Notre Dame Acumen Research Roundup: November 2026

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ACCOUNTANCY

 

“Court Disclosures of Firms in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy”

JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING RESEARCH

Ilona Bastiaansen, Assistant Professor of Accountancy
(co-authors: Alina Lerman, Frank Murphy and Dushyant Vyas)

When companies enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy, court filings become a primary source of information for creditors and other stakeholders. The researchers examined how firms prepare these disclosures and found that their content varies less because of a company’s financial condition than because of the legal and institutional characteristics of each bankruptcy case. The findings provide new insight into how transparency is shaped during corporate restructuring and how stakeholders receive information when financial uncertainty is greatest.

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FINANCE

 

“Robots and Firm Investment”

JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS

Michal Zator, Assistant Professor of Finance
(co-author: Efraim Benmelech)

Automation is argued to be changing the future of work, but its true impact remains uncertain. This study finds that a prominent automation technology — industrial robots — has in fact had limited impact on labor markets. Overall investment in robotics remains relatively modest and concentrated in a handful of industries; companies adopting robots often increase hiring afterward and typically invest in robots to address labor shortages rather than to replace employees. While the scope for the impact of generative AI may be broader, this research suggests that one should take claims about a technology-driven labor market Armageddon with a grain of salt.

 

“Economic Policy Uncertainty and Multinational Companies”

REVIEW OF FINANCE

Leandro Sanz, Assistant Professor of Finance
(co-authors: Leming Lin and Atanas Mihov)

Economic uncertainty can disrupt the global operations of multinational companies. This study finds that rising economic policy uncertainty in a host country reduces firm value and slows asset and employment growth at subsidiaries located there. The effects are strongest for firms that face financial constraints, rely heavily on intangible capital, or operate in countries with weaker property rights institutions. Multinationals generally do not offset these shocks by moving activity elsewhere within their networks. The findings highlight how policy stability shapes multinational investment and the resilience of global operations.

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IT, ANALYTICS, & OPERATIONS

 

“From the Boardroom to the Jobsite: Female Board Representation and Workplace Safety”

JOURNAL OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Yoonseock Son, Associate Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
Katie Wowak, Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
(co-author: Corinne Post)

Does greater diversity in corporate boardrooms improve workplace safety? The researchers found that companies with more women on their boards experience stronger safety performance — but only when female directors have meaningful influence and boards are held accountable for safety outcomes. The gains were strongest when both women and minority directors were present, suggesting the two forms of diversity reinforce one another. The study demonstrates that representation alone is not enough; inclusive governance structures can improve employee well-being and organizational performance.

 

“Testing of Reverse Causality Using Semi-Supervised Machine Learning”

PSYCHOMETRIKA

Heng Xu, Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
Nan Zhang, Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations
(co-authors: Manuel J. Vaulont and Zhen Zhang)

Determining whether one factor truly causes another is one of the greatest challenges in data analysis. This paper introduces a new semi-supervised machine learning approach that helps researchers distinguish cause from effect without relying on many of the assumptions required by traditional statistical methods. The technique offers social scientists a more reliable way to draw causal conclusions from observational data, strengthening research across a wide range of disciplines.

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MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION

 

“Stories from the Danger Zone: Conversational Storytelling and the Meaning of Work after a Close Brush with Death”

JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

Jason Colquitt, Franklin D. Schurz Professor of Management & Organization
(Co-authors: David M. Long, Rachel Burgess and Kevin W. Rockmann)

After experiencing life-threatening events at work, how do people rebuild a sense of purpose? Studying military aviators, the researchers found that storytelling plays a critical role in helping individuals make meaning from traumatic experiences. Conversations with others not only help people understand what happened but also reshape how they view their work and its significance, offering new insight into resilience, leadership, and organizational support.

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MARKETING

 

“Please Subscribe to Continue Reading: An Empirical Analysis of Readers’ Responses to Newspaper Paywalls”

MIS QUARTERLY

Vamsi Kanuri, Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Marketing
(Co-authors: Eric M. Overby and Adithya Pattabhiramaiah)

As news organizations increasingly deploy digital paywalls, understanding reader responses to them has become essential. Using clickstream data from a major newspaper, the researchers develop a method to detect when and how readers circumvent paywalls by deleting cookies, using private browsing, disabling JavaScript, or switching browsers or devices. They find that direct visitors and readers of distinctive content are more engaged, with greater propensities to subscribe, circumvent, or access non-paywalled content. The findings inform paywall design, helping newspapers decide whether to tolerate circumvention or address it through tighter controls or targeted offers.

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