Chicago Booth Review Podcast

Mike Gibbs, a faculty member at Chicago Booth, explores the impact of CEOs on organizational success through extensive economic research. He discusses methods used to measure leadership's effect on performance, including surprising stock market reactions to CEO exits. Gibbs distinguishes between leader and manager CEOs, arguing that the former thrive in innovative firms. He highlights the rarity of effective leadership styles, the essential role of trustworthy bosses, and how top managers can significantly boost employee productivity.

Ram Shivakumar, a Chicago Booth faculty member, reshapes our understanding of economics beyond numbers, advocating for storytelling in teaching. He emphasizes that everyday decisions—like choosing a pizza—are rooted in economic principles. Ram argues economics is intuitive and accessible, highlighting how value comes from buyers, costs, and prices. He critiques math-heavy approaches, championing clarity for non-experts. In exploring competition and elasticity, he illustrates economics as a narrative, proving that models are stories at heart.

A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate change and cutting-edge solutions: https://lnk.to/shockedpodcast!boothreview

In the west, we are more likely to choose our friends and dropping them is relatively easily done. In other cultures, people tend to stick with the same social network for their whole lives. But does the ability to choose and to drop your friends make you happier? Chicago Booth's Thomas Talhelm tells us about his research on social circles and happiness. Why do friendships endure more in Japan than in the US? Who's happier? And how important is happiness anyway?

Mike Gibbs, an economist from Chicago Booth, discusses his groundbreaking research on collaboration and innovation. He dives into the importance of social networks and reveals that a larger network can indeed lead to better ideas. The conversation explores how remote work impacts networking, highlighting that collaboration boosts idea quality but its effects are often short-lived. Gibbs emphasizes the role of brokers in bridging gaps between teams, ultimately expanding innovation. The dynamic of hybrid work complicates collaboration, challenging the traditional views on workplace settings.

Would you work if you weren't being paid for it? Social media is full of people criticizing companies for exploiting interns and prospective hires by underpaying or not paying them. Is that a universal feeling, or does it reflect western values and attitudes that aren't replicated elsewhere in the world? Chicago Booth's Thomas Talhelm talks about his research on what motivates people around the world to work.

Chad Syverson, an economist from Chicago Booth specializing in housing markets, dives into the complex world of real estate pricing. He discusses how rising home costs are influenced more by land prices and permitting issues than construction costs. Historical trends show drastic price increases since the 1970s, with spikes driven by demand shifts and limited supply. Chad emphasizes the need for reforms to increase housing density and reduce legal restrictions to tackle affordability. He also contrasts coastal metro challenges with more affordable inland cities.

Have you had an AI job interview? Would you prefer to be interviewed by AI than by a human? And how would you expect AI interviewers to perform compared to their human counterparts? Chicago Booth's Brian Jabarian talks about his research on AI interviews. Will they make human-to-human job interviews a thing of the past?

One way health policymakers can get people to exercise more is to pay them. But should we pay greater amounts to people who exercise more, and smaller sums to those who do less? Rebecca Dizon Ross tells us about her research on personalizing incentive payments to try to encourage exercise. Does getting people to choose their own exercise targets and financial compensation encourage them to walk more?

Veronika Ročková, an econometrician at Chicago Booth, dives into the intriguing world of AI and its unpredictability. She discusses how AI's tendency to 'hallucinate' information can be harnessed creatively. By applying Bayesian methods, she shows how to leverage randomness for improved medical diagnoses and smarter galaxy classification. Veronika emphasizes the importance of using probabilistic uncertainty for better decision-making and shares tips on crafting effective prompts to enhance AI outputs across various fields.