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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
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.
Crowd-sourced online reviews help fill restaurant seats, study finds
September 4, 2012: A new study, published in the Economic Journal, shows that crowd-sourced online review websites play an important role in consumer decisions. An analysis of 328 restaurant reviews on Yelp found that an increase of a half-star in ratings corresponded to a 19 percent greater likelihood of selling out during peak dining times.
Affluent people less likely to reach out to others in times of chaos, study suggests
August 30, 2012: Crises are said to bring people closer together. But a new UC Berkeley study suggests that while the have-nots reach out to one another in times of trouble, the wealthy are more apt to find comfort in material possessions.
Book on health, safety, enviromental policy honored
August 30, 2012: Business professor David Vogel has won the Academy of Management Organization and the Natural Environment Division Book Award for his book The Politics of Precaution: Regulating Health, Safety, and Environmental Risks in Europe and the United States.
Where are the ‘job creators’? A Labor Day conversation
August 30, 2012: Where you live has a lot to do with whether you’re employed, and how, says Enrico Moretti, author of The New Geography of Jobs. The UC Berkeley economist shares insights on employment, salaries, tax cuts and growing inequalities based on location.
California’s temporary workers face increased likelihood of poverty, says new study
August 28, 2012: California’s temporary workers are twice as likely as other employees in the state to live in poverty, receive food stamps and be on Medicaid, according to a new report from UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education.
Why are people overconfident so often? It’s all about social status
August 13, 2012: Overconfidence helps people attain social status, but it can negatively affect their performance and decision-making, according to a new study co-authored by Cameron Anderson, associate professor of business. “Displays of confidence are given an inordinate amount of weight,” he says.
Future of California high-speed rail looks green
July 26, 2012: A comprehensive life-cycle assessment by transportation researchers gives the green seal of approval for California’s high-speed rail project. The analysis comes on the heels of a state Legislature vote authorizing $8 billion for initial construction, set to begin in 2013, of the high-speed system.
White House report provides roadmap for revitalizing U.S. manufacturing
July 17, 2012: The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has released a new report that provides a roadmap for revitalizing the U.S. manufacturing industry, and thereby spur the creation of much-needed jobs. The PCAST report is a product of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) Steering Committee, whose membership includes leading manufacturing experts from industry and six universities, including UC Berkeley.
Network World magazine names UC Berkeley top school for tech CEOs
July 11, 2012: UC Berkeley landed in the top spot for U.S. colleges that produced the most influential high-tech CEOs, according to Network World magazine, which analyzed the educational backgrounds of the 50 highest-paid and most powerful CEOs in the U.S. tech industry.
Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office looks for Bay Bridge accounts that span the years
July 9, 2012: Interviewers at the Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) are betting there are just as many cool stories to tell about the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as about its colorful cousin.
Memorial Monday for Haas professor Louis ‘Pete’ Bucklin
July 6, 2012: A memorial service will be held Monday for Louis “Pete” Bucklin, a marketing expert and business professor at UC Berkeley for more than 40 years. He passed away June 16, 2012, at the age of 83.
Haas prof reports on the advantage of being first
July 5, 2012: New research finds that, when making choices, people consistently prefer the options that come first: first in line, first college to offer acceptance, first salad on the menu. A paper on these findings — coauthored by Dana Carney, assistant professor of management at the Haas School of Business — appears in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.
As ‘Obamacare’ survives, campus experts diagnose prospects for healthcare reform
July 3, 2012: Following the Supreme Court’s decision on the healthcare-reform law, UC Berkeley experts rendered their judgments on the ruling during a panel discussion July 2. Healthcare economics, the challenges of implementing a complex and controversial law – and the powerful role of politics — were all put under the X-ray.
Media Advisory: Berkeley experts to assess court rulings on Affordable Care Act
June 27, 2012:
UC Berkeley experts will review the high court’s ACA actions in a special panel on Monday.
Nine of 10 Californians under 65 will be covered under Affordable Care Act, says new Labor Center/UCLA study
June 14, 2012: Researchers say 1.8 million-2.7 million previously uninsured Californians will gain coverage through the Affordable Care Act by 2019.
6.3 million Californians lack access to workplace retirement plan, Labor Center research finds 
June 7, 2012: Some 6.3 million Californians lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, according to a new study released today by UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education.
Freecycling has viral effect on community spirit and generosity, study shows
May 29, 2012: Reinforcing that the best things in life are free, a new UC Berkeley study shows that online freebie-exchange communities such as “Freecycle” and “Couchsurfing” foster greater team spirit among their members than do cash-for-goods websites.
Just released: Economy prof’s ‘The New Geography of Jobs’
May 23, 2012: s the global economy shifted from manufacturing to technology, geography was supposed to matter less. Instead, thousands of jobs are being added in innovation hubs like Boston, San Jose and Seattle, while other cities and towns are busy shedding jobs. Moretti credits “the multiplier effect.” Read more in “Forbes.”
Legal scholars navigate complex law of the sea
May 22, 2012: Given our absolute dependence on oceans, which cover two-thirds of Earth’s surface, it’s essential that nations work together to govern their use. In an obscure corner of Boalt Hall, the Law of the Sea Institute — directed by a legal historian and an international law prof (and former salvage diver) — produces top-notch maritime-law scholarship. “California Magazine” reports.
Economics professor John Quigley, leading scholar of housing policy, urban economics, dies
May 17, 2012: Economist John Quigley, the I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor and Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley with apppointments in the Goldman School of Public Policy and the Haas School of Business, passed away May 12 in Berkeley. He was a leading scholar of housing markets, energy-efficient buildings, homelessness and racial discrimination.
Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers
April 30, 2012: “Love thy neighbor” is preached from many a pulpit. But new research from UC Berkeley suggests the devoutly religious are less motivated by compassion when helping a stranger than are atheists, agnostics and less religious people.
Berkeley researchers find big benefits for students, taxpayers and state from funding of higher education
April 24, 2012: The State of California needs to consider the whopping return on investments for higher education as it tries to balance its budget, UC Berkeley researchers say in new study, “California’s Economic Payoff: Investing in College Access and Completion.”
UC Berkeley class prepares disabled students for competitive job market 
April 23, 2012: If it’s a tough job market out there for able-bodied college graduates, imagine how employment prospects might look to students with cerebral palsy or a muscular or neurodegenerative disease. That’s why a dozen UC Berkeley students are enrolled in “Professional Development and Disability,” a unique course that is teaching them how to market their disabilities as strengths.
UC Berkeley economists contribute to just-released “Occupy Handbook”
April 17, 2012: UC Berkeley economists contribute to the literature about and understanding of the Occupy movement,
UC Berkeley job fair to reflect upbeat hiring market for college grads
April 16, 2012: This week’s pre-graduation job fair at UC Berkeley promises to be upbeat, with scores of recruiters coming to the campus, and a new national survey showing that employers expect to hire 10 percent more college graduates this year than they did in 2011.
Forbes post names high-tech’s ‘female founders to watch’ from Berkeley
April 2, 2012: While Stanford University sits in the heart of the Silicon Valley, UC Berkeley has been quietly delivering promising women entrepreneurs as well, and Forbes has posted a list of investors and founders of tech startups of note.
