more than 900 communities across the country. Vibrancy is measured as the level of supply, demand and government support for arts and culture on a per capita basis. The report highlights the top 20 large markets and top 20 medium and small markets. NCAR provides rank scores on all measures for every U.S. county on the interactive heat map.
Bitcoin scams steal at least $11 million in virtual deposits from unsuspecting customers
At least $11 million in bitcoin deposits have been stolen from unsuspecting cyber customers over the past four years, according to new cyber security research from Southern Methodist University.
Bitcoin is the digital world’s most popular virtual currency. In the first empirical study of its kind, SMU researchers found that hucksters use schemes that pose as legitimate web-based financial outlets to lure customers and heist deposits. Continue reading