Ben Mattison

A decade after scientists developed the ability to edit DNA using the CRISPR sequence, the first drugs using the technique are approaching the market, with the potential to transform the lives of people with certain genetic illnesses. But questions of ethics, access, and pricing remain. We talked with Dr. Greg Licholai, a biotech entrepreneur and a lecturer at Yale SOM, about the state of the technology.

Impact investing advisor Clint Bartlett ’17 and Professor Todd Cort say that overpriced expected returns demanded by investors can destabilize the ventures that could help build resilience in the most precarious parts of the world. With a group of colleagues from leading universities and global funders, they are working on innovative approaches in which businesses that create positive social outcomes get cheaper capital.

At Yale SOM’s gathering of business and government leaders, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that “this is our common war.”

The day included cohort reunions, candid reflections from alumni, and discussions on teaching in prisons, early childhood education, and the climate crisis.

New research co-authored by Yale SOM Dean Kerwin K. Charles shows that the rise in imports from China at the beginning of this century accelerated a long decline in union elections, by diminishing the benefits of unionization and increasing the risk.

Why are fewer women promoted to senior positions than men? In a study of evaluation and promotion data from a large retail chain, Prof. Kelly Shue and her co-authors found that women got higher performance ratings than men but were consistently—and incorrectly—judged as having less leadership potential.

A large study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Jason Abaluck and Mushfiq Mobarak tested the effectiveness of a mask-promotion program in Bangladesh in increasing mask use and preventing symptomatic infections. The study found that masks significantly lower symptomatic infections, especially among older people and when surgical masks are used.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, an emergency room doctor and three Yale SOM experts in organizational behavior launched a study to look for ways to protect the well-being of overwhelmed healthcare workers. They found that feeling like part of a team reduced reported stress and burnout—an insight with implications for how any kind of organization can weather a crisis.

As commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Social Services, Roderick Bremby led a dramatic turnaround of the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Today, he is an executive at Salesforce, which has provided contact tracing and vaccine management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Teresa Chahine talked with Bremby about his career and the converging roles of the public and private sectors in addressing public health.

A team of researchers, including Yale SOM’s Jason Abaluck and Mushfiq Mobarak, tested multiple methods for encouraging use of masks in Bangladesh and identified a group of simple interventions that tripled usage. The approach could help other countries normalize mask-wearing, including neighboring India, where COVID-19 infections are out of control.

In March, the CDC confirmed that it was in discussions about the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines through the Dollar General retail chain. A study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Judith Chevalier and Kevin Williams finds that such a partnership could bring vaccination sites substantially closer to low-income, Black, and Hispanic households in many parts of the United States.

What will change the minds of those reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine? Yale SOM’s Vineet Kumar and two Yale doctors used the tools of consumer marketing to survey hesitant healthcare workers and analyze their responses.

Between the 2000s and the 2010s, weekly recreational computer use by men in their 20s rose by 2.7 hours; at the same time, working hours for this group dropped by 1.8 hours. Did one lead to another? A study co-authored by Yale SOM Dean Kerwin K. Charles, using a new method for estimating demand for leisure, concludes that improving technology caused much of the increase in gaming, and nearly half of the decline in working hours for young men.

Educators, administrators, superintendents, advocates, and others committed to strengthening public education convened on January 14 in a virtual forum to discuss ways to make America’s school systems work better for every student, amidst a time of unprecedented challenge and turmoil. Titled “Leading Forward,” the event was the first Broad Center Forum hosted by the Yale School of Management and drew more than 350 alumni of The Broad Center (TBC) for the virtual gathering.

The population of undocumented immigrants in the United States is generally estimated to be around 11 million. But a new study from Yale SOM’s Edward Kaplan and Scott Rodilitz, making use of data on migrants who have returned to Mexico, suggests that the real number is an estimated 19.6 million, consistent with previous research by Kaplan using different methodology.