Economics, finance, and operations management
The Economics, Finance, and Operations Management department is highly active in research covering the full spectrum of its subject areas. Our faculty’s specializations include international, digital, and governance topics.
We are committed to working at the cutting edge of our respective disciplines, as well as contributing significantly towards the research strategies of both Athabasca University and the Faculty of Business.
International
Our work in the areas of international economics and finance incorporates research on issues such as:
- trade
- development
- the gender wage gap
- emerging markets
In the area of operations and project management we focus on a diverse group of research topics including, but not limited to:
- performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
- Project management (PM) as a source of competitive advantage
- free riders in PM
- new product development
Digital
Several faculty members are actively researching the digital economy, with a focus on the transformational commercial and societal impacts of new technologies, as well as specific applications such as fintech and online education.
Governance
Our governance research topics include:
- project management
- corporate social responsibility
- director compensation and financial fraud
Sample research projects in progress
Assessing the gender pay gap in Canada (Dr. Hussein Alzyoud and Dr. Walid Belassi)
Following the Abella Report of 1984, through programs, policies and legislations, Canada made historic commitments to implement gender equality. Although the gender wage gap has been decreasing across Canada, not all provinces have experienced the same degree of gender equity. Numerous studies support the fact that an observable gender wage gap persists and that gender segregation directly affects this gender wage gap. Dr. Alzyoud and Dr. Belassi’s are engaged in a series of studies that aim to investigate the gender wage gap in the different provinces of Canada and explain its causes. These studies provide an important step towards finding possible solutions to the problem of gender segregation.
The role of intangible resources in effective project management (Dr. Kam Jugdev)
Dr. Jugdev is using the Resource-based View of the firm to study elements of project management that relate to competitive advantage. The traditional emphasis in project management has been on tangible resources (e.g., tools and techniques, templates, software, and project management offices). However, Dr. Jugdev’s research indicates that intangible resources are more likely to be sources of competitive advantage, as these resources are harder for rivals to copy. Examples of such resources include tacit knowledge (sharing know-how), communities of practice, job shadowing, and mentoring. Dr. Jugdev’s team, which includes researchers from Calgary, Grand Canyon and San Jose State universities, is working on further research to examine the characteristics of project management resources and the connections to project level and firm level performance.
Department academics
Dr. Anshuman Khare
Professor, Operations Management and Chair, Department of Economics, Finance and Operations Management
Dr. Joe Cox
Canada Research Chair in Digital Disruption and Organizational Transformation
Dr. Jacob Musila
Associate Professor, Economics, Finance and Operations Management Academic Department
Dr. Zengxiang (Eric) Wang
Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Assurance of Learning and Student Experience
Recent publications and conference activities
- Alzyoud, H., Wang, E. Z., & Basso, M. G. (2018). Dynamics of Canadian oil price and its impact on exchange rate and stock market. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 8(3), 107-114.
- Alzyoud A. & Belassi W. (2019). Analysis of the gender-wage gap in BC: An empirical study. Presented at the International Academy of Business and Economics Conference, Los Angeles, USA.
- Al-Zyoud, H. & Belassi, W. (2018). Gender segregation and the gender-wage gap: Rising inequality in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Presented at the National Business & Economics Society Conference, Honolulu, USA.
- Belassi W., & Elbarad S. (2018). Forecasting the stock’s price to book value in emerging markets using accounting information: An applied study. Presented at the National Business & Economics Society Conference, Honolulu, USA.
- Cox, J., Nguyen, T. & Kang, S.M. (2018). The kindness of strangers? An investigation into the interaction of funder motivations in online crowdfunding campaigns. Kyklos, 71(2), 187-212.
- Cox, J., Oh. E.Y., Simmons, B., Graham, G., Greenhill, A., Lintott, C., Masters, K. & Woodcock, J. (2018). Doing good online: The changing relationships between motivations, activity and retention among online volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 47(5), 1031-1056.
- Cox, J., Nguyen, T., Thorpe, A., Ishizaka, A., Chakhar, S. & Meech. L. (2018). Being seen to care: The effect of lender visibility in pro-social crowdfunding. Computers in Human Behaviour, 83, 45-55.
- Cox, J. & Nguyen, T. (2018). Does the crowd mean business? The distribution of crowdfunding and support for small firms. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 25(1), 147-162.
- Cox, J., Tosatto, J. & Nguyen, T. (2019). Not dead ‘till the deadline: The interaction between completion bias, diffusion of responsibility and deadline effects in crowdfunding. Presented at the Canadian Economics Association Annual Conference, Banff, Canada.
- Cox, J., Oh, E. Y., Simmons, B., Graham, G., Greenhill, A., Lintott, C., Masters, K. & Meriton, R. (2019). Getting connected: An empirical investigation of the relationship between social capital and philanthropy among online volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 48(2), 151S-173S.
- Foo, M., Hurst, D. & Wang, E. (2019). Crowdfunding cash flow speed and the attributes of founders and of projects. Presented at the Frontier of Business Research Conference, Beijing, China.
- Haddud, A., & Khare, A. (2018). The Impact of Digitizing Supply Chains on Lean Operations. In Marktorientiertes Produkt-und Produktionsmanagement in digitalen Umwelten (pp. 27-46). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.
- Hurst, D., Foo, M. & Wang, E. (2018). Fostering Entrepreneurial Financing Success by Enhancing Crowdfunding Platform. Presented at the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Annual Meeting, Halifax, Canada.
- Kaimann, D., Stroh-Maraun, N. & Cox, J. (2018). Variety in the video game industry: An empirical study of information theory and the Wundt curve. Managerial and Decision Economics, 39(3), 354-362.
- Kaimann, D., Stroh-Maraun, N. & Cox, J. (2018). A duration model of consumer preferences and determinants of video game consumption. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 17(3), 290-301.
- Khare, K. (2019). Keynote address: Reducing digital uncertainty using a two-order model. Presented at the International Conference of the Japan Society for Production Management, Nagoya, Japan.
- McKenzie, J., Crosby, P., Cox, J., & Collins, A. (2019). Experimental evidence on demand for ‘on-demand’ entertainment. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 161, 98-113.
- Musila, J. W. (2018). Anticorruption Strategies in Africa: Lessons from experience and elements of a successful strategy. Presented at the International Academy of African Business and Development Annual Conference, Durban, South Africa.
- Roy, S. (2018). Are speculative bubbles in asset markets the primary drivers of “systemic” banking crises in post-war advanced economies? Presented at the Econometric Society Australasian Meeting, Auckland, New Zealand.
- Roy, S. (2018). Are speculative bubbles in asset markets the primary drivers of “systemic” banking crises in post-war advanced economies? Presented at the Canadian Economics Association Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada.
- Roy, S., & Kemme, D. M. (2018). Was the global meltdown in 2007-2009 caused by capital flow bonanzas following the Asian financial crises? Presented at the Allied Social Science Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, USA.
- Stroh-Maraun, N., Kaimann, D. & Cox, J. (2018). More than skills: A novel matching proposal for multiplayer video games. Entertainment Computing, 25, 26-36.
- Tosatto, J., Cox, J. & Nguyen, T. (2019). An Overview of Crowdfunding in the Creative and Cultural Industries. In A. Parhankangas, C. Mason & H. Landström (Eds.). Handbook of Research on Crowdfunding. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
- Yiheyis, Z., & Musila, J. (2018). The dynamics of inflation, exchange rates and the trade balance in a small economy: The case of Uganda. International Journal of Development Issues, 17(2), 246-264.
Updated February 07, 2022 by Digital & Web Operations (web_services@athabascau.ca)