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Article
Publication date: 4 October 2022

Laura Gonzalez

The 2008 and 2020 crises reinvigorated discussions on the need to deepen financial inclusion through fintech. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending facilitates pro-social direct lending to…

268

Abstract

Purpose

The 2008 and 2020 crises reinvigorated discussions on the need to deepen financial inclusion through fintech. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending facilitates pro-social direct lending to less “bankable” strangers while providing returns to at-times less experienced lenders. Information asymmetries and credit risk are substantial, and previous research finds suboptimal heuristics in for-profit lenders (Gonzalez, 2022). This study examines further the role of gender to facilitate “doing well while doing good”.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines 663 pro-social lending decisions by finance students on a mock P2P site. Testimonials were used to condition participants towards pro-social decision-making. Each participant was asked to make three lending decisions. The three loan applications were identical except for a female or male headshot (vs a control icon), and a randomly assigned difference in the trustworthiness or popularity of the male vs female loan applications among other lenders. Loan popularity is reported as a lower number of days needed to fund half the identical loan amount requested in the three loan applications (3 vs 11 days for headshot applications, and 7 days for control one).

Findings

Self-recognition in similar-age borrowers is more pronounced for lenders who have experienced financial trauma. Second, male lenders report higher confidence in their financial literacy and cash collateral. Third, cash collateral increases lending only to female borrowers. Fourth, higher perception of one's financial literacy increases confidence only when lending to females.

Originality/value

This is the first study to examine the role of gender, financial literacy, identification with borrowers, and collateral perception in pro-social P2P lending.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 49 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

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Article
Publication date: 13 September 2022

Laura Gonzalez

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending facilitates direct online lending and aims to provide financial inclusion and investment returns. Lender goals range from for-profit to pro-social and…

499

Abstract

Purpose

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending facilitates direct online lending and aims to provide financial inclusion and investment returns. Lender goals range from for-profit to pro-social and objective information is limited, which highlights the need to examine heuristics.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines 1,347 lending decisions by finance students on a mock P2P site. Testimonials were used to randomly condition the financially literate lenders towards for-profit or pro-social decision-making. Each investor evaluated three loans. The three loan applications were identical except for a female or male headshot (vs an icon) and random reports of 50% funding for the female or male loan in 3 days (vs 11 days for opposite gender and 7 for icon). Previous research surveys students on a mock platform (Gonzalez, 2020) and reports similar heuristics and lifelike decisions in student and general population samples (Gonzalez and Komarova, 2014).

Findings

Lenders randomly conditioned towards pro-social lending state lower trust in borrowers. However, pro-social investors state lower risk in P2P lending and higher financial literacy. Second, pro-social investors are more confident when lending to borrowers highly trusted by other lenders, especially if the popular loan applicant is female. Third, pro-social conditioning increases lending to male applicants when the popular loan applicant is female. Fourth, pro-social investors who have experienced financial trauma have greater confidence in bad loan recovery.

Originality/value

This is the first study of heuristics in pro-social vs for-profit P2P lending. In addition, it shows that testimonials can effectively condition lending goals and affect trust and risk perceptions.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 49 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

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Article
Publication date: 13 May 2019

Laura Gonzalez

The gradual implementation of blockchain technology in peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms facilitates safer, transparent and quick access to funds without having to deal with…

1861

Abstract

Purpose

The gradual implementation of blockchain technology in peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms facilitates safer, transparent and quick access to funds without having to deal with the more complex and costly processes of banks. Beyond that, the purpose of this paper is to examine trust-enhancing heuristics that show a need for blockchain to assist in monitoring and bad loan recovery.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines 909 lending decisions by 303 finance students on a mock P2P site. Each participant was asked to make three lending decisions. The loan applications were identical with the exception of a female or male photo (vs an icon) and reports of having raised half the loan in either 2 or 11 days (vs 7).

Findings

Investors who have experienced financial trauma are more likely to herd and lend higher amounts to loan applicants that are highly trusted by other lenders. This effect is more pronounced for male investors lending to highly trusted female loan applicants.

Practical implications

Blockchain can compensate for behavioral biases and improve monitoring by helping track digital money transactions and assisting in bad loan recovery efforts.

Originality/value

This study is the first behavioral experiment to examine herding in P2P lending. The findings complement and corroborate those by Gonzalez and Komarova (2014, 2015) and emphasize the need for blockchain to assist beyond trusted records and safe transfers of funds.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 46 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 November 2024

Laura Ripoll González, Run Zhao, Lisa Källström, Marta Hereźniak, Jasper Eshuis and Warda Belabas

This paper aims to report on the insights from an international workshop entitled Co-creating place brands: sharing research insights and practical experiences towards more…

259

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to report on the insights from an international workshop entitled Co-creating place brands: sharing research insights and practical experiences towards more inclusive cities and regions hosted by the Erasmus University Rotterdam. The authors outline their collective reflection and the learnings for place branding theory and practice. Additionally, this paper discusses the need to build practitioner-scholar relationships in a co-creative style, to co-develop more inclusive models for co-creating place brands.

Design/methodology/approach

The report details key learnings of a whole-day interactive workshop featuring academic and practitioner presentations and discussions around inclusive approaches to co-creating place brands. The report is structured around key emerging themes and their associated learnings.

Findings

The workshop yielded six important learnings: 1) a key obstacle to co-creating place brands is that co-creation is often misunderstood among decision-makers; 2) all place stakeholders need to be taken seriously if co-creation is to shape a place’s identity and foster cohesion; 3) broad stakeholder inclusion in place branding can be problematic, but it is a necessary condition to the practice of place brand co-creation; 4) co-creating place brands requires going beyond marketing tools and deep into the levels of community life and place’s social and cultural construction; 5) co-creation at all stages of the branding process from conceptual development to performance measurement and sometimes unconsciously; 6) politics of place must be observed (this is crucial yet easily overlooked in co-creating place brands).

Originality/value

The micro-format of the workshop facilitated valuable interactions between academics and practitioners, effectively blending practical, “on the ground”-knowledge with academic ideas, concepts and models. This approach not only generated key learnings with the possibility to advance the field but also highlighted important future research directions.

Details

Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8335

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 December 2021

Laura Gonzalez

Academic innovation strives to benefit from an ample talent pool, and entrepreneurship and research competitions constitute an integral part of the effort. This prompts…

1088

Abstract

Purpose

Academic innovation strives to benefit from an ample talent pool, and entrepreneurship and research competitions constitute an integral part of the effort. This prompts discussions about how to optimize the impact of interdisciplinary learning, especially for less-traditional participants. The main purpose of this article is to describe how synergies between research and business plan competitions can facilitate inclusive engagement and enhanced development of transferable skills.

Design/methodology/approach

A case illustration addresses the following questions: (1) what skills can be enhanced through a single project toward parallel participation in research and business plan competitions? (2) How can synergies between research and business plan competitions support more inclusive student development? The case illustration outlines the process and outcomes of an initiative with three first-gen business students, two female and two international.

Findings

The case illustration describes how synergies and alignments of deadliness between research and business plan competitions enhanced the learning process by facilitating more opportunities to showcase learning and receive feedback. In addition, the parallel preparation facilitated student inclusion by providing purposeful authentic practice in a project envisioned by the students. As a result of the 2019 learning experience, students and their employers continue to value in 2021 the effective development of transferable skills.

Originality/value

Previous studies examine independently entrepreneurship initiatives, science technology engineering arts and mathematics (STEAM) initiatives, transferable skills and pedagogy that support inclusive education. This manuscript describes the option of synergies between research and entrepreneurship competitions to support more inclusive student development. In addition, it provides recommendations for impact when scaling-up synergies.

Details

Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2397-7604

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Article
Publication date: 20 February 2020

Laura Ripoll Gonzalez and Fred Gale

Place branding research has recently focused on developing more inclusive models to better capture the co-creation of place identities. This paper aims to investigate stakeholder…

647

Abstract

Purpose

Place branding research has recently focused on developing more inclusive models to better capture the co-creation of place identities. This paper aims to investigate stakeholder communication interactions in place branding processes to inform alternative, participatory, network governance models of stakeholder engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature on stakeholder engagement in place branding processes is sparse. Through a regional case study of the Australian island state of Tasmania, the paper combines participatory action research (PAR) with the method of sociological intervention (SI) to investigate how participants individually and collectively reflect on their practices and patterns of engagement.

Findings

By combining PAR with SI, participants were enabled to gain a greater appreciation of how cooperation and collective self-reflection enhance effective place branding practices. Furthermore, by facilitating participants to compile a list of impediments to collaboration, the research informs efforts to develop more inclusive governance models for place branding. Finally, the PAR/SI method itself served as a practical tool to encourage enhanced stakeholder engagement in applied settings.

Research limitations/implications

The approach is based on a single case study in a particular regional context and the findings require replication in other jurisdictions.

Practical implications

PAR/SI is a practical tool to achieve greater stakeholder engagement and enhance collaborative social action through a process of collective, critical reflection in applied settings.

Originality/value

The paper advances understanding of ways to operationalize participatory place branding through more inclusive, multistakeholder governance arrangements.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 July 2024

Jasper Eshuis and Laura Ripoll González

This paper aims to provide conceptual clarity on the different approaches of place branding in the literature. It discusses three main approaches and provides a new definition of…

851

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide conceptual clarity on the different approaches of place branding in the literature. It discusses three main approaches and provides a new definition of place brands that acknowledges the full multi-sensory experience of place brands. This paper also elaborates brand management within the three approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

Conceptual paper

Findings

This study identifies three co-existing approaches of place branding and provides a definition of place brands for each of them. The first approach conceptualises place brands as symbolic constructs that identify and differentiate places from others. Brand symbols such as logos and slogans are central, assuming that brand meaning resides in them. The second approach views place brands as images and associations in the minds of target groups, whereby brands reside in individuals’ minds (the cognitive). This paper aligns with a third approach that views place brands as experiential, multi-sensory constructs. Brands invite not only mental representations in people’s minds but especially also multi-sensory embodied experiences. The authors thus define place brands as marketing systems that consist of dynamic performative assemblages of symbolic, discursive, institutional and material elements that selectively invite certain multi-sensory and embodied experiences of place by stakeholders and target groups.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to conceptual clarity by providing an analytical framework identifying three main approaches to place branding. The authors further reflect on the implications of each approach for brand management. This paper also builds on recent literatures to provide a new and contemporary definition of place brands as multi-sensory experiences that encompasses embodiment.

Details

Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8335

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 13 May 2019

Laura M. Gonzalez, Kelly L. Wester and L. DiAnne Borders

Depending on their institutional context, for new faculty members to successfully manage their transition from doctoral studies to early career, they must show potential as…

378

Abstract

Purpose

Depending on their institutional context, for new faculty members to successfully manage their transition from doctoral studies to early career, they must show potential as researchers. The purpose of this study was to learn about supports and barriers to researcher development in new faculty members.

Design/methodology/approach

The investigators solicited open-ended responses from early career faculty members (N = 49) in an online survey. Content analysis was used to provide an initial categorization of supports and barriers identified by the participants.

Findings

Ten barrier categories (e.g. lack of resources, previous training, lack of mentoring, workload) and eight support categories (e.g. effective research collaborations, supportive university environment, funding) were identified.

Research limitations/implications

Findings were framed with a social cognitive conceptual model, which parallels previous studies in doctoral research training environments and research productivity and builds on our knowledge of early career faculty development. The study was limited in terms of number of participants and online response format.

Practical implications

Practical implications to minimize barriers and enhance supports for new faculty researcher development were identified (also drawing from the conceptual model, SCCT).

Originality/value

Thus, the study has value for university policymakers, administrators, faculty peers, research mentors and assistant professors or doctoral students seeking to develop as researchers.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 June 2022

Laura Ripoll Gonzalez and Fred Gale

This study aims to explore whether adopting a sustainability narrative in city branding and urban development strategies results in more inclusive governance arrangements…

3766

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore whether adopting a sustainability narrative in city branding and urban development strategies results in more inclusive governance arrangements (process) and a more pluralistic approach to generating sustainability value (outcome), in line with the triple bottom line approach advocated by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The authors argue that a necessary step to enable meaningful sustainable urban development is to rethink the way in which “value” and “value creation” are being interpreted in urban development policies and city branding narratives.

Design/methodology/approach

Mixed-methods case study of New York City’s (NYC) urban development and city branding strategies (2007–2019) combining analysis of academic and grey literature on NYC’s urban development and city branding, value hierarchies in NYC urban development strategic plans and local media reports covering NYC’s development and branding processes.

Findings

Despite claiming commitment to urban sustainability, NYC’s urban development and branding narratives reveal a clear dominance of interpreting “value” primarily as “exchange value”, thus prioritising economic growth.

Research limitations/implications

In the authors’ view, a systemic, systematic and structured approach to generating “sustainability value” is necessary if city branding is to become a governance tool to support sustainable urban development. A “tetravaluation” approach is recommended as a practical, structured framework that can bridge across the ideas of “sustainability value” and “pluralistic governance”, ensuring effective implementation. Further investigation in additional urban contexts is required.

Originality/value

The research contributes to current scholarly debates towards more balanced and pluralistic conceptions of “value” and place branding as a more holistic, participatory and democratic governance model for sustainable urban development.

Details

Journal of Place Management and Development, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8335

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Article
Publication date: 22 May 2020

Sadoth Sandoval Torres, Daniel Lopez Cravioto, Juan Rodríguez Ramírez, Lilia L. Méndez Lagunas, Luis Gerardo Barriada Bernal and Laura V. Aquino González

Mesquite pods offer a high nutritional content; A flour can be produced from them; nevertheless, the moisture content makes the milling process difficult. Then, before the milling…

167

Abstract

Purpose

Mesquite pods offer a high nutritional content; A flour can be produced from them; nevertheless, the moisture content makes the milling process difficult. Then, before the milling operation a drying process must be implemented, but drying technology must be studied in order to characterise the process and identify the effect of drying temperature on the magnitude of drying rate.

Design/methodology/approach

Prosopis Laevigata pods were collected in Oaxaca (Southern of Mexico) and they were dried. Three stages of maturity were identified and pods in the stage three of maturity were dried by forced convection. The internal structure of the pods was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The pods were dried in a tunnel dryer at 40, 50, 60 and 70° C, 10% relative humidity and air velocity of 2.6 m/s. From experimental data, a lumped analysis was conducted for drying.

Findings

We found that the internal microstructure of this material is a limiting factor for moisture migration. In order to reduce the moisture content in the pods, a minimum air temperature of 60° C must be applied. The characteristic drying curve shows a good agreement with the experimental drying kinetics. The nutritional composition (carbohydrates, sugar and protein) of pods reveals important applications for the food industry.

Practical implications

The mesquite pods are important ethnic foods. In order to obtain flour, the drying of pods is mandatory. Drying must be applied in stage three of maturity which can be identified based on color changes and moisture content. The moisture content affects the performance of milling operation, then a minimum drying temperature of 60° C and low relative humidity must be applied. SEM images show the complex microstructure of the pods which hinders the moisture diffusion. The drying characteristic curve was deduced for the first time; it helps to understand the drying behavior of pods. The chemical composition of mesquite pods reveals interesting applications for the food industry. The methodology for drying is useful for researchers and producers.

Originality/value

Mezquite pods is an interesting ethnic food for people with celiac disease. This is the first time a research paper describes the drying process at detail. The SEM images, the convective drying operation and the characteristic curve are presented for the first time. The information will be useful for the industry and academia.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

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