Cryptocurrency & Fintech In the latest video in the Wharton Great Question series, Kevin Werbach shares his answers to questions on the NFT boom, applications for Blockchain, and how cryptocurrencies impact climate change. Legal Studies & Business Ethics caret-arrow Resilience in Networked Systems
What Drives Your Decision-Making? On this episode of the Finding Genius Podcast, Amit Gandhi explains the most common deep drivers of decision-making and their impact on behavioral outcomes, but draws special attention to the ‘random’ factors that impact decisions, but have no real connection to deep drivers like cost and utility. Economics Marketing caret-arrow Consensus and Contagion in Society
Study Finds Surprising Source of Social Influence A new study in Nature Communications from Damon Centola finds that as prominent and revered as social influencers seem to be, in fact, they are unlikely to change a person’s behavior by example — and might actually be detrimental to the cause. Communication Sociology caret-arrow Consensus and Contagion in Society
Pandemic amnesia: Have we forgotten what we learned about PPE shortages? "COVID-19 will continue to affect our lives on several levels; it has us questioning vital decisions such as where we really want to work or live. But it’s also important for us to start questioning the products we buy and from where we buy them, to question our role as customers, citizens and community members," writes Gad Allon. Operations Information and Decisions caret-arrow Ubiquity of Data
High-ranking hyena mothers pass their social networks to their cubs Using 27 years of detailed data on hyena social interactions, a team led by Erol Akçay nailed down a pattern of social network inheritance and its implications for social structure, rank, and survival. Biology caret-arrow Consensus and Contagion in Society
Obscuring the truth can promote cooperation People are more likely to cooperate if they think others are cooperating, too. New research from Erol Akçay shows that overstating the true level of cooperation in a society can increase cooperative behavior overall. Biology caret-arrow Consensus and Contagion in Society
WSDM 2021 Test-of-time Award Congratulations to Duncan Watts, whose 2011 paper on "Everyone’s an influencer: Quantifying influence on Twitter" received the WSDM 2021 Test-of-time Award. Communication Computer and Information Science Operations Information and Decisions caret-arrow Consensus and Contagion in Society
Why storytelling is an important tool for social change In her LA Times op-ed, Emily Falk discusses how neuroscience research shows that stories are processed differently from other types of information in the brain. What is special about stories? Communication Marketing Psychology caret-arrow Evolution, Emergence and the Brain
High Prices and Long Wait Times: What’s Ahead for Uber and Lyft? Gad Allon spoke with Wharton Business Daily about the challenges ride-hailing companies are facing following the pandemic. “I think no one is happy at this point. Customers are not happy, drivers are not happy, and Uber is not happy,” he said. Operations Information and Decisions caret-arrow Resilience in Networked Systems
Damon Centola Honors Former Penn Faculty Member with New Chair Name In keeping with Annenberg tradition, Professor Damon Centola has named his endowed faculty position after a person he admires. Centola has chosen to honor Professor Emeritus Elihu Katz, who taught at the Annenberg School from 1992 until his retirement in 2014. Communication Sociology caret-arrow
