Eight Lang researchers receive seed funding for new research

Eight Lang researchers have been awarded Explore Grants through the SSHRC Institutional Grants (SIG), an annual internally peer-adjudicated competition that provides seed funding for research that is to result in the development and submission of a future application in an external SSHRC competition.

"The SIG Explore Grants play an integral role in providing seed funding to researchers for small-scale innovation and research experimentation," said Sean Lyons, Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Studies at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. "It is a great opportunity for these Lang researchers to scale their research projects for an external SSHRC competition in the future."

The Lang School Dean’s Office also matches the awarded funding amount for each successful applicant. The grants will help researchers establish their research projects and provide new opportunities for Lang graduate students.

"This seed funding and the additional contributions made by the Dean's office provide researchers the ability to explore new areas and run pilot projects," said Daniela Senkl, Assistant Professor in Lang's Department of Management. "It's an especially great opportunity for early-career researchers, like myself, to take small-scale research projects to the next level."

Congratulations to the following Lang faculty members, who have received an SSHRC SIG Explore Grant:

Ruben Burga, Department of Management

Project Title: Experiential Learning as Community building

Experiential learning is an important component of the curriculum at the Lang School and is widely recognized as an important piece in the learning process. This research project aims to explore the impact of experiential learning on the community where the activity is taking place. When participating in experiential learning, it’s important to understand the impact it has on communities, as this may play a part in increased engagement. The research project will test the proposition that experiential learning exercises provide diverse tangible benefits to the community participants.

Nikola Gradojevic, Department of Economics and Finance

Project Title: Non-linear, non-fundamental multiresolution forecasting

With the recent expansion of cryptocurrencies and the evolution of the financial market, it’s important to conduct a robust analysis to unveil the forces and nature of investing in modern financial markets. This research project focuses on time-series forecasting of high-frequency data, such as bonds, stocks, exchange rates, and cryptocurrencies. By analyzing different forecasting models, the project aims to identify the model that is most accurate in predicting asset returns. The project will have social impacts aimed at generating new knowledge and assisting policymakers, regulators and industry professionals, but will also be useful for technological advancements in terms of market design.

Elizabeth Kurucz, Department of Management

Project Title: A Design Lab Approach to education

With a cross-disciplinary research team, the purpose of this research project is to design and evaluate an innovative model of high school education focused on developing resilient learners for the 21^st century and prepare them for an uncertain and complex future. The vision for the collaboration is to contribute to our understanding of how to develop and evaluate innovations in educational institutions that respond to societal challenges while also considering recent developments in our understanding of adolescent neuroscience, to encourage both individual and societal well-being.

Yuanfang Lin, Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies

Project Title: Competition through Risky R&D and Marketing

With the growing trend of innovation becoming more and more concentrated within the industry, it’s important for companies to allocate resources efficiently between investments in technology versus general marketing initiatives. The purpose of this research project is to investigate the impact of innovation capacity and commitment (such as R&D spending) on a firm’s business performance in comparison to general marketing investment (such as advertising spending).

Asha Sadanand, Department of Economics and Finance

Project Title: Ideal Reactive Equilibrium: a study of the thought process

With this project, pilot experiments will help better understand the nature of thought processes during learning by experimental subjects. The overall purpose of this research project is to improve predictions for behaviour in complex real-world situations.

Daniela Senkl, Department of Management

Project Title: Understanding co-operative integrated thinking

Business research has addressed sustainability issues for decades, but the changes we see in the business environment are still not radical enough to save the planet. In the accounting realm, integrated reporting was one of the promising accounting initiatives, which is a reporting tool based on integrated thinking – the ability of managers to integrate various aspects into their decision-making process and to manage tensions between different capitals. This ability is relevant for sustainable development.

This research project will investigate six Canadian co-operatives and identify the organizations’ ideological positions and find out how the organizations interpret integrated thinking. This will enable the research team to inform investor-owned businesses about potential ways to approach sustainability issues and encourage alternative organizational forms.

Yiguo Sun, Department of Economics and Finance

Project Title: Measurement error in empirical finance

Empirical works would be easier if researchers could fully observe all relevant information. Unfortunately, key information is often unobservable, and researchers can only obtain imperfect proxies. The difference between the proxy and the true variable that researchers are interested in is referred to as measurement error. Measurement error can bias empirical estimates and confound researchers’ understanding of underlying economics, but econometric techniques to correct for measurement error are often built on overly simplified assumptions.

This research project aims to develop a new econometric framework that relaxes the existing assumptions in correction techniques. The method will have wide applications insofar as measurement error is recognized as a common, yet underexplored, issue in empirical finance.

Juan Wang, Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies

Project Title: The Impact of Experience Context and Event Sequencing on the Evaluation of Extraordinary Experiences

When consumers plan a trip, event, activity or tour, events and activities are researched and planned well in advance of purchasing. For marketers, it’s important to identify factors that may enhance pre-purchase experience evaluation if marketers are going to effectively motivate purchases. This research project will look at the influence that event alternation in extraordinary experiences has on consumers. Event sequencing involves variety and alternating events during a trip. For example, if you went on a trip that involved wildlife conservation (e.g. habitat repair) combined with a wellness retreat (e.g. yoga sessions), the activities may be scheduled with more alternation (i.e. wellness, conservation, wellness, conservation) or less alternation (i.e. wellness, wellness, conservation, conservation).

By researching event sequencing and variety seeking, we can understand consumer preferences and ensure more positive experiences during extraordinary experiences. The research project aims to offer practical guidance on how marketers should categorize and sequence events when advertising extraordinary experiences to enhance pre-purchase experiences.