Spring 2025 Buffalo Business 21
Oversight board cites research
in audit disclosure proposal
The Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board — the main
regulator for audits of publicly
traded companies in the U.S. — cited
research by Brandon Szerwo and
Joshua Khavis, assistant professors of
accounting and law, in a recent audit
disclosure proposal. Read more at
bit.ly/ubmgtaudit or scan the QR code
to watch their video.
Szerwo Khavis
Equity in employment:
Rethinking the most qualified candidate
"We suspect that when people consider whether a merit-based
process is fair, they rarely consider aspects of the wider context,
such as the unequal starting points of potential employees. Socio-
economic disadvantages early in life can undermine educational
achievement, test scores, and work or internship experiences."
— Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, assistant professor of organiza-
tion and human resources, on her research that challenges
practices that reward candidates exclusively based on achievements like GPA
and quality of internships — oen celebrated as the gold standard of fairness
in organizations. The study reveals that when confronted with a candidate's
prior socioeconomic advantages or disadvantages in the hiring and promotion
process, both liberals and conservatives alter their perceptions of fairness.
The study appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Read
more at bit.ly/ubmgtrethink.
The surprising way to motivate digital
gig economy workers
"Combining verbal recognition with bonuses to
motivate workers is an intuitive idea but such combi-
nations can be counter-productive in the gig economy.
Coming from the lower end of the earnings spectrum,
gig workers feel shortchanged when a pat on the back
is given instead of more financial rewards."
— Ram Ramesh, professor of management science
and systems, on his study that found that that both monetary and
nonmonetary incentives increase participation from gig economy
workers like DoorDash or Uber drivers when offered separately.
But when offered at the same time, the effects of the monetary
incentives are diminished, rather than enhanced by the nonmone-
tary rewards. The study appeared in Management Science.
Read more at bit.ly/ubmgtgig.
