Episodes
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In the latest episode of The Why Podcast, Katie Pisa met with Paolo Surico, Professor of Economics at London Business School, and Joseba Martinez, Assistant Professor of Economics at London Business School to discuss their research titled “Corporate taxes, innovation and productivity”.
Their findings offer valuable insights into how tax policies can be leveraged to promote innovation and drive economic growth. The two spent two and a half years working on this research after evidence showed them the remarkable impact that government corporate tax cuts (even temporary) can have on productivity.
The overall message of their research is that governments need to better design the corporate tax system such that the corporations that pay the most tax are the least innovative.
Some key takeaways from this chat include:
Tax is necessary but how it can be tweaked to encourage innovators
How R&D reduces tax and the impact it has on productivity
How governments need to consider which companies should receive tax cuts
Key historical moments when innovation was boosted
How the UK, where the new government says it aims to foster growth, might fare if they consider such corporate tax cuts
What a second Trump presidency looks in regards to taxes
The impact of personal tax cuts doesn’t always have the same impact as corporate tax cuts
You can read their full paper here: https://www.corptaxinnovation.pdf
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Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It’s one of five giant gyres in our oceans, where massive circular currents trap floating plastic. It’s three times the size of France, two times the size of Texas and it contains roughly 80,000 tonnes of waste that is polluting our oceans. The oldest bits in this gyre date back to the 1960s.
In the latest episode of The Why Podcast, London Business School Senior Editor Katie Pisa met with Jean Pauphilet, Assistant Professor of Management Science and Operations at London Business School, to talk about his research findings on ocean plastic pollution and the work he’s doing with the Dutch NGO The Ocean Cleanup.
The Ocean Cleanup’s goal is to clean up 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040. Their technology resembles a giant fishing net, a long floating barrier towed by two vessels. Jean and his team have designed a dynamic algorithm to help figure out the best routes for boats to take when collection plastic.
“It’s a bit like playing Pac-Man,” explains Jean. “You need to route the system to catch as many items as possible.”
In this helpful conversation, Jean discusses the interception of plastic at rivers and oceans, what is being done to increase awareness of tackling the problem and incentives to encourage society and companies to take action.
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The saying “nice guys finish last” is not always true, according to research. In the latest episode of The Why Podcast, Katie Pisa met with Jonathan Berman, Associate Professor of Marketing at London Business School, to talk about his research findings on prosocial behaviour and when doing good leads to looking good.
“When do you hear about good deeds from someone and think better of them, and when do you think it’s not genuine?” asks Jonathan. There isn’t always a direct connection between doing good deeds and being seen as an exemplary person. In fact, some do-gooders are even seen as braggarts, virtue-signalers and hypocrites. We discuss this fascinating research on how people evaluate those engaging in prosocial acts, and how it’s all linked to sustainability and ethical consumerism.
Jonathan also shares tips for companies on how corporations can live up to being viewed in a positive way when trying to be more sustainable. “If the sincerity is there, it will pay off,” he says.
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How does buying luxury items make you feel? Do you love them or do they hang in your wardrobe for that special occasion, collecting dust? In the latest episode of The Why Podcast, Katie Pisa met with Dafna Goor, Assistant Professor of Marketing at London Business School, to talk about her research findings on imposter syndrome from luxury consumption.
Buying luxury items can be a double-edged sword whereby it might yield status benefits for the consumer, but it can also make them feel inauthentic. Dafna talks about this and the reasoning behind why some feel undue privilege of consuming and using luxury items, while others have higher levels of entitlement and feel they deserve luxury items. Society tells us to “dream big” but also to “keep it real” and stay true to who you are, explains Dafna.
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How do you manage tension at work and better manage your time? In the latest episode of The Why Podcast, Katie Pisa met with Dan Cable, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School, to talk about his research findings on this.
How do you not get caught up in the urgent daily tasks and lose sight of the big picture? Dan shares tips and findings from his research on how to help restore the balance, sanity and productivity at work. Dan also discusses the benefits of giving employees space to do “deep work”, how to make the most of work time, and how to avoid burnout and boost well-being at work. Listen to his research-led findings for advice on how to make work rewarding for both leaders and employees.
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How do you think of your future financial self? In the latest episode of The Why Podcast, Katie Pisa met with Simona Botti, Professor of Marketing, and David Faro, Associate Professor of Marketing at London Business School, to discuss what makes someone decide how they spend money now based on a future income.
Some people borrow money from their richer future selves in order to live a more comfortable life. Others aren’t as likely to do this. We discuss this fascinating concept through their research on how and when we spend money. Why do some people find it easy to enjoy themselves now, while others seem more cautious based on what they perceive their future selves might be?
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In the latest episode of the Why podcast, Bryan Stroube discusses his findings on his latest research about how viewers evaluate films based on lead actors’ gender. His research experimented with AI-Generated movie plots and analysed nearly 400 million filmgoer ratings screened between 1992 and 2018. Bryan’s research sheds light on gender disparities -- with women only holding 28% of the leading roles -- and challenges stereotypes that still exist even years after the “Me Too” movement started.
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In this episode of the Why podcast, London Business School’s Marcel Olbert discusses the role of taxation in companies and governments with Alenka Turnsek of EY.
While there isn’t one global system of holding companies accountable for their sustainability efforts, there are several different country-wide efforts ongoing.
Tax incentives seem to be working, for example, in the US where the Inflation Reduction Act has come into play. In Europe, there are other measures and relief being introduced -- some of which have been around supporting green technologies for many years.
But where does that leave other countries? Particularly those who aren’t in such a privileged position to make sustainability their top priority. And what happens to those poorer countries who may take the brunt of more economically powerful countries offsetting their carbon emissions further afield? Isn’t this the equivalent of dumping one’s rubbish over the neighbour’s fence? Our experts discuss all this and more.
Regulations are also key, according to our academic research. Collaboration too, will be necessary to make further strides in making companies more sustainable.
Listen and learn more.
Marcel Olbert is Professor of Accounting at London Business School and Alenka Turnsek is a partner at EY, based in London, leading the EMEIA Tax Sustainability practice. Katie Pisa is Senior Editor of Think at London Business School.
For more thought leadership and business insights from London Business School faculty and alumni, visit Think at London Business School. Sign up here to receive a curated selection of articles, podcasts and films direct to your inbox twice a month.
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In this episode of the Why podcast, London Business School’s Anja Lambrecht and Xu Zhang discuss their recent research into how TV ads influence online sales for a major travel website, exploring how their findings challenge conventional views about their value. The research suggests that spikes in sales following an advert are not necessarily incremental sales, but instead an acceleration of sales that would have happened at a later time, an effect they term “intertemporal substitution”. They also talk about the vital role played by a field experiment in helping them arrive at their findings, and delve into why firms should undertake more of this type of experiment.
Anja is Professor of Marketing at London Business School and Xu is Assistant Professor of Marketing.
Zoë Stumpf is Head of Thought Leadership & Research Amplification at London Business School.
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How can public and private work together to increase innovation in oncology drug development?
In this episode of the Why podcast, Sukhun Kang, an award-winning PhD student at London Business School, discusses his research into oncology drug development, a research project sponsored by the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development. He explains how innovation in this field could be transformed and enhanced by greater collaboration – particularly between public bodies and the private sector.
Sukhun Kang is a PhD student in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. He’s recently been awarded the school’s prestigious Sir James Ball PhD Prize.
Zoë Stumpf is Head of Thought Leadership & Research Amplification at London Business School.
Listen to more insights from LBS faculty @londonbusinessschool. Discover more of our thought leadership at www.london.edu/think. Follow LBS on Twitter: twitter.com/lbs and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/school/london-business-school. -
Economists are interested in people’s beliefs because they drive their behaviour, which in turn impacts on the economy. In this episode of The Why Podcast, Jean-Pierre Benoît, Professor of Economics at London Business School, discusses research into how what people believe about themselves affects the choices they make. In the experiment he describes here, he investigated subjects’ self-confidence, exploring when they might bet on themselves vs leaving the outcome to fate by flipping a coin.
Jean-Pierre Benoît is Professor of Economics at London Business School and Chair of the Economics Faculty. He is a winner of a Best Teacher Award on the Executive MBA programme. Read the full paper he discusses here: ‘Belief Elicitation when more than money matters: controlling for control’. -
Most ventures fail – so what happens when an entrepreneur goes to investors seeking backing for their next new business? In this episode of The Why Podcast, Gary Dushnitsky describes how he set out to discover, in the context of equity crowdfunding, whether investors would shy away from failed entrepreneurs, or if they would take additional information into account when they considered whether to fund them anyway. Success takes skill and luck, he says; failure only needs error or misfortune.
Gary Dushnitsky is Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. He teaches on electives for MBA, Executive MBA and Masters in Finance students including Financing the Entrepreneurial Business and The Entrepreneurship Lab.
Read the full paper here: How do investors evaluate past entrepreneurial failure? Unpacking failure due to lack of skill versus bad luck. -
In this episode of The Why Podcast, Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School, discusses his recent paper ‘The end of ESG’. Its title was deliberately provocative and caused a stir – but the point he was making was that a fundamental part of understanding a company and its operations is understanding its impact on the environment and the world. ESG has been politicised and linked to identity but a more useful starting point might be to get beyond polarised opinions and instead take a deeper look at what creates long-term value for shareholders and society.
Alex Edmans is Professor of Finance at London Business School and author of Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit. His TED talk ‘What to Trust in a Post-Truth World’ and TEDx talks The Pie-Growing Mindset and The Social Responsibility of Business have a combined 2.5 million views. He teaches on the MBA programme. -
Giving people autonomy over when and how they work has its advantages but it also brings challenges – from finding new ways to measure productivity to managing boundaries to avoid burnout. In this episode of The Why Podcast, bestselling author and future-of-work expert Lynda Gratton explores how flexible working might pan out, and suggests what leaders need to consider in order to get the best out of their teams.
Lynda Gratton is Professor of Management Practice at London Business School, where she directs the HR Strategy for Transforming Organisations programme. Her books include The Shift, The 100-Year-Life (with Professor Andrew Scott) and Redesigning Work: How to Transform Your Organisation & Make Hybrid Work for Everyone.
Kathy Brewis is Senior Managing Editor of Think at London Business School.
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Entrepreneurs behave differently from the average businessperson – and, according to John Mullins, these behaviours can be learnt. In this episode of The Why Podcast, he explains the thinking and research behind his new book, Break the Rules! The 6 Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs – and suggests that forgetting some established behaviours could make all of us more entrepreneurial.
John Mullins is Associate Professor of Management Practice and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. He’s a bestselling author of three books for entrepreneurs and investors. Zoë Stumpf is Head of Thought Leadership & Research Amplification at London Business School.
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When some horrific abuses came to light in religious care homes in the US, a lot of people wondered why nobody had spoken up earlier. What was at play here, and how could such situations be prevented? In this episode of The Why Podcast, Aharon Cohen Mohliver tells us how he embarked on a deep-dive statistical analysis and discovered that having a system in place is no guarantee of anything when humans are involved. You can read his paper here: pubsonline.informs.org/doi/pdf/10.12…nsc.2022.4350
Aharon Cohen Mohliver is Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Kathy Brewis is Senior Managing Editor of Think at London Business School.
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Negotiating situations can be tense. It’s often assumed you need to wield power, grab what you can and then get out. But it doesn’t have to be so: if you can build trust and work out what the other person cares about, you’re more likely to get a result that’s good for both parties.
Empathy takes practice – and, before the other person even opens their mouth, you’ll have made a snap judgement about them based on their appearance. And that’s just the start of what can work against you and the likelihood of achieving a constructive outcome.
Kathleen O’Connor is Clinical Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Director of Executive Education at London Business School. Kathy Brewis is Senior Managing Editor of Think at London Business School.
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When the pandemic hit, managers reacted by becoming more inward-looking and task-focused. Relationships suffered and development opportunities withered. But there’s good news too. In this episode of The Why Podcast, Julian Birkinshaw investigates how managers’ behaviour changed and how they can reskill to lead effectively now. You can read his paper here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…81256211025823
Julian Birkinshaw is Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Kathy Brewis is Senior Managing Editor of Think at London Business School.
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If your mission statement is worded the wrong way, it’s unlikely you’ll end up with the kind of company culture you’re hoping for. In this episode of The Why Podcast, Dana Kanze explains how the power of language comes into play in workplace discrimination. Her full research paper, including the dictionary she mentions, is here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/articl…49597818301092
Dana Kanze is Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School. Kathy Brewis is Senior Managing Editor of Think at London Business School.
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A lot of resources go into combatting age-related diseases, but should we be focusing more on slowing down the actual process of ageing? In this episode of The Why Podcast, Andrew Scott explores the economics of ageing using four different models and suggests a new way forward. His full research paper is here: www.nature.com/articles/s43587-021-00080-0
Andrew Scott is Professor of Economics at London Business School. Kathy Brewis is Senior Managing Editor of Think at London Business School.
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