Subscribe
It’s no accident that money obtained through dishonest or illegal means is called “dirty money.” A new UC Berkeley study suggests that when people perceive money as morally tainted, they also view it as having less value and purchasing power, challenging the belief that all money is green, and that people will cross ethical boundaries to amass it.
Business & economics archive
Architecture student wins prestigious new sustainability fellowship 
May 21, 2013: By updating and expanding California’s utility-allowance calculator, Berkeley grad student Antony Kim hopes to make sustainable architecture more available to low-cost housing developers. He and his faculty mentor, Galen Cranz, are winners of the first-ever Schmidt-MacArthur Fellowship, which encourages the design of sustainable products and processes.
Research News Brief
April 23, 2013: Nearly half of Chinese manufacturing firms are audited either by foreign or domestic customers, but a large percentage of their workers still work more unpaid overtime than legally allowed, says a new study by UC Berkeley economists Jeff Perloff and Guojun He.
Hot tech-startup idea? Apply to Venture Lab contest
April 10, 2013: Campus students and post docs who seek to launch and grow a tech startup are invited to apply for funding, workspace and guidance from the Venture Lab competition. The contest deadline is April 17.
Ph.D. students rethink the tenure track, scope out non-academic jobs
March 20, 2013: Traditionally, the holy grail for doctoral students has been a professorship at a prestigious university. But in a sign of changing times, many Ph.D. students are now seeking jobs outside higher ed. Enter “Beyond Academia,” a career conference organized by Ph.D. students and postdocs.
Professor makes case for U.S.-Mexico border without walls
March 19, 2013: Against the background of fierce debate on immigration reform, Michael Dear’s Why Walls Won’t Work examines the often-thriving, but threatened, cross-border lives in communities straddling the U.S.-Mexico border.
In Richmond, a hands-on approach to energy tech
March 13, 2013: Just three miles from the site of the future Richmond Bay Campus, the Northern California Workshop for Energy Technologies underscored the need for partnerships, and featured a keynote address from former Michigan governor (and current Berkeley faculty member) Jennifer Granholm.
Haas faculty turn to crowdfunding for solar lights research
March 8, 2013: Three Haas professors are bypassing traditional grants and going straight to crowdfunding to raise money for a study on how to get people in rural Uganda to replace dangerous kerosene lanterns with life-changing solar lamps. They have launched a campaign on Indiegogo, which was co-founded by Haas alumni.
Standing up for low-paid restaurant workers
March 1, 2013: After 9/11, activist Saru Jayaraman co-founded Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, whose focus is workplace justice for restaurant workers. Jayaraman, who directs UC Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center, is featured in a PBS “Moyers & Company” segment.
Research News Briefs
February 28, 2013: Research News Briefs: Economic paper says social pressure affects women more than men when it comes to altruism / Neighborhoods teeming with liquor stores linked to big jump in binge drinking
Students developing next-generation e-Books platform
February 25, 2013: The electronic book industry is booming, but so are complaints about the current e-book publishing system. Now a group of I School students is developing a next-generation open-source, cross-platform framework for the electronic books of the future.
SkyDeck captures East Bay Catalyst Prize for supporting startups
February 14, 2013: Skydeck, the UC Berkeley startup accelerator in downtown Berkeley, won the Catalyst Award at the first-ever East Bay Innovation Awards celebration.
Powerful people better at shaking off rebuffs, bonding with others
January 18, 2013: Employees often tiptoe around their bosses for fear of offending them. But new UC Berkeley research shows people in power have thicker skin than one might think.
Prize highlights young economist’s steady, bold trajectory
January 16, 2013: BERKELEY — UC Berkeley economist Ulrike Malmendier could have chosen any number of career paths. After all, she speaks six languages, is fascinated with Latin and Greek, and loves physics and math. While working on a Ph.D. in law, another focus of her eclectic interests, she took a modern-economics course and that changed everything. Malmendier set off to explore the [...]
Haas professor named top under-40 finance scholar
January 8, 2013: Berkeley-Haas Finance Professor Ulrike Malmendier has been awarded the 2013 Fischer Black Prize from the American Finance Association, which honors the top finance scholar under the age of 40 years old. The prize was announced to the public Jan. 7, 2013.
Economist David Card named 2013 AAPSS fellow
December 13, 2012:
Economist David Card is honored for his work “writ large.”
Haas prof to advise U.S. Treasury on financial risks
November 27, 2012: Professor Nancy Wallace of the Haas School of Business has been selected to serve on a committee charged with advising the U.S. Department of Treasury on improving the quality of financial data and improving analysis of risks to the financial system. The new group holds its inaugural meeting on Dec. 5.
Law clinic nurtures local, green cooperative enterprises
November 26, 2012: Berkeley Law’s new Green-Collar Communities Clinic helps low-income workers and entrepreneurs incubate cooperative, environmentally-sustainable ventures — from solar-installation businesses to green nail salons.
USAID invests up to $20 million in UC Berkeley’s global development initiatives
November 8, 2012: Recognizing UC Berkeley’s leadership in developing practical, innovative solutions for global problems, the U.S. Agency for International Development has awarded $20 million to establish a Development Impact Lab on campus.
Social enterprises launch from the classroom to the real world
November 5, 2012: A School of Information course trains students to create sustainable social enterprises for rural developing regions, using innovations in information and communication technologies. Have a look at five past student projects that are now full-fledged companies.
Food Day report: Minimum-wage hike would raise food prices pennies, help millions
October 24, 2012: A new report released today, national Food Day 2012, says that a proposal pending in Congress to raise the minimum wage would increase retail food prices for American consumers by about 10 cents a day, while helping nearly 8 million food workers and 21 million other workers. Campus celebrates Food Day.
Is China’s economy at a turning point? 
October 10, 2012: Chinese workers are protesting and demanding better working conditions and compensation. Are they pushing back in ways that could fundamentally change their situation? What implications will the slowing Chinese economy have for its people and the global economy? Katie Quan, associate chair of the Labor Center at UC Berkeley, shares insights on KALW radio’s “Your Call.”
New oral history online: Warren Hellman talks about Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
October 5, 2012: Catch the late Warren Hellman talking about his Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in this video clip from The Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office.
Reports shows political preferences of California’s Asian Americans
October 2, 2012: sian Americans, who account for 10 percent of registered voters in California, support a tax measure proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, are closely divided on the death penalty ballot measure, overwhelmingly support affirmative action, and support tax increases on high earners to close the federal budget deficit, according to two new reports.
Voters act on performance, not policy, new book says
October 2, 2012: Politicians may focus on policy issues in hopes of persuading voters, but a new book by a UC Berkeley political scientist says that’s not what matters most to voters.
New survey outlines political views of Asian Americans
September 25, 2012: Asian Americans likely to vote in November strongly prefer Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, but a large portion of voters – nearly one-third – remain undecided, according to two new reports.
UC Berkeley experts, events and Election 2012
September 19, 2012: A host of upcoming events featuring UC Berkeley experts will explore various facets of the November election.
Sept. 21 conference explores California’s fiscal crisis
September 13, 2012: The Institute of Governmental Studies is sponsoring a Sept. 21 conference to explore “California’s Fiscal Crisis: Prospects for Deficit Reduction and Pension Reform in the Golden State.”
Election 2012: New app springing from Berkeley estimates financial impact on you, your community, the nation
September 10, 2012: Voters interested in what the November presidential election will mean for their own finances, and for those in their community and the nation as a whole, can get a clear visual picture from the latest update of the Politify website and app, created by UC Berkeley students and a big winner in last spring’s CITRIS Big Ideas contest.
Big Ideas 2012-13 launch event Wednesday evening
September 6, 2012: UC Berkeley’s Big Ideas program kicks off the next cycle of awards with a Wednesday, Sept. 5, information session. Past winner Alejandro Velez — founder of the sustainable business Back to the Roots Ventures, which grows gourmet mushrooms from recycled coffee grounds — will speak. The event will also include an introduction to new categories and resources for students
in this year’s contest.
