John Geweke, professor of economics, Harlan E. McGregor Chair in Economic Theory
john-geweke@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0857
As the director of the Institute for Economic Research, Geweke compiles quarterly reports that helps the State of Iowa’s Revenue Estimating Committee determine how much state revenue will be available to fund future state budgets. See a summary of his most recent report.

John Solow, associate professor of economics
john-solow@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0845
Solow’s recent research rates all of Iowa’s 99 counties on a Creativity Index, to see which are best prepared for a future economy in which creative people are most likely to thrive.

David Hensley, director, John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center
david-hensley@uiowa.edu, 319-335-1022
Hensley helps UI students who are interested in building their own businesses prepare for the life of an entrepreneur. He also directs the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute, a weeklong session of seminars and classes held at Lake Okoboji in northwest Iowa to help selected students learn more about starting their own business. The institute has already helped two recent participants.

The Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) is an ongoing research project that tests the prediction of markets to predict future events. The IEM offers markets that try to predict the outcome of political elections, influenza outbreaks, hurricane landfalls, and movie box office grosses.

There are five Tippie professors who are involved as faculty advisors or director of the IEM. They all can discuss the uses and functions of prediction markets:

• Joyce Berg, director, associate professor of accounting, joyce-berg@uiowa.ed, 319-335-0840
• Thomas Rietz, associate professor of finance, thomas-rietz@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0856
• Forrest Nelson, professor of economics, coordinator of the IEM’s influenza prediction markets, forrest-nelson@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0854
• George Neumann, professor of economics, george-neumann@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0850
• Thomas Gruca, professor of marketing, thomas-gruca@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0946

A recent study found that the IEM was more accurate than 74 percent of public opinion polls at predicting vote percentage in presidential elections between 1988 and 2004.

Iowa Electronic Markets: www.biz.uiowa.edu/iem

Ty Leverty, assistant professor of finance, ty-leverty@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0963
Leverty’s recent research found that tort reform laws do lower insurance premiums and save consumers money, though it depends on what state the consumer lives in.

Larry Hershberger, director, Vaughan Institute of Risk Management and Insurance, larry-hershberger@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0856
Hershberger is a former vice president of TIAA-CREF, where he helped clients design and administer their pension, annuity, and group insurance programs.

Vaughan Institute of Risk Management and Insurance: http://tippie.uiowa.edu/vaughan/

Dhananjay (DJ) Nayakankuppam, associate professor of marketing, dhananjay-nayakankuppam@uiowa.edu, 319-335-1981
Nayakankuppam’s research has found that when it comes to shopping, sometimes ignorance really is bliss. In what he terms the Blissful Ignorance Effect, Nayakankuppam found that people who have only a little information about a product are happier with that product than people who have more information.

Thomas Gruca, professor of marketing, thomas-gruca@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0946
Gruca researches the use of prediction markets to help businesses make marketing and other planning decisions.

Johannes Ledolter, professor of management sciences, johannes-ledolter@uiowa.edu, 319-335-3814
Readers would rather buy a magazine from Kelly Ripa than Dr. Phil. Ledolter discovered this nugget as part of a project he undertook that helped Des Moines-based Meredith Publishing increase subscriptions for its Ladies Home Journal title. Ledolter’s work with Meredith demonstrates that many businesses are missing an opportunity to build their customer base by ignoring a statistical technique called experimental design.

Alice Wang, assistant professor of marketing, jing-wang@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0843
When businesses pay millions of dollars to advertise, they don't expect to make their potential customers mad at them. But Wang's research suggests that in some cases, they might be doing just that. Her work found that television viewers and magazine readers look poorly on advertisements if they are entertained by the story the ad interrupts. In fact, she said, the more engrossed the viewer is in the story, the more intense their negative reaction to the advertised product will be.

Barrett Thomas, assistant professor of management sciences, barrett-thomas@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0938

Philip C. Jones, professor of management sciences, Clement T. and Sylvia H. Hanson Chair in Manufacturing Productivity, philip-c-jones@uiowa.edu, 319-335-3737

Thomas and Jones work with businesses around Iowa that want to use Lean theories to streamline their operations. They also take students to businesses around the state to show them how it’s put into use.

Greg Stewart, professor of management and organizations, greg-stewart@uiowa.edu, 319-335-1947
Yes, the handshake is as important as everyone says it is when looking for a new job, according to Stewart’s research.

Brian Richman, director, Hawkinson Institute of Business Finance, brian-richman@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0853
Investment banks may be collapsing and merging themselves out of existence, but Richman says jobs will still be available in the field.

Frank Schmidt, professor of management and organizations, frank-schmidt@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0949
Schmidt helped to develop two data analysis methods in the 1970s that changed the way people thought about standardized tests, particularly as they related to businesses hiring and developing employees.

Todd Houge, assistant professor of finance, todd-houge@uiowa.edu, 319-335-3754
Houge has found evidence that mutual fund companies take advantage of less knowledgeable investors by charging higher fees on funds that charge sales loads, the kind of funds in which less savvy investors are more likely to put their money.

Houge is also the faculty advisor to the Henry Fund, a student-managed investment fund that has been named the top fund in its class for three straight years.

Brian Richman, director, Hawkinson Institute of Business Finance, brian-richman@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0853
Richman worked in the investment banking field and now teaches Tippie College students how to succeed in the field as director of the Hawkinson Institute of Business Finance.

David Bates, professor of finance, david-bates@uiowa.edu, 319-353-2288
Bates’ research found that the cause of most market crashes remains elusive.

David Barker, visiting lecturer, finance, david-barker@uiowa.edu, 319-353-3756
Barker’s research has found that the American Dream of owning a home may not be that much of a benefit for kids and families after all.

Ann Campbell, associate professor, management and organizations, ann-campbell@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0918
Campbell specializes in disaster logistics, researches how communities build a supply chain overnight to move food, water, and medical supplies to helpless people in areas that may no longer have functioning roads, airports, or port facilities.

Cristi Gleason, assistant professor of accounting, cristi-gleason@uiowa.edu, 319-335-1505
Gleason’s research looks at how accounting rules and tax laws impact corporate earnings.

Jeffrey Ohlmann, assistant professor of management sciences, Jeffrey-ohlmann@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0837
Ohlmann has developed a decision-making model that utilizes mathematical techniques to maximize the value of the players a team drafts. At its heart, the model tries to help fantasy drafters overcome the fundamental handicap of not knowing what players will be available to draft in future rounds.

Matt Billett, associate professor of finance, matt-billett@uiowa.edu, 319-335-2626
Yimin Qian, assistant professor of finance, yiming-qian@uiowa.edu, 319-335-0934

Research by Billett and Qian reinforces the adage that CEOs should not believe their own hype. The research provides evidence that for the first time suggests CEOs fall victim to their own perceived success when making merger and acquisition decisions. The research suggests that CEOs unwittingly give too much credit to their own ability when they initiate a successful acquisition, and that over-confidence encourages them to make more acquisitions later that are more apt to lose shareholder value.