Dr Heather Yin

We study whether psychological responses to trauma are associated with financial risk-taking behavior. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms for individuals, assessed after the traumatic experiences, are used as psychological responses to the events. Individuals who experience moderate-level PTSD symptoms are 1.5% more likely to invest in risky assets, whereas individuals with high-level PTSD symptoms are 2.4% less likely to invest in risky assets. Further analysis suggests that the association between PTSD symptoms and risk-taking comes through a preferences channel rather than a beliefs channel.

Social media is a rapid and dynamic medium of communication that forms a crucial component of the modern business toolkit. It can be used to detect corporate fraud by tapping into collective user wisdom, also known as the wisdom of crowds. This article highlights both the potential and limitations of social media in detecting corporate fraud by examining information from traditional media and social media for a recent corporate fraud case (i.e., Empowered Products Inc.). Using text analysis of information posted on traditional media compared to social media, this article illustrates how social media provides an increased level of relevant information in a faster manner. By using wisdom of crowds in this way, social media platforms such as Twitter can improve organizational knowledge quality. We identify methods for managers to utilize social media to improve their organizational knowledge management.