Business & Entrepreneurship

Spotify. Pandora. iTunes. YouTube. We are constantly bombarded with a seemingly limitless amount of new music in our daily lives. But why do we keep coming back to that one song or album we couldn’t get enough of in college? New research from Washington University’s Olin Business School shows that although consumers say they prefer to listen to unfamiliar music, their choices actually belie that preference.

Automatic federal budget cuts, known as the sequester, which began March 1, have had minimal impact on federal regulatory agencies, finds a new report on the U.S. budget for this fiscal year and next. The on-budget cost of regulation is detailed in a new report, Sequester’s Impact on Regulatory Agencies Modest: An Analysis of the U.S. Budget for Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014, published by Washington University in St. Louis and George Washington University.

What can behavioral economics teach us about how to launch a successful startup? Barton Hamilton, PhD, professor of entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, will present “Nudging Entrepreneurship” at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 16 at Rubin Brown on 16th Street in Denver.

The Supreme Court today struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and rejected a challenge to a lower court ruling that invalidated California’s ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposition 8. Gregory Magarian, JD, constitutional law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says that the immediate effects of these decisions for same-sex couples will be profound. “The demise of DOMA means that the federal government must treat same-sex couples, legally married under state laws, just like opposite-sex married couples for purposes of federal benefits, tax status, etc,” he says. “The nullification of Proposition 8 appears to make marriage available to same-sex couples in the nation’s largest state, under a prior marriage law that Proposition 8 had purported to invalidate.”

Olin Business School MBA student Michael McLaughlin, who trekked 2,500 miles to raise money and awareness for abused and neglected children, and Olin Business School were named winners of the 2013 TeamMBA Awards June 20 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Joe Fox, associate dean for MBA Programs at Olin Business School, received the Sterling H. Schoen Achievement Award at The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management’s Orientation Program June 9 in New Orleans.

Consumers are more likely to pursue goals when they are ambitious yet flexible, according to a new study from Washington University in St. Louis.

The National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation awarded budding business owner Shea Gouldd its highest honor, naming her the 2013 Young Entrepreneur of the Year at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. As the winner of YEF’s top prize, Gouldd, who resides in Boynton Beach, Fla., will receive a $10,000 educational scholarship to attend WUSTL this fall, where she will study business at Olin Business School.

In the Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics decision, the Supreme Court unanimously held that naturally occurring DNA sequences are “products of nature” and therefore cannot be patented. “The Court’s holding represents a significant shift form the status quo,” says Kevin Emerson Collins, JD, patent law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “It reverses both the lower court and twenty years of precedent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Employees looking to move up within their organization should get on board with the goals and values of their employer, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis The study shows that employees who are “true believers” in the mission of their organization gain more influence in the company, while those who are not as invested in the company’s mission become pushed to the periphery.