Leading Scholars

TXSTMcCOY MAGAZINE

Recent articles published or accepted for publication:

Macroeconomic Conditions and Firm/Consumer Outcomes

Mohammad Iqbal Ahmed, Adeel Faheem, Quazi Fidia Farah
Gas price expectations and consumer readiness to spend at the ZLB: Evidence from Michigan Survey Data
Energy Economics
This study finds that while rising gas price expectations typically discourage households from spending on durable goods, that effect largely disappears when interest rates are near zero, suggesting that in low-rate environments, monetary conditions outweigh fuel cost concerns in shaping consumer behavior, an insight that has important implications for how policymakers assess drivers of spending during economic downturns.

Renee Oyotode-Adebile, Augustine Tarkom, Nacasius Ujah
Firm efficiency in turbulent times: unraveling policy uncertainty
Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
This study finds that higher economic policy uncertainty consistently reduces firms' operational efficiency, with even moderate increases leading to measurable declines in performance. It also shows that the impact varies across firms — some, like financially constrained companies, display unexpected resilience — highlighting that while uncertainty broadly hurts operations, firm-specific factors matter. Overall, the research underscores the importance of stable, predictable policymaking and the need for businesses to adapt their strategies based on their unique vulnerabilities.

Customer Experience, Communication, and Market Engagement

Jacob A. Waddingham, Debby Osias, Phillip E. Davis
The effect of maker entrepreneurs' agency and communion language on stakeholder engagement.
Journal of Business Venturing Insights
This study finds that maker entrepreneurs who emphasize community, relationships, and shared experiences in their social media communication generate stronger stakeholder engagement than those who focus on self-promotional or individualistic messaging, which challenges the traditional view of entrepreneurship as purely self-driven and highlights the importance of connection and authenticity in building local support.

Nancy J. Sirianni, K. Greenslade, G. Koseoglu, Josephine Go Jeffries, Cinthia Satornino
Neuroconvergence: An Untapped Strategy for Reducing Communication Mismatches and Enhancing Creativity in Frontline Encounters
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing
This conceptual study introduces “neuroconvergence” as a more inclusive approach to customer experience, arguing that bringing together individuals with different cognitive styles can enhance creativity at the frontline. It highlights that when organizations support accessible communication and reduce mismatches, these diverse interactions can lead to better problem-solving and richer customer experiences, shifting the focus from simply including differences to actively leveraging them for innovation.

Taewon Suh
Conceptualizing a Business Model Typology of Phygital Customer Experience to Build and Manage Phygital Ecosystems
Journal of Macromarketing
This study introduces a framework for “phygital” customer experience business models, showing how companies can combine digital and physical interactions to create more engaging, flexible, and value-driven experiences. By identifying different experiential approaches and how they can be mixed and scaled, the research highlights how businesses can move beyond traditional models to build stronger connections with customers and stakeholders—while also navigating ethical, cultural, and sustainability considerations in an increasingly hybrid marketplace.

Organizational Behavior, Leadership, and Workforce

Steven W. Rayburn, Gil Luria, Dana Yagil, Yoshinori Fujikawa, Sidney Anderson, Mayoor Mohan
Frontline Employee Improvisation: Uncovering its Meaning, Practice, and Impact in Service Industries
Journal of Service Research
This study finds that frontline employees often improvise in the moment to solve unexpected customer issues, and that this behavior is shaped by both their confidence and customer focus, as well as workplace environments that give them the flexibility to act, which shows that organizations can improve service and employee well-being by encouraging and supporting this kind of adaptability.

Steven W. Rayburn, Luis Garcia-Tello, Sidney Anderson, Alejandro Fontana, Jeremy J. Sierra
To Do is to Be: Workplace Design to Support Employee Prosocial Motivation at the Organizational Frontline
European Journal of Marketing
This study shows that companies can encourage employees to naturally help others by designing roles and internal initiatives that emphasize teamwork and purpose, highlighting that the way work is structured can make prosocial behavior a more consistent and built-in part of everyday performance.

Ned Kock, Prash Gopal, Augustine Tarkom
The comparative effect of empathetic management and cultural intelligence on job performance: an empirical study of a company that serves international clients
Applied Economics 
This study finds that empathetic management has a stronger impact on employee performance, satisfaction, and innovation than cultural intelligence in global work environments, showing that how managers connect with employees emotionally matters more than cultural awareness alone. It highlights that fostering empathy in leadership can improve workplace outcomes, build resilience, and better support diverse teams, making it a critical skill for organizations operating in international settings.

Education and Workforce Development

Jeffrey Hales, Mandy T. Lester
Designing and Implementing a Sustainability Reporting Course
Issues in Accounting Education
This study outlines how to design and implement a full-semester sustainability reporting course in accounting to meet the growing demand from investors, regulators, and employers for professionals with sustainability expertise. It highlights the importance of integrating sustainability into accounting education to better prepare students for evolving disclosure requirements, while also showing how such courses can increase student interest in the field and help address declining enrollment in accounting programs.

Behavioral Finance and Investor Decision-Making

Ivilina Popova, Yifan Liu, Ha-Chin Yi
Anchoring on Safe Haven: Russia-Ukraine War Effects on the Cryptocurrency Market
Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance
This study finds that during the Russia–Ukraine war, investors treated cryptocurrencies as safe havens based on past crises, but this behavior was driven by anchoring bias rather than actual performance. Despite increased demand, cryptocurrencies delivered negative returns, higher risk, and moved more closely with traditional assets, reducing their diversification benefits. The findings highlight how behavioral biases can distort investment decisions in times of uncertainty and underscore the need for more disciplined risk assessment in volatile markets.

Matthew Flynn, Yifan Liu
Gambling on Bitcoin Options?
Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance
This study finds that gambling tendencies and investor attention play a major role in shaping demand for Bitcoin options, with higher gambling propensity driving greater trading activity and riskier behavior, while spikes in attention increase market volatility, highlighting how speculative and entertainment-driven motives, not just financial fundamentals, influence cryptocurrency markets.

Matthew Flynn, Yifan Liu, Ivilina Popova
Do retail traders gamble on stock options?
Journal of Financial Markets
This study shows that regional gambling culture helps shape retail investors' behavior, with people in gambling-prone areas more likely to trade risky, “lottery-like” options — especially during periods of heightened attention, such as earnings announcements. It also finds that when alternatives such as sports betting become available, interest in options trading declines, suggesting these activities serve similar speculative or entertainment roles. Overall, the research highlights how local behaviors can influence market activity and even be tied to broader financial risks.

Michael Stutz, Ivilina Popova (A)
DAPP: Reinforcement Learning with Phaseshift Jump Diffusion and Fourier Randomization for Robust Financial Agent Training
Finance Research Letters
This study introduces a new framework that uses advanced synthetic data and reinforcement learning to build more robust trading strategies, showing that AI agents trained on realistic, stress-tested market scenarios can outperform basic benchmarks even in volatile conditions. Its significance lies in improving how financial models are tested and developed, offering a more reliable way to evaluate risk, strengthen trading performance, and support safer, more transparent use of AI in financial markets.