In Asia, rapid economic growth and increasing prosperity among the middle classes have led to a surge in consumption. This is often seen as a move towards materialism and individualism. A study carried out at WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) shows, however, that consumption in collectivist societies – i.e. societies that place the interests of the community over those of the individual – is more pro-social than in individualistic societies.

The University of St. Gallen honors Prof. Gerhard Speckbacher, WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business), with the 2020 ACA Prize in Financial Governance, awarded by the Institute of Accounting, Control and Auditing.

Collaboration between firms and industries is key to understanding emerging technologies, new research from WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) has revealed.

What role do optimistic and pessimistic expectations play in the financial markets? And how do these sentiments affect banks’ lending decisions? This question is at the heart of a recent study by Professor Ingrid Kubin, head of the Institute for International Economics and Development at WU (Vienna University of Economics), and her co-authors.

Prof. Jesús Crespo Cuaresma has been appointed a full member of the Academia Europaea. The head of the Institute of Macroeconomics and deputy head of the Department of Economics is the second researcher from the Vienna University of Economics and Business to be elected to the Academia Europaea, following Prof. Harald Eberhard.

Central banks and financial regulators are increasingly aware that climate change poses a major threat to economic and financial stability. Investors and financial markets are also subject to climate-related risks. This means that climate change will have long-term effects on everyone’s prosperity: This is the conclusion reached by Senior Assistant Professor Irene Monasterol from WU’s Institute for Ecological Economics.

How should companies design individual pay incentives? Do employees automatically work harder if they receive more pay? Isabella Grabner from the Institute for Strategic Management and Managerial Accounting at WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and Melissa Martin (University of Illinois) have investigated the effects of pay dispersion, i.e. the variation between salaries. The result: Individual differences in pay levels are only accepted as fair if they clearly correspond to different levels of performance. Only in such cases will individual pay incentives have positive effects on performance.

June 20 is World Refugee Day. A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE looks at the health situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Germany and Austria. Together with coauthors from Germany, researchers from WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) compared the self-reported health status of refugees in the two countries. One of their key findings: Unrestricted access to the health care system from day one, as provided in Austria, leads to better health.

The fifth edition of the Eurostat monitoring report outlines the first effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the progress the EU and its member states are making towards achieving the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Despite measures like short-time working, the European job market was hit hard in 2020 as a consequence of the dramatic economic downturn. With regard to climate protection and energy consumption, however, the data indicates that 2020 brought about significant, albeit short-lived, improvements. The monitoring report was prepared by WU Vienna’s Institute for Managing Sustainability. EU Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni will present the report on June 15.

For public-serving organizations, securing the trust of stakeholders is crucial. But what happens if an organization’s reputation is tarnished by allegations of abuse, misuse of donations, or corruption? If such a crisis hits a public-serving organization, it has a strong negative impact on stakeholders, especially those who care deeply about the organization’s mission. However, such stakeholders are more emotionally invested in the organization and therefore also appear to be more forgiving during the recovery phase. These are the results of a recent study by Professor Jurgen Willems, head of WU’s Institute for Public Management and Governance.

The sharing economy is turning the corporate world upside down. More and more companies and organizations are focusing on services and goods that are used collectively. To get customers involved in such collaborative business models, they need to trust each other and the company that provides the service. After all, the sharing economy is associated with some inherent risks: People who borrowed a shared car may return it covered in dirt, someone may trash a shared holiday home during their visit, or someone may flood the community garden. A team of researchers from WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and the University of Cologne have investigated the role that different forms of regulation play in the sharing economy and its communities.

Countries that are closer to the equator have been shown to have less COVID-19 cases, relative to the number of residents, research from Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna) has revealed.