Paywalls are essential to the financial sustainability of news organizations, yet little is known about how readers respond when they encounter one. Do they subscribe, continue reading free content, look for ways around the paywall or leave the site altogether?

To answer these questions, researchers from the University of 91�Թ� and Georgia Tech partnered with a major U.S. newspaper to analyze one year of user behavior data encompassing 209.2 million page views. Their study examined how readers reacted when confronted with a digital newspaper paywall.

The findings show that while most readers abandon a site after hitting a paywall, and many others search for work-arounds, paywalls still generate a meaningful increase in subscriptions. The research, conducted by , the Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of 91�Թ�’s , is forthcoming in MIS Quarterly under the title, “.”

“Readers who arrive directly at the newspaper’s website are far more likely to stay engaged after hitting the paywall, whether by logging in, exploring free content or attempting to bypass it, than readers who arrive through search engines or social media links,” Kanuri said. “And readers of opinion content stand out as the most likely to subscribe or work around the paywall.”

Kanuri and his Georgia Tech coauthors, Eric Overby and Adithya Pattabhiramaiah, tracked reader behavior at a highly detailed level by time stamping each page load to the millisecond and identifying when users encountered a paywall.

Their analysis revealed that 59.2 percent of readers leave the site immediately after reaching a paywall. Only about two out of every 1,000 readers subscribe on the spot. Many others stay on the site without paying. Approximately 18 percent shift to free content elsewhere on the site, about 13 percent click around in search of articles that are not behind the paywall and about one in 10 successfully bypasses the paywall.

At first glance, these low immediate subscription rates might suggest that paywalls are ineffective. However, the researchers found a much different story when they isolated the paywall’s causal effect.

“Hardly anyone pulls out their credit card the first time they encounter a paywall,” Kanuri explained. “But the paywall is a remarkably effective nudge. When we compared readers who encountered the paywall with nearly identical readers who did not, those who encountered it were 84 times more likely to subscribe.”

The research team had a unique opportunity to measure this causal impact because the partner newspaper varied its free article allowance between three and four articles during the study period. This variation allowed the researchers to compare otherwise similar readers who did and did not hit the paywall on their third premium article. Beyond the 84-fold increase in subscriptions, encountering the paywall also made readers 16 times more likely to log in to an existing account, which helps newspapers understand their readers’ interests.

The study further found that 81 percent of successful bypasses involve readers quickly reopening the blocked article with a fresh browser identity, most likely by switching to private browsing mode or clearing their cookies. These simple work-arounds were far more common than technical methods such as disabling JavaScript or switching devices, suggesting that users rely on easy tactics more often than previously believed.

The findings offer practical guidance for publishers. Organizations can address paywall evasion by either blocking repeat bypass attempts or targeting these readers with tailored subscription offers. The study also found that opinion readers subscribe at nearly twice the rate of readers of national news, and local coverage also converts readers at above-average rates, highlighting the value of investing in distinctive opinion journalism and local reporting.

In addition, cultivating direct relationships with readers is critical, as visitors who navigate directly to a news site are far less likely to abandon it after hitting a paywall, and far more likely to keep engaging with the newspaper’s content, than those arriving through search engines or social media.

“These tactics can meaningfully bolster digital subscription revenue,” Kanuri said, “which is critical for sustaining public interest journalism as newspaper business models evolve.”

Contact: Vamsi Kanuri, 574-631-2399,

“My ultimate goal is to establish the first sustainable waste management company in my country of Trinidad and Tobago.”

For 91�Թ� senior Bernice Antoine, that goal didn’t originate in a classroom — it began at dawn in a rural Indian village, collecting waste by hand.

As a first-year student, Antoine spent two months working in a fully sustainable ecovillage through NDBridge. Under the guidance of monks, she helped develop composting systems and worked with a biogas chamber using anaerobic digestion. Each morning, she gathered waste from villagers, testing decomposition rates and monitoring odor in compost bins.

“We weren’t just learning about sustainability — we were living it,” she said.

The experience extended beyond waste management. Antoine worked in a gaushala caring for cows, helped repurpose old saris into reusable bags, planted seeds and crafted diyas (oil lamps) from natural materials.

She also visited a farmer suicide prevention program, where she learned how climate change and poor crop yields were devastating agricultural communities.

“That was when it became real for me,” Antoine said. “Sustainability isn’t abstract — it’s directly tied to people’s lives.”

Now a senior business analytics major with a triple minor in sustainability, social entrepreneurship and innovation and the Business Honors Program, Antoine has built an academic path to match that mission. She has also taken her global learning further, studying Chinese medicine in Hong Kong and Hindi in India to better connect with her community at home.

Antoine was named a 30 under 30 Caribbean Changemaker by and served as a Caribbean Climate Ambassador for the Caribbean Youth Climate Council.

On campus, she has emerged as a leader in sustainability and service. She founded, a sustainability initiative, and serves in multiple leadership roles, including as a McNeill Justice Fellow, Kellogg International Scholar, class representative on the Mendoza Academic Council, club officer of GreeND and chair of the Student Advisory Committee for the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative, hosting the inaugural Sustainability Action Fair assembling environmental organizations from South Bend and campus, with a focus on teaching individual skills like “intro to microgarden,” “plant propagation” and “how to build a wind turbine.”

Her work has earned recognition including the John W. Gardner Student Leadership Award, Martin Luther King Jr. Black Excellence Award, Outstanding Social Entrepreneur, Lou Holtz Leadership Award, Grow the Good in Business Undergraduate Women in Business, Frazier Thompson Community Empowerment Award and Global Game Changer.

Even in her residence hall, Antoine puts her values into practice. She maintains a small vegetable garden, growing broccoli and basil. She saves food scraps to feed worms in a horticulture class as part of her hands-on approach to sustainability.

After graduation, Antoine will join Boston Consulting Group while launching her nonprofit, Caribbean Development Group, which aims to teach youth practical sustainability skills like composting and micro-gardening.

But her long-term vision remains rooted in home.

“I want to build something that changes how we think about waste in Trinidad and Tobago,” she said. “Not just managing it — but transforming it into opportunity.”

Even with all the hype around streaming, traditional TV still dominates ad spend. Advertisers are putting $139 billion into linear ads this year, compared to just $33 billion for ads on streaming/connected TV.

With no way to track individual behavior among traditional TV viewers, it’s difficult to determine whether all that spending gets results. New research from the University of 91�Թ� helps determine the return on investment for TV ads, ironically by using digital data. By combining massive datasets that track exactly what households watch and buy second by second, the study separates the real impact of TV ads from other factors.

Traditional methods of measurement, which rely mostly on ratings and aggregate market data, appear to overestimate ad effectiveness by 55 percent in a study of advertising for food delivery services, according to , the Howard J. and Geraldine F. Korth Associate Professor of Marketing at 91�Թ�’s . Lu’s research, “,” is published online in Marketing Science.

Imagine that a household watches only part of a live game. If a food delivery ad airs during the portion they watched, they may see it; if it airs earlier or later, they may miss it. That timing difference creates a kind of natural experiment, helping the researchers isolate the ad’s true effect from other factors, such as which households were already more likely to order food. Researchers could not easily do this before with traditional TV measurement. Smart TV tracking now provides second-by-second household viewing data, making this kind of measurement possible at a much finer level.

Using LG smart TV data, Lu and co-authors Tsung-Yiou Hsieh from Oklahoma State University and Rex Yuxing Du from the University of Texas at Austin analyzed the viewing habits of millions of people who opted in to sharing their viewing data, letting the researchers see exactly what was on peoples’ screens — broadcast networks such as NBC and ABC, specifically — over a four-month period. The study didn’t track streaming apps like Hulu or Amazon. LG watched what viewers watched and connected that data to people’s food delivery app usage to measure ad impact.

“This is a game-changer,” Lu said, “because we can now link precise TV viewing data with real purchase history to measure TV ad effectiveness more credibly.

“Brands are overestimating their campaigns and wasting money on ineffective placements,” he said. “We show TV ads are only about half as effective as we thought. When corrected, the real sales impact is much lower, which has important implications for how advertisers evaluate performance and allocate spending.”

In addition to showing that traditional measures greatly overstated the effects of TV ads, the new measurement method revealed additional insights that could help companies better target their ads.

Data show that promotions for first-time buyers increase retention. Viewers’ responsiveness to ads peaks within two days of purchasing food on a delivery app, with the highest engagement rate found among customers who have ordered two to four times previously. Young, tech-savvy sports fans are better prospects than older news viewers.

“The old ways of measuring TV ads are missing an important part of the picture, because they do not fully account for who is more likely to see ads and who is more likely to buy,” Lu said.

Traditional TV ad tracking confuses ad effectiveness with pre-existing habits (like who is already likely to buy or who watches a lot of TV), leading to inflated results. This research fixes that by isolating the random timing of ad slots within shows, allowing the team to accurately measure the true sales lift of TV ads and determine how that impact varies based on a customer’s history.

The study provides a powerful tool for more precisely measuring the return on investment of TV advertising. By targeting ads based on what viewers actually buy — not just demographics like age or gender — this approach brings digital-level precision to TV.

Contact: Shijie Lu, 574-631-5883, slyu@nd.edu

More than 184 million people in rural sub-Saharan Africa rely on shared handpumps for clean water. However, more than 50,000 of the pumps are broken, leaving millions in jeopardy of losing their safe water supply.

New research from the University of 91�Թ� studies how local nongovernmental organizations in Ethiopia, Malawi and the Central African Republic decide when to maintain and repair 3,584 community handpumps when information about pump functionality is incomplete or uncertain. The ongoing research has helped NGOs provide more consistent and safe access to water for more than a million people across the three countries.

“Our results show that well-timed preventive maintenance can substantially reduce downtime and, in many cases, lower logistics costs — an important factor for NGOs with limited budgets,” said lead author, assistant professor of information technology, analytics and operations at 91�Թ�’s. Her findings in the paper, titled “,” are forthcoming in the journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management and won the 2024 Service Science Best Cluster Paper Award from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, a prestigious international research recognition.

Along with co-authors, 91�Թ�’s Greg and Patty Fox Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics and Operations, and Rodney Parker, Kurt Bretthauer and Jorge Mejia from Indiana University, Zhai examined detailed data on mechanic visits and water-point functionality from three countries that use very different approaches to water handpump maintenance.

Based on field research, Zhai and colleagues learned that the NGOs operating in the Central African Republic visit each water handpump once per year as part of a pre-scheduled rotation. The NGO in Ethiopia has an incoming call center that relies on community reporting of handpump breakdowns. The NGO in Malawi runs an outgoing call center, which contacts each community to inquire about the handpump condition so broken ones can be repaired.

The team developed a dynamic optimization model, called the Markov Decision Process, that adapts to each NGO’s current maintenance model and identifies optimal schedules for mechanics to visit and conduct the necessary maintenance and repair services, with the goal of reducing water pump downtime while balancing the logistics cost.

“Under this approach, NGOs perform both preventive maintenance and any needed repairs during each scheduled visit,” Zhai said.

Using this model, the NGO observes how many pumps are reported broken in each cluster and how long it has been since the last visit, and then decides which cluster its mechanics should visit next.

There are a number of complicating factors in determining maintenance practices. NGOs responsible for maintaining the water sources operate with limited staff and budgets. They must carefully plan their mechanics’ travel routes to keep pumps working while minimizing downtime and the costs of transportation and spare parts. At the same time, they must decide how much to invest in collecting information from communities about pump failures and whether their maintenance strategy should be more proactive (scheduled visits) or reactive (responding to reported breakdowns).

It can be tough to figure out if fixing things as they break or sticking to a strict schedule actually works best.

“If there is plenty of data and the water pumps are reliable, reacting as things break is best,” Zhai said. “But if repair demand is high, sticking to a scheduled, proactive plan works better.”

Applying their analytics model across thousands of water handpumps and multiple time periods revealed substantial reductions in downtime.

Enhanced logistics including well-scheduled preventive maintenance and repair service reduced maintenance downtime by 47 percent to 62 percent in Ethiopia, up to 53 percent in Malawi, and by 42 percent to 55 percent in the Central African Republic), with varying cost impacts ranging from savings in Malawi and Ethiopia and a 15 percent to 19 percent increase in the Central African Republic.

“This vital research offers a clear path to keeping water flowing, delivering sustainable, safe water access for underserved rural communities across Africa and strengthening health and long-term resilience,” Zhai said. “Our findings are critical for NGOs working with tight budgets and incomplete information.”

While NGOs may assume preventive maintenance increases costs, the study shows that when preventive maintenance is scheduled optimally, significant logistics savings are achievable. For organizations with limited budgets, these savings can free up resources for other critical activities. Even in cases where costs rise, the major improvements in pump uptime can justify the added expense.

“This paper is part of our comprehensive research agenda on water management in sub-Saharan Africa. We are using analytics to improve the location, allocation, maintenance and funding of water projects in countries like Malawi, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic,” said Pedraza-Martinez, who also serves as faculty director of the program. “Moreover, thanks to a collaboration with the Frontlines program at the Mendoza College of Business, MBA students are building on our research to advise NGOs and social enterprises focused on water management, helping these organizations improve their strategies and operations. This is research with a positive and tangible social impact.”

Contacts: Chengcheng Zhai, 574-631-5445, czhai2@nd.edu; Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, apedraz2@nd.edu

Before the opening bell ever rings on a company’s initial public offerings, some of the executives may already be sitting on a quiet windfall.

An IPO can act as a source of “cheap money” because of how stock options are valued before a company goes public. In private firms, options are supposed to be issued “at the money,” with exercise prices reflecting the fair value of the shares at the time of the grant. But without a public market price, those valuations rely on models and judgment, giving companies wide discretion.

When the firm later goes public, the IPO establishes a market value that is often far higher than the earlier private valuation. Options that once appeared fairly priced can suddenly become deeply “in the money,” allowing executives to purchase shares at prices far below market value. The resulting gap functions as “cheap money” — a significant windfall created by the shift from private valuation to public markets, rather than by new performance.

This is a red flag for regulators. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission frequently flags cheap stock grants when it reviews registration statements when companies try to go public.

New research from the University of 91�Թ� examines the prevalence, determinants and consequences of cheap stock.

“The average firm’s IPO price is more than five times the exercise price (price per share when stock options are exercised) of options issued in the fiscal year before the IPO,” said lead author , the Deloitte Foundation Department Chair of Accountancy and Deloitte Professor of Accountancy at 91�Թ�’s . His findings in the paper titled “” are forthcoming in Management Science.

“We show that ‘cheap stock’ option grants are widespread and economically significant,” Badertscher said. “It isn’t just about high growth, lack of liquidity or IPO uncertainty. It’s actually driven by specific incentives — like backing from venture capitalists and how managers are compensated.”

The gap between the IPO price and the exercise price of recently granted options is greater for firms that grant more options, have larger public offerings and have venture capital backing.

Badertscher, with co-authors Bjorn Jorgensen from Copenhagen Business School, Sharon Katz from INSEAD and Jeremy Michels from Purdue University, analyzed the prospectuses of 963 U.S. companies that went public between 2007 and 2022, pulling detailed information on pre-IPO stock option grants. The researchers’ main metric measured the gap between the IPO price and the average employee exercise price in the fiscal year immediately preceding the IPO.

They found that when a company gives out cheap stock options, it tends to signal trouble. It’s linked to overpaying the CEO, a disappointing IPO and less money being spent on growth — leading to poor long-term stock performance.

The paper states, “Entrenched CEOs, having received a financial windfall from the IPO, may prefer the status quo and may not be motivated to take risks that are in the best interest of shareholders.”

Companies with more monitoring — like top-tier venture capitalists and underwriters — often have more cheap stock right before going public. This suggests they are doing it to guarantee a successful IPO, not just because of poor corporate governance.

The study has implications for regulators, investors, boards and researchers.

It validates the SEC’s concern that handing out cheap stock before an IPO can make compensation expenses look way lower than they actually are, which distorts the financial picture, even absent clear evidence of fraud.

For investors and analysts, the research shows that looking at pre-IPO pay structures gives you a sneak peek into how well a company will perform and invest once it’s on the public market. For boards and compensation committees, it suggests that cheap stock can embed long-lasting incentive distortions that extend well beyond the IPO event.

“The paper also opens a new empirical window into private-firm valuation discretion, an area that is typically unobservable but economically important,” Badertscher said.

Contact: Brad Badertscher, 574-631-5197, bbaderts@nd.edu

When a new CEO takes over at a firm, it creates uncertainty for important stock market participants such as financial analysts who meet regularly with them and influence the investing patterns for the world’s largest institutional investors. They wait eagerly for the new leader to reveal their first major strategy and the future direction of the firm.

Past research offers conflicting views on whether a swift plan or a patient, deliberate approach is better.

A new study from the University of 91�Թ� introduces a concept called “new CEO strategic action speed,” which represents the number of days a new chief executive takes to announce the firm’s first large-scale strategic action.

How analysts respond to new CEO strategic action speed depends on the circumstances into which the chief executive is thrust, according to lead author, the Mary Jo and Richard M. Kovacevich Associate Professor of Management & Organization at 91�Թ�’s. Busenbark’s findings in the article titled “” are forthcoming in the Academy of Management Journal.

Along with Robert Campbell from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Diego Villalpando from the University of Texas at Arlington, Busenbark shows that if the CEO’s transition was fairly routine, analysts appreciate information sooner than later so they can glean a better picture of the firm’s prospects and provide that information to their clients. But if the CEO was appointed during a period of turmoil or has limited knowledge of the company’s structure, analysts appreciate the CEO taking a little more time to orient themselves to the role and demonstrate that they understand the demands the company faces.

“After that period of time — around 35 days on average — analysts begin to react unfavorably to longer strategic action speeds; after all, their patience only extends so far,” Busenbark said.

Yet, the majority of new CEOs wait more than 200 days to reveal their first major strategy, which is far longer than reasonable in the minds of vital capital market information intermediaries like financial analysts.

The study found that when a company is in trouble — specifically when the last CEO was fired, the new one is an outsider or performance has been poor — analysts prefer a cautious approach, and moving too fast or too slow is seen as a risk. However, if the company is already doing well and the new CEO is an insider, analysts have no patience for delays — the faster the CEO acts, the better.

“In other disciplines and contexts, this type of speed is viewed as key information,” Busenbark said. “Political scientists, sociologists and journalists often note how people form opinions about new U.S. presidents based on how quickly they announce their major policy decisions. Much like new presidents, new CEOs are often expected to balance altering the firm’s strategic trajectory with maintaining the core elements the firm already does well. Yet, unlike the incredible academic scrutiny on how long presidents take to make those types of decisions (typically within the first 100 days), there has been only passing conjecture in the organizational sciences about what it means for new CEOs to make quicker or slower decisions after ascending to their role.”

The researchers gathered data from several sources: a list of new CEO appointments between 2005 and 2019, strategic action announcements pulled from various business newswires, and financial analyst reactions found in academic databases.

“We even dug through thousands of earnings call transcripts for stories and found that analysts are typically eager for clues about the new CEO’s plans,” Busenbark said. “But questions about where the firm is heading often get redirected, so analysts usually have to wait much longer than what they believe is reasonable for information.”

The study notes, “On a call introducing Léo Apotheker as Hewlett-Packard CEO, one analyst asked, ‘Can you comment on when … we can expect your readout and early action items on the company?’ Similarly, on Joseph McGrath’s first earnings call as Unisys CEO, an analyst inquired, ‘When can we expect to see new major [actions]?’”

Along with advancing management theory, the study serves as a practical guide for new CEOs aiming to make their firms more successful on the stock market.

“New CEOs in turbulent situations would be wise to take a bit of time to gather and analyze information,” Busenbark said, “but they should still be cautious of waiting as long as they usually do since periods greater than a month tend to agitate analysts and invite more unfavorable evaluations.”

Contact: John Busenbark, 574-631-1735, jbusenba@nd.edu

A growing number of studies show that when investors pay close attention to individual stocks, it significantly impacts how they learn about and trade those stocks, which in turn drives stock price movements. In other words, what catches investors’ eyes directly influences their decisions and shapes the stock market.

However, not all investors watch the same things, and that variability creates very different outcomes in the market. New research from the University of 91�Թ� looks at how investor buzz sways the stock market, revealing that attention on individual stocks might actually predict the entire market’s short-term future performance, and noting an interesting split between retail and institutional investors.

When everyday investors, known as retail investors, suddenly pay more attention to the market, returns over the next week tend to fall. But when professional investors such as mutual funds and hedge funds, known as institutional investors, start paying more attention, returns over the next week tend to rise — especially when big news is about to come out, according to , the Howard J. and Geraldine F. Korth Professor of Finance at 91�Թ�’s . Da’s research, “,” is forthcoming in Management Science.

Da, with co-authors Jian Hua and Lin Peng from Baruch College and Tim Chih-Ching Hung from National Taiwan University, used Google’s daily search volume index to measure retail investor attention and Bloomberg’s “Daily Maximum Readership” score, which captures how often professional investors on Bloomberg are reading news about a particular stock, for institutional investor attention.

Rather than looking at each stock separately, the researchers averaged the abnormal attention measures across all stocks, allowing them to create two daily, market-level attention indexes: Aggregate Retail Attention (ARA) and Aggregate Institutional Attention (AIA). They tested whether these market-level attention measures can predict future stock market returns by running regressions of market returns on ARA and AIA.

“Investors have to notice a stock before they trade it, and trading is what moves prices,” Da said. “So it’s not surprising that attention can predict returns. What is surprising are two patterns we uncover.”

First, the study shows that different types of investors behave distinctly. Retail investors and institutional investors show opposite effects.

Retail attention predicts lower future returns, the researchers found. In other words, when everyone’s talking about a stock, it usually means it’s about to underperform. Popular stocks with lots of buzz often disappoint later because individual investors are late to the party and push prices too high initially. Once the hype dies down, prices fall back to earth, meaning lower returns for those who jumped on the bandwagon.

On the other hand, the researchers saw that institutional attention often acts as an early signal for higher future returns. Institutional investors start digging into a stock before major news breaks. When their interest is piqued, it’s often a signal that some uncertainty is on the horizon. This requires investors to demand a higher return for holding that stock around the time when the actual news comes out.

Second, the study reveals that looking only at market-level attention, such as searches for “Dow,” “S&P 500,” etc., doesn’t predict returns well.

“The market is really just the sum of many individual stocks,” Da said. “We measure attention at the stock level and then combine all that data into a bigger picture. This bottom-up attention measure works much better than the top-down approach.”

Da said identifying new factors that can forecast market ups and downs is valuable for two main reasons.

“It helps us understand what actually pushes the market higher or lower, and there’s the obvious practical perk — better predictions mean better decisions when we’re deciding where to put our money.”

Contact: Zhi Da, 574-631-0354, zda@nd.edu

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, schools around the globe had to switch from regular, in-person classes to online learning overnight. This introduced numerous operational challenges, particularly in equipping students with quantitative skills essential for the labor market.

New research from the University of 91�Թ� looks at how the abrupt move from classroom teaching to online learning during the lockdown affected college students’ performance in China.

Surprisingly, the undergraduates performed better in math after switching to online classes — improving their scores by about eight to 11 points on a 100-point scale, according to , the Howard J. and Geraldine F. Korth Associate Professor of Marketing at 91�Թ�’s . Lu’s research, “,” is forthcoming in Production and Operations Management.

Along with Xintong Han from Laval University in Quebec City, Shane Wang from Virginia Tech and Nan Cui at Wuhan University in China, Lu analyzed more than 15,000 course records from nearly 8,000 students across nine universities. They compared students’ grades from before the pandemic, when they learned in person, to those during the lockdown when all classes moved online.

Results varied depending on the subject and the lockdown environment. Online learning worked especially well for reasoning-based subjects such as mathematics, where students could pause lectures, rewatch examples and practice problems at their own pace. In contrast, courses such as English that rely on discussion and interpretation, and are challenging to replicate effectively in virtual environments, benefited much less from the online format.

“Contrary to the widespread belief that online education is less effective than face-to-face instruction, our findings show that students actually performed better online, at least in quantitative subjects during the pandemic,” said Lu, who specializes in business analytics and digital marketing. “This challenges the traditional view that in-person learning is always superior and suggests that, under certain conditions, well-structured online environments can enhance learning outcomes.”

Results were linked to the strictness of stay-at-home orders or transportation bans to see how different types of governmental lockdown policies shaped learning outcomes. Using rigorous econometric methods, the researchers made sure that the improvements they observed were due to the switch to online learning and not other unrelated factors.

They found that stricter stay-at-home orders issued by the government raised psychological stress and reduced the effectiveness of online learning. However, these negative effects were partially offset when workplace closures and public transportation suspensions helped some people maintain focus and discipline.

One possible explanation is that as parents were more frequently home due to employment interruptions, they were better positioned to ensure their children attended virtual classes, remained focused on tasks and followed a structured schedule. Meanwhile, suspension of public transportation reduced opportunities for social outings and non-academic distractions, effectively creating a quieter, more focused study environment at home.

“Our results show that online education when done thoughtfully can be more than just a backup plan during emergencies,” Lu said. “It can be an effective tool for learning, especially in analytical subjects.”

For educators, this means designing online courses that take advantage of digital tools — such as interactive exercises or on-demand videos — rather than simply moving lectures onto Zoom. For policymakers, it highlights that not all lockdown policies have the same effect on educational outcomes. Strict stay-at-home orders hurt learning, but moderate workplace closures that allow parents to supervise their children help to improve outcomes.

“These insights can help schools and governments better prepare for future disruptions — whether from pandemics, natural disasters or other emergencies — by understanding how to balance safety and learning effectiveness,” Lu said.

The study shows that online learning programs need to be flexible and designed with the specific course material and students’ physical location in mind.

Contact: Shijie Lu, 574-631-5883, slyu@nd.edu

Financial institutions are constantly fighting off fraudsters who steal money from customer accounts. Banks spend millions each year to figure out who was responsible and keep customers from leaving; however, in most cases it’s nearly impossible to figure out who committed the fraud.

Should banks continue pouring resources into investigations that don’t lead to accountability? The short answer is yes, according to , the Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of 91�Թ�’s . In a new research study, Kanuri found that if a bank can’t tell a customer who was responsible for a fraudulent transaction, that customer loses trust, closes their account and leaves the bank.

In “,” published in the forthcoming issue of the Production and Operations Management journal, Kanuri examined data from a major U.S. bank covering 422,953 customers over five years. The study showed that a lack of clear answers from the bank resulted in a big increase in people who had experienced fraud leaving — 40 percent more than those who were never defrauded in the first place.

Kanuri, along with Mendoza’s and Rahul Telang from Carnegie Mellon University, showed that, surprisingly, when the bank catches the real fraudster, not only do customers feel more secure, but also 62 percent fewer leave compared with customers who never experienced fraud at all.

“Intuitively, we might expect that any instance of fraud would harm the relationship between a customer and their bank, even if the case was resolved,” Kanuri said. “After all, fraud is a serious violation of trust, and you would think it would automatically push customers closer to the exit. Yet we show the opposite in cases of correct attribution: Not only do customers stay, but they also display higher levels of loyalty than those untouched by fraud. This is a real-world demonstration of the service recovery paradox, where effective handling of a failure can make customers more loyal than if no problem had occurred.”

Financial institutions are increasingly faced with sophisticated phishing scams where perpetrators create mass email campaigns that redirect users to a fake bank login page to collect their login credentials. Fraudsters can even circumvent state-of-the-art two-factor authentication checks by taking control of users’ phones through SIM jacking and inheriting the users’ geographic identity using geo-spoofing techniques.

A bank that fails to catch fraudsters creates an immediate, lasting impression of unreliability, though it fades over time. On the other hand, a bank that successfully catches fraud and protects its customers earns a stronger, more permanent reputation for competence. Kanuri said this demonstrated that “how fraud is resolved shapes not only immediate reactions, but also the long-term relationship between banks and their customers.”

Not all customers react the same way.

The data revealed that factors such as tenure and how often customers interact with their bank influence their responses. Customers with shorter relationships and fewer touchpoints are more likely to leave a bank if a fraudster goes unidentified, since they don’t have a long history of trust to rely on. Longer-tenured customers or those who engage more frequently with the bank are more forgiving.

“Interestingly, when the bank successfully identifies a fraudster, these differences largely disappear,” Kanuri said, “since the act of identifying the culprit provides enough reassurance to restore trust across the board.”

The data, which included customer demographics, account activity, tenure, balances, interactions with the bank and instances of fraud, as well as a follow-up experiment confirmed that what really drives customer behavior after fraud is how much they believe in the bank’s ability to safeguard their accounts. When fraudsters are not identified, this undermines trust, prompting people to withdraw money, move funds elsewhere and eventually close their accounts. When they are identified, the opposite happens. It restores confidence, encourages loyalty and sometimes even strengthens the customer-bank relationship.

The results provide evidence in support of reforms proposed by the U.S. Treasury Department to increase transparency in ACH transactions and require money-transfer apps to report them. Such changes would make it easier for banks to trace perpetrators, assign blame and reduce customer defection. Beyond the financial upside, these reforms could also reinforce trust in financial institutions by making service recovery more effective.

“The payoff of fraud investigations comes in the form of loyalty, not direct financial recovery, which is not the way most people in the industry are accustomed to thinking about it,” Kanuri said.

Contact: Vamsi Kanuri, 574-631-2399,

Consumers are increasingly tired of interacting with chatbots in customer service. There are times, however, when people prefer chatbots, according to new research from the University of 91�Թ�.

When purchasing “embarrassing” products like diarrhea medicine or acne cream, consumers would rather engage with a chatbot over another human, even when they are shopping alone at home, according to lead author, assistant professor of marketing at 91�Թ�’s . Jin’s findings, “,” were recently published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

Jin, along with Jesse Walker and Rebecca Walker Reczek from Ohio State University, looked at how shoppers’ desire to avoid embarrassment influenced two types of interactions with chatbots: when a chatbot’s identity is disclosed, and when it is not disclosed and is therefore ambiguous.

Across seven experiments with more than 6,000 participants, the team created and used its own chatbot to study the intricacies of human-chatbot interaction. People shopped for hemorrhoid medication and anti-wrinkle cream, among other products.

In one experiment, participants were asked to imagine shopping for diarrhea and hay fever medications and were offered two online pharmacies, one with a human pharmacist and the other with a chatbot pharmacist. The medications were packaged identically, with the only difference being their labels for “diarrhea” or “hay fever.” More than 80 percent of consumers looking for diarrhea treatment preferred a store with a clearly non-human chatbot, which was not the case when shopping for hay fever medication.

Another experiment used a dating app enabled with either a clearly identified chatbot or human match agent that asked sensitive questions about things like body shape. Again, when facing sensitive questions, people disclosed more and preferred a clearly non-human chatbot match agent over a human agent.

Consumer embarrassment also plays a role when a chatbot’s identity remains ambiguous. When interacting with a chatbot that looks and sounds human, consumers who are more likely to be embarrassed when buying hemorrhoid cream, for example, are more likely to infer the agent is human and potentially avoid the interaction altogether.

“When it comes to sensitive purchases, if there’s any doubt about who they’re interacting with, perhaps because of a human-like profile picture, people will err on the side of caution and treat the AI chatbot as if it’s human to protect their self-image,” Jin said. “It’s a way of preparing for the worst-case social scenario. But give them a clearly non-human chatbot, and suddenly that self-presentation pressure vanishes because there’s no perceived judgment.”

When consumers know for sure they are interacting with a chatbot, they strongly prefer it over a human for embarrassing purchases. And they really want it to look and sound like a machine rather than the more human-like versions the industry is trending toward. These shoppers proved more willing to engage with a chatbot, choose a store that uses one, and even share email addresses and other personal information to get free samples.

“While our studies focus on classic ‘self-conscious’ purchases, the insight extends more broadly,” Jin said. “A car leasing company could use a clearly identified, machine-like chatbot to assist women in an industry where they may experience stereotype-based judgment.”

The findings can help guide companies in deciding when to deploy chatbots, why they work in certain contexts and how to design them effectively.

Contact: Jianna Jin, 574-631-1509, jjin5@nd.edu

Online shopping has experienced massive growth over the past decade, leading to extensive research into how businesses merge their physical store presence with online platforms.

A new study from the University of 91�Թ� reveals surprising results when shipping policies are adjusted from tiered to flat-rate models.

Previous studies have ignored the nuances of e-commerce shipping fee policies, which serve as a critical strategic tool for retailers. Traditionally, companies including AutoZone, World Market and BatteriesPlus have favored tiered shipping fees determined by order cost. More modern policies at retailers like BoxLunch, White House Black Market and Saks Fifth Avenue have shifted to flat fees designed to encourage higher-dollar online orders, as consumers may feel the fees are “wasted” unless they make a larger purchase.

Rather than boosting e-commerce, the change drives many online shoppers into the stores, leading to an overall increase in sales from both channels, according to the lead author , the Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Marketing at 91�Թ�’s . Kanuri’s findings, “” were recently published in MIS Quarterly.

Kanuri, along with Andrew Crecelius from Iowa State University and Subodha Kumar from Temple University, analyzed 16 months of transaction data from more than 21,000 customers of a major luxury department store operating online and with physical stores in five states. Switching from a tiered online shipping fee where bigger orders cost more to ship, to a flat-rate that costs the same no matter how much is purchased, they tracked how the new policy impacted online and in-store purchasing behavior, specifically focusing on order frequency, size and item types.

Under the retailer’s tiered system, a $10 order included no fee, a $30 order incurred a $7 fee and a $100 order had a $20 fee. With the shift to a flat-rate shipping policy, customers paid $7 regardless of order size.

‘We expected this would boost online shopping,” Kanuri said. “But surprisingly, in-store sales increased by 23 percent among the shoppers who purchased only through the online channel before the policy change.”

Specifically, shoppers reduced their average monthly online spending by $242,000 (11 percent decrease), while previously online-only shoppers spent a whopping $975,000 (23 percent increase) in stores. They pooled their online orders until they reached the threshold, resulting in fewer but larger online orders, then visited physical stores in between for smaller items.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Amazon has dominated the $900 billion online market, while rivals with physical stores like Macy’s rush to boost their e-commerce sales and others including J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, Pier 1 Imports, Revlon and Sears faced bankruptcies and store closures.

“For these legacy retailers trying to stay competitive with Amazon, especially those with both online and physical stores, this study is big,” Kanuri said. “Our work shows that online shipping policies can shape how and where people shop. A flat-rate shipping fee might not juice up online orders as intended, but it can be a clever way to get customers to step into a physical store and boost sales for both, putting ‘e-tailers’ at a slight disadvantage.”

Kanuri advises managers to make better use of their physical locations by assessing how their shipping strategies affect in-store behavior as well as online sales.

Contact: Vamsi Kanuri, 574-631-2399,

According to the World Bank, 1.4 billion people worldwide remain unbanked — with little or no access to credit — largely because they lack the formal credit histories required by traditional lenders.

New research from the University of 91�Թ� reveals how alternative data — specifically retail transaction data — can be used to create reliable credit scores for individuals without formal credit histories.

“,” forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research, offers a scalable, data-driven path forward for bringing millions of unbanked individuals into the credit economy.

, assistant professor of marketing at 91�Թ�’s , along with co-authors Jung Youn Lee from Rice University and Eric T. Anderson from Northwestern University, found that retail transaction data can significantly improve credit access for consumers without a formal credit history. In fact, the data allowed credit card approval rates for “no history” applicants to jump from 16 percent to as high as 48 percent.

“It’s the classic catch-22 in lending,” Yang said. “You need a credit history to get a loan, but you need a loan to build a credit history. We show that everyday shopping data can break that loop and help lenders say yes with confidence.”

The study extends and reinforces the team’s findings from its “grocery data” research published last year that revealed what consumers purchase and how they shop in grocery stores are predictive of credit card default. People who purchased unhealthy products such as cigarettes and ready-to-eat items have higher credit card default risk, whereas those who made healthier choices and bought ingredients for home-cooked meals, such as milk and fresh beans, are more likely to pay their credit cards on time. Those who exercised shopping discipline — visiting consistently on the same day each week, following a budget and buying items on sale — also were more likely to pay on time.

“Receipts can do what a thin credit file can’t,” Yang said. “When lenders see stable, sensible purchase patterns, they’re far more comfortable extending credit to people the system usually overlooks.”

The grocery study focused only on individuals with existing credit histories. The new study expands the scope to include applicants without any formal credit history — those typically excluded from traditional credit scoring.

Building on their previous work, the researchers partnered with a Peruvian company that operates several retail businesses. Using customer loyalty data, they observed shopping behaviors across multiple retail sectors. Studying more than 45,000 consumers who made at least one purchase at a store over a two-year period, they zeroed in on how responsive consumers were to promotions, how often they returned products and what kinds of products they bought.

The team then combined standard data sources typically used in approval decisions. These include data from a credit rating agency that detailed the timeliness and consistency of people’s utility bill payments as well as a snapshot of credit histories — including applications and repayment records — from Peru’s national credit registry.

Merging the comprehensive data allowed the team to create alternative credit scores for people with a credit history who were approved for a credit card, others without a credit history who were approved for the card based on utility bill payments, and those without credit history who were not approved for the card but whose names still showed up in the national registry because they were approved for credit by other lenders.

They found that incorporating retail data increases approval rates for individuals without a credit history, from 16 percent to between 31 and 48 percent. In contrast, for those with an established credit history, approval rates remain largely unchanged at around 88 percent.

“Retail data barely moves the needle for people who already have credit scores, but it’s a game changer for those who don’t,” Yang said. “That’s where inclusion really happens.”

The team also simulated credit approval decisions based on the alternative credit scores under various business objectives, such as expanding access or minimizing risk, to assess how incorporating alternative retail data changes approval rates and default outcomes for the different types of applicants.

This proved more reliable in forecasting credit risk than the traditional credit scores or utility bill histories alone.

The greatest benefits were seen when lenders left unchanged the level of risk they were willing to take on, which equated to expansion in access without higher default risks. This is welcome news for governments, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector pushing for more inclusive financial systems.

And as policymakers and fintech firms race to develop solutions to close the credit access gap, Yang said, “Retail data can serve as a bridge over that gap. It gives lenders a fuller picture and gives borrowers a fair shot.”

Contact: Joonhyuk Yang,

Being the hands and feet of Jesus to end hunger can involve ninja warrior competitions and dog toys.

It does for 19-year-old rising University of 91�Թ� sophomore Austin Baron, from Ashburn, Virginia.

At 8 p.m. EDT July 14 (Monday), he will compete in the semifinal round of NBC’s” (ANW) to advocate for an end to world hunger, an ambition he works toward by making knotted dog toys and collecting donations to his nonprofit, .

In its 17th season this summer in Las Vegas, ANW pits past competitors against “new ninjas” in “the world’s most notorious” obstacle courses. Athletes face tests of strength and endurance and take on a growing number of competitors, each with an inspiring story to tell.

This will be Baron’s second appearance on the show. He first competed in 2023 — on his 17th birthday — and reached the semifinal round. He was invited to rejoin the show this summer and hit his first buzzer during the June 2 qualifying round, advancing to semifinals.

Wearing a shirt that reads “Ninja Fighting Hunger” while on the show, Baron said he is “dedicating my summer to being the hands and feet of Christ for the 1 billion people around the world who go to bed hungry each night.”

Finding his mission

Baron’s mission, which caught the interest of show producers, began when he was a young volunteer at a meal-packing event in his hometown. The Cross Catholic Outreach You(th) vs. Hunger food packing event was led by a 91�Թ� alumni family atSt. Theresa Catholic Church.

Feeding the hungry that day changed Baron’s life.

“I was so moved to learn that the meals I packed fed hungry children and families that I decided to fundraise so we could feed even more people.”

As a middle-schooler, Baron began knotting dog toys as gifts for those who donated, using the name Knot Perfect to underscore “the imperfections of a world where children and families go hungry.”

As a 16-year-old high school sophomore, Baron found it difficult to collect cash donations during the pandemic, so he sought help from his family — and ultimately from 91�Թ� — to make Knot Perfect a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which allowed for electronic donations.

Working with Mendoza

Baron was influenced by the experiences of his two older brothers at 91�Թ� — Hayden graduated in 2024 and Brendan will graduate in 2026.

“I was 12 when Hayden wrote his application essay at our kitchen table,” Baron said. “I wanted to start a dog toy business, and learning of 91�Թ�’s mission to work for the common good really motivated me to ask myself, ‘How can I use this to do something good in the world?’”

Baron’s mother enrolled in the virtual professional development class titled How to Start a Nonprofit so she could help him navigate the complicated process.

“My mom’s teacher, Mendoza professor, helped get Knot Perfect off the ground. I met him when we visited campus, and he continues supporting me now that I’m running the nonprofit as a 91�Թ� student myself,” Baron said.

Knot Perfect was destined for success, O’Brien said.

“Austin has an amazing capacity to focus on tasks and complete them,” he said. “He’s using what he is learning at 91�Թ� to improve himself, the ND community and the world. The young man has a servant’s heart.”

Finding success

Knot Perfect has raised over $30,000 and provided more than 100,000 meals to children and families globally — 40,000 of those as a direct result of Baron’s appearance on Season 15 of ANW. He has also made more than 1,500 dog toys.

“My parents and brothers have been my devoted team of volunteers — driving me to events, helping establish a business and supporting my ninja competitions,” Baron said. “Each is either an officer for Knot Perfect or on the board. All positions are volunteer to maximize the number of meals provided.

“Brendan cheered me on in person while I ran the ANW course this summer, while Hayden watched on a video call with our younger brother Chase.”

The original driver of Baron’s vision, St. Theresa’s You(th) vs. Hunger event, led by 91�Թ� alumni Rachel and Stan Revelle, is celebrating its 10th anniversary and striving to pack its millionth meal this year.

In a boost toward that goal, Baron recently received two grants totaling $1,650 that he applied for as a first-year student, with help from his Writing and Rhetoric professor in 91�Թ�’s University Writing Program. One of his grant interviews conflicted with finals, so, he said, “my younger brother Chase did an incredible job representing the nonprofit in my place.”

Baron’s fundraising has also provided food through Franciscan Missions for Ukraine, Knights of Columbus Ukraine Solidarity Fund, Our Lady of the Road and Second Harvest Food Bank.

He was selected as the Virginia Young Man of the Year by the Knights of Columbus in 2024.

Putting in the work

Not surprisingly, Baron’s grit has also become evident to his professors. , assistant teaching professor of information technology, analytics and operations in Mendoza, was initially skeptical when Baron entered his class with little coding experience and then declared a business analytics major mid-semester.

“He put in the work, stuck with it, crushed the final and aced the class,” Ke said. “So, it’s not a huge surprise he’ll be on ‘American Ninja Warrior’ for the second time. He’s got the work ethic and the heart. He’s the kind of student who reminds us why we do what we do.”

Baron said, “I am grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to compete on ‘American Ninja Warrior’ again for this important cause and to hit my first buzzer in qualifying. Growing up watching the show, that was a bucket list item that I always wanted to do.”

Baron hopes his years of training, including at ninja gyms across the country and on the Duncan Student Center rock climbing and bouldering wall on campus, will help him reach the national finals and a shot at this year’s $250,000 prize and title of American Ninja Warrior. With the season ending in bracket-style head-to-head racing, only one contestant will be left standing.

But Baron knows his quest to end world hunger is more important.

“I can feel God’s presence through everyone who has helped me fight hunger, through the opportunities I have had with ‘American Ninja Warrior’ and through my journey to 91�Թ�,” he said. “All of the glory goes to God. It would be impossible for me to do this without him.”

To help, visit .

Contact: Shannon Roddel, associate director of media relations, schapla@nd.edu

This presents a challenge for retailers because the revenue generated from reselling a returned product often does not cover the costs associated with processing the return.

As a result, many leading retailers no longer require customers to return a recently purchased and unwanted product in order to get a refund — they often tell customers to “just keep it,” meaning they get both the refund and the item.

This “returnless returns” strategy has become a common practice. In a 2023 survey of more than 500 retail executives, 59 percent used returnless returns compared with only 26 percent the year before.

And cost cutting is not the only benefit for these retailers, according to new research from the University of 91�Թ�.

Returnless returns can increase brand support by fostering goodwill, according to and, assistant professors of marketing at 91�Թ�’s . Their study, “,” is forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research.

They conducted nine lab, field and online studies that showed consumers who are offered returnless returns are more likely to patronize the brand and share positive feedback compared with others doing standard product returns.

They found this to be true when several factors are in place.

“Specifically, returnless returns increase brand support when proof of the problem with a product is not required, the decision is framed as specific to that consumer and situation, the brand provides a consumer or environmentally centric motive for the decision and the brand suggests donating the kept product,” Costello said.

This contrasts with narratives in the popular press and with data from the team’s pilot study with retail professionals, which both point to cost as the primary reason firms decide to implement returnless returns.

“Surprisingly, we also find that increased brand support generated through returnless returns can sometimes be greater than the support generated when a consumer appears to be happy with a product and does not initiate a return,” Bechler said.

The study explores both situations where consumers get to keep the "returned" product plus get their money refunded, as well as situations where they get to keep the "returned" item and get a replacement item. The effects hold for both of these situations.

Some brands, including Chewy and Bombas, offer a blanket returnless policy for all customers and situations, while others, like Amazon and Walmart, use a case-by-case basis.

While blanket returnless policies may appear more likely to boost brand support because consumers may feel they could be excluded by brands with selective use, the study shows the opposite is true.

“Drawing from our theory that offering returnless product returns boosts brand support because they increase brand warmth, we find that returnless policies implemented on a case-by-case basis are actually more effective for a couple of reasons,” Costello said. “The consumer feels they are getting special treatment. Also, because they are getting human interaction rather than an automatic email, the customer feels additional warmth toward the brand. So, increasing the level of ‘humanness’ in digital interactions has proven beneficial.”

Brands can choose to not provide a reason for why they are using returnless returns, or they could point to managing costs or minimizing environmental harms. However, in the interest of improving brand support, the study provides managers with practical guidance about how to communicate with consumers during returnless returns.

Suggesting that customers donate the kept product boosts perceived brand warmth and support, as does providing reasons that articulate the brand’s desire to put the customer first in their product return processes.

Bechler explained, “The customer-centric message we used in one of our studies was, ‘When managing returns, our primary goal as a company is to make our customers’ lives better. With this in mind, there is no need to return the items in question to receive your refund. We appreciate your business and want to make this process as seamless and positive as possible for you, so please do whatever you want with these items.’”

The findings offer important insights for firms that are designing or updating their product return policies and would like to improve how they are viewed by customers who seek to return purchases.

Contact: John Costello, 574-631-5171, ; Christopher Bechler, 574-631-1202, cbechler@nd.edu

School shootings in the United States have become a shockingly regular occurrence, with 573 on record between 2013 and 2021 — nearly one school shooting every week, according to .

Beyond the immediate tragedy, fatal school shootings can have far-reaching and less obvious economic consequences, according to new research from the University of 91�Թ�.

The first large-scale empirical evidence that fatal school shootings can impact routine consumption behaviors like grocery shopping and dining out, “” is forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing Research from, assistant professor of marketing at 91�Թ�’s .

Costello, along with his co-authors from Indiana University, the University of California-Davis, Georgia Institute of Technology and Texas A&M University, analyzed household grocery purchases from 63 fatal school shootings between 2012 and 2019, matching NielsenIQ's Homescan market research to school shooting records from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

They noticed a measurable decline in consumer activity for up to six months in communities following a fatal school shooting. The authors found reductions in spending of over two percent at grocery stores, eight percent in restaurants and bars, and three percent in overall food and beverage retailers.

“Our controlled experiments provide evidence that this decrease primarily is driven by heightened anxiety about safety in public spaces following these tragedies,” Costello said. Consistent with this, the team’s grocery data shows that consumers not only decrease spending following these incidents, but also the number of grocery trips. The authors find that consumers also purchase from fewer departments, potentially to limit time spent in public settings based on their feelings of anxiety.

And the economic impact is stronger in liberal rather than conservative-leaning counties.

In liberal-leaning counties, grocery spending dropped by 2.4 percent, compared to 1.3 percent for their conservative counterparts. Consistent with the grocery data, findings in the authors' experiments uncovered that political liberals reported higher levels of anxiety and greater intentions to avoid public spaces following these events.

The disparity is attributed to differing perceptions about the causes of gun violence, but Costello says the study shows one thing is clear.

“Retailers cannot simply resume business as usual in the aftermath of these tragedies,” Costello said.

Typically, policy responses to school shootings focus on the psychological distress of direct victims, improving protections and increasing gun control and mental health support in schools. This research suggests local governments may also need to help counteract economic losses. Suggestions include direct financial support, grants, or low-interest loans to help local retailers manage the fallout, and tax breaks or other financial incentives to businesses to help them remain operational.

Costello says the findings could offer a better path to change.

“Our results show the consequences of fatal school shootings are broader than we thought and may be helpful in policy discussions,” he said. “While the death of children has naturally been the primary driver, progress toward lasting change has failed. As they do in natural disasters, politicians could underscore these profound economic consequences to elicit public support.”

Contact: John Costello, 574-631-5171,

Prior research has shown that having female directors on corporate boards can improve a firm’s financial performance, social responsibility, operations, product quality and recall decisions.

New research from the University of 91�Թ� takes a first look at how workplace safety is affected by female board representation, finding similar benefits. There are fewer accidents and injuries on the job when boards have more women.

“However, simply adding women directors is not enough,” said, the Robert and Sara Lumpkins Associate Professor of Business Analytics at 91�Թ�’s . “Their influence on future workplace safety increases significantly when they hold powerful positions on key board committees because they feel more comfortable speaking up and get better traction on their ideas.”

Wowak, along with, assistant professor of information technology, analytics and operations at Mendoza, and Corinne Post from Villanova, analyzed a unique dataset covering 1,442 firm-year observations across 266 firms from 2002 to 2011.

Their findings are forthcoming in the Journal of Operations Management paper “.”

The team looked at OSHA workplace safety data and director-level variables from Institutional Shareholder Services, along with information from Violation Tracker including fines and penalties levied by U.S. regulatory agencies, the U.S. Department of Justice, state and regulatory agencies, and state attorneys general.

The research shows that boards with a higher representation of female directors prioritize and enhance workplace safety, likely because they tend to consider a wider range of stakeholders in their decision making, exhibit more risk aversion and favor regulatory compliance.

These findings are underscored by prior studies showing that female directors, in contrast to male directors, often have more experience in community outreach and philanthropy, making them more likely to advocate for prosocial issues. The team demonstrates that women are more likely to show greater consideration and care for employee well-being — including a desire not to harm in their decision making.

Greater focus on risk aversion and regulatory compliance at the board level may improve rule-following and protocols for properly using equipment. For example, the board could request that management monitor and report on safety precautions.

With workplace accidents estimated to cost U.S. employers more than $170 billion annually, Son said their findings can help firms avoid prioritizing efficiency at all costs — a critical determinant of unsafe work behaviors — while avoiding backlash from investors and stakeholders.

“A board with more women will specifically ask the top management team to report to them on workplace safety,” Son said. “Women will set the tone at the top that employees must strictly follow rules, including safety guidelines.”

In an empirical extension of their main analyses, the team looked at racial/ethnic minority (non-white) directors and got the same result, presumably because both groups have unique safety-relevant, social perspectives, yet share the characteristics of being underrepresented, non-prototypical board members whose views tend to be overlooked.

Further, the team found a synergistic effect with female and minority board representation.

“With more females in the upper echelons, the effect of similar minority representation on future workplace safety becomes even stronger, and vice versa,” Wowak said.

As the first study to suggest that board diversity can enhance a firm’s operations through workplace safety benefits, the team recommends companies also steer women and minorities onto influential board committees and boost accountability measures.

“Having power reduces their inhibitions, limits interference from others and provides more opportunities to speak up and steer discussions,” Son said. “And boards facing greater scrutiny are more likely to leverage their unique perspectives.”

Contact: Kaitlin Wowak, ; Yoonseock Son, 574-631-1666, yson@nd.edu

The University of 91�Թ� celebrated its on Sunday (May 18) at 91�Թ� Stadium. An audience of some 20,000 graduates, family members, friends and faculty attended, and 2,084 degrees were conferred on undergraduate students, with a total of 3,099 degrees being conferred over the course of Commencement Weekend activities.

Inaugurated as 91�Թ�’s 18th president last year,, presided over the ceremony for the first time. He and , the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost, welcomed the guests and introduced the speakers.

Adm. Christopher Grady, the Vice Chairman and Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, received an honorary degree and served as the principal speaker.

Honorary degrees also were conferred on Dr. Rafat Ansari, a South Bend oncologist, hematologist and community leader; Stephen Brogan, the former managing partner of Jones Day and an emeritus member of the University’s Board of Trustees; David Brooks, a renowned author and political and cultural commentator; Teresa Lambe, the Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the University of Oxford and a principal investigator in the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine program; and Alice McDermott, a critically acclaimed and New York Times-bestselling author. Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and the Governorate of Vatican City State, was also scheduled to receive an honorary degree, but due to the death of Pope Francis, Sister Petrini has elected to defer the honor until May 2026.

Salutatorian Bennett Schmitt, a native of Jasper, Indiana, who has majors in environmental sciences and applied and computational mathematics and statistics, offered an invocation.

“Almighty God, full of truth, mercy and unbounded love, at all times — and especially today — we root ourselves in gratitude for all You have given us.”

On behalf of the graduating class, Schmitt asked, “Lord, help us now to find our place in what comes next and answer Your call to be forces for good as we step forward today equipped with the training provided by Our Lady’s University.

“In a world facing threats to peace, justice and the very Earth that sustains us, Lord, help us to feel this heaviness not as a burden, but as a call to serve and to love radically.”

Valedictorian Clare Cullinan of South Bend, Indiana, a global affairs major in the , recalled “numerous memorable events in this stadium since I was a little girl, but it is deeply humbling and a bit surreal to be standing here with all of you today.”

The 91�Թ� family celebrates the good times and shows up for the bad, Cullinan said. “When my grandfather passed away at the beginning of this school year, 91�Թ� showed up, traveling 10 hours and filling several pews of the church to support my family. When I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer my sophomore year of college, 91�Թ� was there.”

Recalling Father Dowd’s inauguration speech that referenced the theme “What do we owe each other?” Cullinan answered, “We owe it to each other to celebrate, challenge and create community.”

She appreciated the creation of 91�Թ�’s Keough School as a member of its first graduating undergraduate class. She noted the collaboration of deans, professors and staff members “who are great leaders, wonderful mentors and builders of community.”

Using her guiding phrase “Lead, Kindly Light,” a song she recently sang with the 91�Թ� Folk Choir at Westville Correctional Facility, Cullinan emphasized how important it is to show people the love of Christ and “that we share the light of the 91�Թ� community with others beyond the borders of our campus.”

In his introduction of Adm. Grady, Father Dowd called him the Navy’s “Old Salt,” a nod to his extensive knowledge and expertise as the longest-serving surface warfare officer on active duty. Yet, Grady opened his remarks with humility and humor, declaring his connection to the class of 2025.

“Though I graduated here 41 years ago, I really am one of you,” he said. “Now, you might just say ‘OK boomer.’” When the graduates’ laughter tapered off, he emphasized that his honorary degree makes him a member of the class of 2025 and a Double Domer.

After decades in the Navy, Grady said he has been forged by the sea, but was first forged at 91�Թ�.

He described today’s world as “congested, contested and complex,” marked by persistent conflicts, unresolved crises and unmet needs. “It is a world that needs 91�Թ� graduates to be a force for good.”

Success in an imperfect world, he said, demands “commitment to trust and truth, to agility, to continuous improvement and commitment to moral courage.”

Grady shared several “sea stories” that, for him, anchored important lessons. “My best days in command were not when everything went right, but when things went wrong and the crew — the team — responded.

“Like on a beautiful day in the Arabian Gulf off the coast of Bahrain when a routine underway at sea was interrupted by a catastrophic failure and the crew responded expertly, swiftly and safely. Or when I was a strike group commander. We had to adjust to enemy tactics as we sent the air wing over the beach during the fight against ISIS.”

In another reference to 91�Թ�’s Forum theme, Grady challenged graduates to reject the world’s “me, me, me” mantra and instead embrace continual self-assessment.

“Have the courage to be humble enough to admit that you are not perfect and that you can always improve.”

Grady’s own failure to do the right thing was the plot of one of his sea stories.

“I was bringing my ship into the port of Rome for Christmas. We had been at sea for over 100 days and the crew really needed a break. Families were flying in. It was Christmas, after all, and many were going to Mass with the pope. As we maneuvered into port, it was blowing a gale — 60 knots of wind, rain, terrible weather. And I thought about waiting until the weather cleared but did not want to disappoint the crew. That was the wrong answer. Though we made it in successfully, it was not my best landing.

“Remember you were forged here at 91�Թ�,” Grady said. “You are part of a force for good, and they do not call us the Fighting Irish for nothing.”

Kerry Alys Robinson, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities USA and recipient of the 2025, confessed, “This is my very first time to this hallowed place. And I am speaking specifically of this magnificent college football cathedral.”

“Not born a 91�Թ� football fan” like her husband, Robinson found herself “cheering wildly” during last year’s playoff games. She compared the student section’s “communal celebration” with the recent joy and hope of those gathering in St. Peter’s Square when the world learned of its new pope.

“As you venture forth from this beautiful campus today, I urge you to seek out, as frequently as you can, more moments of authentic human connection. Be present. Be generous. Be joyful. Be hopeful.”

Robinson cautioned against allowing political polarization and technological advances to divide and isolate, pointing instead to an “antidote to the epidemic of isolation and loneliness.”

“Our beloved Pope Francis gave us a term for this: Build a culture of encounter and accompaniment. The more open your eyes and your hearts are to others and their experiences, the more aware you will be of their humanity, their joy and their suffering and how you can be a beneficial presence to them.”

Calling generosity “humankind’s birthright,” Robinson said it’s not necessary to become an admiral or a Holy Cross priest to live a life of generosity and service. In 2024, more than 215,000 people volunteered at Catholic Charities agencies, she said.

“Will every second of your life be as euphoric as the moment Jeremiyah Love turned the corner and ran 98 yards for a touchdown on that cold December night?” Robinson asked.

Chase that kind of feeling by serving and showing up for others, she said with a closing observation from Pope Leo XIV: “‘I’m so convinced that if we open our lives and our hearts to serve others, we — indeed like the Gospel says — receive a hundredfold in this life.’ Members of the class of 2025, that is my wish for you in your lives.”

The ceremony concluded with a benediction by, vice president for institutional transformation and advisor to the president, and a performance of two songs including “91�Թ�, Our Mother” from alumni Alex and Veronica Mansour.

Father Dowd noted the presence of his predecessors, and , and expressed gratitude for Father Jenkins’ support during his transition as president, as he delivered his charge to the graduating class.

“Last year, when a number of us had the privilege of meeting with the late Pope Francis, he asked us to continue to ensure that 91�Թ� always educates the whole person in a way that integrates head, heart and hands.

“Lead with your heads, be generous with your hearts and extend your hands.

“Class of 2025, you will always be my first graduating class as president,” Father Dowd said to much applause. “And, as such, you will always hold a special place in my heart.”

Commencement 2025 transcripts and videos are located here.

Days before she will graduate from 91�Թ� Law School, Hadiah Mabry had a rare opportunity on Wednesday (April 30) to witness oral arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) for a high-profile religious liberty case she has worked on for the past two years.

St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond challenges the exclusion of schools of all faiths from a program that supports privately operated charter schools in Oklahoma.

Mabry was among five current and former Law School students in attendance for the SCOTUS arguments after working on the case through 91�Թ�’s (RLC).

For the past two years, the students have helped a team of attorneys from the RLC and two outside law firms represent St. Isidore. On Wednesday, the students watched as 91�Թ� alumnus of Dechert LLP argued on behalf of the school.

“It was truly an honor to experience oral arguments at the Supreme Court,” Mabry said. “Very few lawyers get to see a case they worked on go to the Supreme Court, and I’m so grateful to the Religious Liberty Clinic for making this possible while we are still in law school.”

Attorneys argued that religious organizations in Oklahoma have the constitutional right to have access to a state program that allows other private groups to operate charter schools, and to deny St. Isidore’s charter constitutes unlawful religious discrimination.

“If the First Amendment stands for anything, it’s that the government can’t exclude people because of their beliefs,” said , RLC director and second-chair counsel to St. Isidore at the Supreme Court. “We called upon the court to reinforce that bedrock principle.”

Meiser and clinic staff attorney have led the RLC’s work in the case since its inception in October 2023. Kessler, Meiser and McGinley were joined at the Supreme Court by a number of other attorneys from St. Isidore’s legal team, including fellow 91�Թ� alumnus with Perri Dunn PLLC.

In 2023, Catholic leaders in Oklahoma formed St. Isidore to bring a new school to families across the state, particularly in areas without access to Catholic education. St. Isidore was approved to join the more than 30 privately operated charter schools offering diverse learning options in the state. The school was set to open for the 2024-25 academic year until Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed suit to block it, stating it violated both the state and U.S. Constitutions.

After the Oklahoma Supreme Court sided with Drummond, the U.S. Supreme Court took up the case to review the constitutionality of that decision.

Meiser; Kessler; , the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law; and more than a dozen 91�Թ� Law School students have assisted the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa in their efforts to operate the school.

“We are deeply grateful to 91�Թ�’s Religious Liberty Clinic, faculty and students for their service to our dioceses and to the Church. We could not have built this school without their support,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley and Bishop David A. Konderla of Oklahoma.

The students have worked in a variety of settings including helping to prepare for oral argument at the Supreme Court. Meiser said it’s hard to overstate how meaningful the experience has been for the students.

“They used their legal skills to help a new school grow from the ground up. They navigated complicated regulatory processes, worked on two separate litigations and now have had the exceedingly rare chance to help prepare for oral argument before the highest court in the country. Lawyers go their entire careers without opportunities like our students have gotten before they graduate.”

As a student in the RLC, Mabry learned about Oklahoma’s charter approval process and contract negotiation while conducting legal research for the project. Once litigation began, she helped draft briefs and legal memos, prepared counsel for oral argument, participated in client calls and traveled to Oklahoma for argument.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work on this case, especially because we represent a school with a strong mission to serve the children of Oklahoma,” she said. “I’ve also learned innumerable practical skills that will help my future career. The case has solidified my interest in litigation, education law and school choice.”

Also in attendance at the Supreme Court was Jessica Smith, a second-year ND Law student. She joined the St. Isidore team last year when the school was preparing to file a petition for certiorari to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. Along with the other students, she was involved in crafting both the cert petition and merits briefing.

“I’ve had a front-row seat and an insider’s look into how a case gets to the Supreme Court,” she said. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch how excellent attorneys approach everything from litigation strategy to oral argument and participate in that process.”

Before the school was formed, its leaders reached out to seek advice fromGarnett due to her prominent scholarship addressing the free exercise rights of private charter school operators. Thereafter, they engaged the RLC for a variety of legal assistance as the project developed.

“It has been an amazing privilege working with the RLC in service to the Church, seeing the incredible formation the project provided to our law students and partnering with 91�Թ� alumnus Michael McGinley, who provided singularly excellent advocacy for St. Isidore,” Garnett said. “It’s also incredibly gratifying to see my own academic work reflected in such an important religious liberty case.”

The RLC’s highest-profile case to date, Meiser said the St. Isidore matter represents “a classic 91�Թ� story” that blends faculty, students, alumni and service to the Church.

“It exemplifies’s vision for a clinic that can complement our faculty’s leading religious liberty scholarship,” he said. “When St. Isidore’s leaders reached out to Nicole because of her scholarship, ND Law was launching the clinic. Their request for one professor’s expertise grew organically into a relationship with our new clinic, which could support their developing legal needs.”

Created to promote religious freedom for all people, the Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic has led law students in representing individuals and organizations from an array of faith traditions. In addition to fighting discrimination against religious schools and families, it has defended the right to religious exercise in prison, secured asylum for individuals fleeing religious persecution, worked to preserve sacred lands from destruction and provided a variety of legal services to enable religious nonprofit organizations to carry out their ministries.

“It is hard to express how meaningful this has been,” Meiser said. “We have the opportunity to help a group of deeply good, faithful people bring new resources to kids who need them. We have given our students legal experiences that can’t be replaced and which I could never have imagined during my own time as a 91�Թ� student. And we’ve done it all alongside, and because of, so many great people from 91�Թ�.”

Mabry plans to clerk for Judge Joan Larsen on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after graduating on May 18.

Smith will clerk for Judge Elizabeth Branch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit followed by Judge Don Willett on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

A decision on the St. Isidore case is expected by the end of June.

The Charles E. Rice Professor of Law at , is an internationally recognized expert in the field of law and bioethics and the author of “What It Means to be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics.” Snead has worked on these issues for more than two decades, including for President George W. Bush’s Council on Bioethics. Since 2016, he has served as a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life — the principal advisory body for bioethics — and for 12 years served as the director of 91�Թ�’s .

Snead has had more than 10 private meetings with Pope Francis and considers the pontiff an inspiration in his scholarship, teaching and public engagement. Most recently, Snead shared with him a copy of the Spanish translation of his book.

The de Nicola Center also has greatly benefited from an ongoing relationship with the pope.

“During my service as director of the center, the Holy Father sent notes of support and congratulations both for our 2014 Fall Conference and for the 2017 91�Թ� Evangelium Vitae Medal award,” Snead said. “For the past decade, every year an undergraduate Sorin Fellow of the center has served as an intern at the Pontifical Academy for Life and has had the opportunity to meet the Holy Father in private audience. In 2018, de Nicola Center Sorin Fellows were able to attend the Synod on Young People, which included an audience with Pope Francis. And in 2016 during the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, the de Nicola Center hosted a conference at the Vatican entitled ‘Disability and the Face of Mercy,’ co-sponsored with the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization and held at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This event included a private audience with the Holy Father.”

In Snead’s field of public bioethics — the governance of science, medicine and biotechnology in the name of ethical goods — Pope Francis has been an unswerving and powerful voice for the weakest and most vulnerable, he said.

“He has been a prophetic voice against dehumanizing biotechnologies, reminding us that such innovations must be harnessed only to serve the health, wholeness and flourishing of the human family,” Snead said. “He has never wavered in his defense of every human being from conception to natural death and has spoken out consistently and resolutely against the injustice of life-destroying practices such as abortion, embryo research, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

“At the same time, he has expressed unconditional love, support and mercy for mothers and families facing difficult and desperate circumstances, bearing witness to the core principle at the heart of a culture of life, namely, that everyone counts, everyone matters, everyone possesses inalienable dignity and infinite worth, no matter how small, weak, dependent, poor or despised.”

Snead said the pope’s warnings about the “throwaway culture” apply with equal force to the domain of public bioethics and said Pope Francis has consistently and coherently shown how an abiding concern for the poor, for people at the peripheries and even for the environment itself naturally and necessarily includes care for those at the margins of life, including the unborn, people with disabilities and the dying.

“We cannot pick and choose among these goods but are bound to pursue them all and leave no one behind,” Snead said. “This coherent and integrated vision of self-emptying love and care for all has been a gift to the Church and much-needed lesson to all of us in these times of polarization.”

Contact: O. Carter Snead, osnead@nd.edu

On February 24, 2022, Russian tanks rolled across international borders into Ukraine with the aim of conquering an independent sovereign state and member of the United Nations.

Not only was this a breach of the prohibition on the use of force — a core principle of international law and the United Nations Charter stating that members cannot threaten or use force against other states — it was also the most serious breach since the prohibition was codified in 1945, according to , the University of 91�Թ�’s Robert and Marion Short Professor of and professor of international dispute resolution in 91�Թ�’s .

In O’Connell’s new article, “,” published in the Georgetown Law Journal, she states, “The law against war appears to be dead.”

O’Connell — author of “The Crisis in Ukraine” and editor of “What is War?” — also served as a professional military educator for the U.S. Department of Defense and chair of the International Law Association’s Committee on the Use of Force. She places the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the top of a long list of international lawbreakers worldwide.

“Violations in the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere are plain,” she writes.

According to O’Connell, these include the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which had no legal justification; repeated attacks on Syria by Turkey, Israel and the U.S. based on a distorted view of self-defense in the United Nations Charter; and Israel’s use of major force against Palestine in defiance of a 2004 decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Uganda’s incursions into the long-running civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo were found by the ICJ to violate the Charter in 2010. Rwanda has been committing the same violation in 2025.

O’Connell also notes North Korea’s repeated missile strikes on South Korea and China’s aggressive behavior toward other states in pushing its unfounded claims to maritime space. The U.S. fought in Afghanistan for 20 years on the excuse that Afghanistan was responsible for 9/11. It was a false claim in fact and, therefore, in law, O’Connell says. The U.S. has carried out repeated missile strikes on Pakistan without justification. India also has attacked Pakistan in plain defiance of the United Nations Charter.

O’Connell says, “The serious and widespread breaches have resulted in large part because of the theory of legal positivism. Positivism holds that there is no lasting and immutable natural law, only the law ‘posited’ by lawmakers. When it comes to international law, positivists argue that states with major militaries can change the law through their conduct. The result is that no law is safe from the subject choices of the few. In fact, the prohibition on force is no mere positive law rule. It is a peremptory norm of natural law, which does not shrink or disappear.”

Analyzing how the law against war became so disrespected, O’Connell points to specific causes of its decline dating back to the end of the Cold War when, she says, the United States and democratic allies began asserting privileges to use military force that are clearly forbidden under the United Nations Charter.

“Two Princeton University professors attempted to justify the violations by creating a system in competition to the charter and international law in general,” O’Connell says. “In their system, the U.S. as a state with unequaled military power and democratic values has the imperial right to determine for itself and its allies when resort to force is lawful. The Princeton alternative became known as the Western International Rule-Based Order (RBIO). President Biden particularly relied on it in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, only to be called out for pursuing a double standard and exhibiting hypocrisy.”

Her paper explains that RBIO legal justifications are based on manipulating positive law and ignore the fact that peremptory norms are natural law (humans are born with a moral compass that guides behaviors). She suggests applying social science research on “norm death” to help reverse years of disrespect for the law against war.

“Russia’s attempt to conquer Ukraine demonstrates how weak the taboo against resort to war has become,” she says. “Social scientists show that building respect for normative ideas like law can occur when leading states model compliance with the law.”

International law experts today define a “leading state” as one that complies with the law, but O’Connell points out that the law such states are modeling must be real international law. This is law that has its origins in the ancient concept of natural law.

“This is the opposite of law made up to attempt to place a legal fig leaf over an invasion or missile strike or to promote U.S. military hegemony,” O’Connell says. “President Trump is defying even the RBIO system of legal privilege. He is presenting the world with a blank slate where we can rewrite the wisdom of the ages or allow lawless, violent chaos to prevail.”

O’Connell’s “” is available on the blog of the European Journal of International Law.

Contact: Mary Ellen O’Connell, 574-631-4197, maryellenoconnell@nd.edu