The Costello College of Business at George Mason University is a leading center for impactful business research.
Our faculty are engaged with research that is both rigorous and relevant. Our faculty love to bring their research to the classroom, where they talk about their findings and ideas—which enriches the knowledge our students are exposed to. Our faculty research also shows up in policy and business practice, and is making an impact on the business of government and industry.
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55k
Research Citations by Costello’s Top 10 most-cited scholars
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#81
UT-Dallas North American Business School Research Rankings
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19
Costello professors holding editorial positions at academic journals
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22
Published papers in premier journals by Costello faculty in 2024-2025
Hot Topics
May 22, 2023How can you convince someone to give you their time or money free of charge? Focus on the head, not the heart.
May 18, 2023In China, auto sales rose sharply when Uber came to town. That should make you re-examine received wisdom about the sharing economy.
February 22, 2023Human trafficking is a global crisis of overwhelming scope. Fortunately, anti-trafficking organizations can use AI to predict the criminals’ next moves–with the help of a George Mason University professor.
February 2, 2023Thanks to TikTok, Twitter, Instagram et al, we are living in the age of social influence. But how can influence be harnessed to make the world a better place? Yun Young Hur, assistant professor of information systems at George Mason University School of Business, explores that question in a recently published paper in Information Systems Research.
November 29, 2022Mehmet Altug, an associate professor of operations management, has been researching retail returns policies for a decade. The issue has recently come to prominence, as the lenient policies of online retailers have led to skyrocketing return rates (now exceeding 20 percent in the U.S.). Altug’s various academic papers delve into the difficult trade-offs retailers face when setting returns policies. While there are no easy answers, Altug’s research identifies factors that can help retailers achieve more strategic flexibility.
October 19, 2022For most drivers in the U.S., obeying a stop sign upon approaching an intersection is an unavoidable annoyance. But for Mason finance professor Jiasun Li, it’s a problem waiting to be solved. His recent working paper proposes a simple and economical improvement: removing one stop sign from every four-way intersection. According to his calculations, this would boost not only driver safety, but environmental sustainability as well.
September 26, 2022Jingyuan Yang, an assistant professor of information systems and operations management at Mason's School of Business, is at the forefront of AI research that aims to crack the codes of the physical world. Her results so far point toward innovative solutions for some of the biggest societal, governmental, and business challenges we face.
August 30, 2022In her 2021 PhD dissertation, Ashley Yuckenberg, a trained journalist and assistant professor of business communications at Mason, plumbs the ethical quandaries of crisis coverage—and provides a framework for guiding journalists through them.
August 16, 2022Long before COVID was a household word, Dr. Ajay Vinzé, now dean of Mason’s business school, helped pioneer a collaboration with public-health officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, to help predict possible outcomes of various interventions as part of research on pandemic response. Vinzé calls this nearly decade-long partnership “a major part of my research and professional journey.”
August 9, 2022Brian Ngac and Nirup Menon, from the information systems and operations management area at the School of Business, were recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) located in Arlington, Virginia. This Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Grant was awarded for their proposal to develop a new experiential learning program that will engage students and companies from the Commonwealth.
May 3, 2022These days, devising an outsourcing strategy involves a host of challenges and opportunities. Between deglobalization and pandemic-induced supply chain issues, the 20th century practice of moving manufacturing to wherever labor was cheapest is paying smaller and smaller dividends. As the value proposition of cost-cutting diminishes, a different rationale for outsourcing—one based upon maximizing synergies—is gaining traction. Cheryl Druehl, associate professor of operations management and associate dean for faculty at Mason, lays out a model to help managers think about how to outsource in this new world in her recently published paper in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.
May 2, 2022In the earliest stage of innovation, creative proposals are judged according to their perceived novelty and usefulness. Sharaya Jones, assistant professor of marketing at Mason, has a simple yet counterintuitive rule for would-be innovators hawking their ideas: More is more. Her recent paper in Marketing Science, co-authored by Laura J. Kornish of University of Colorado Boulder, pits verbose and detailed idea descriptions against terse ones.
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May 18, 2023In China, auto sales rose sharply when Uber came to town. That should make you re-examine received wisdom about the sharing economy.
April 28, 2023Whether it is pressing deadlines, overwork, or employees feeling they are not being supported, anger in a work environment can be unavoidable. Over time, the anger and frustration can compound, causing anger to spread through the entire team or organization, creating what George Mason University expert Mandy O’Neill calls a “culture of anger.”
April 19, 2023The inverse relationship between charity care and trustee compensation highlights curious contradictions in the management practices of some of the biggest non-profit hospitals in the U.S.
March 28, 2023There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to growing a franchise business. But stock market reactions to companies’ strategic moves can give you more than a clue.-
March 24, 2023Financially troubled U.S. hospitals are petitioning for more support from the federal government, but handouts won’t fix the underlying problem.
March 20, 2023Mason research shows that hiring internal auditors, and giving them proper organizational authority, can be the first steps toward addressing the root causes of business failure.
March 9, 2023The moment a brand publicizes its good works, it’s at risk of seeming cynical. A Mason professor offers research-based advice on how to generate lasting brand value from sustainability.
March 8, 2023An explosion of digital technology made today’s hybrid workplace possible, but it couldn’t upgrade the analog infrastructure that is the human brain.
February 28, 2023Negotiation is a critical skillset in business and in society. Negotiation is a complicated, joint decision problem where parties can, potentially, make each other better off—but also have some competing interests. Einav Hart, assistant professor of management at George Mason University, suggests that our relationships and context influence how we should negotiate—and even whether it is a good idea to negotiate at all.
December 13, 2022Managers often struggle to motivate their teams, but that could be because they’re looking in the wrong place. Mason School of Business professor Shora Moteabbed believes that how employees relate to one another on a one-to-one basis is key to understanding—and influencing—workplace behavior.
December 7, 2022Management professor Toyah Miller recently co-edited a special issue of Global Strategy Journal exploring how changes in our world are shifting the opportunity space for start-up founders and funders. Miller is the new research director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the School of Business and an expert in the rapidly expanding field of social entrepreneurship.-
December 1, 2022George Mason University’s Business for a Better World Center (B4BW) recently convened an in-person Stakeholder Roundtable on the subject of Corporate Governance. The half-day event took place at Point of View International Retreat & Research Center at Mason Neck in Lorton, VA on October 21.
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March 24, 2023Financially troubled U.S. hospitals are petitioning for more support from the federal government, but handouts won’t fix the underlying problem.
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March 20, 2023Mason research shows that hiring internal auditors, and giving them proper organizational authority, can be the first steps toward addressing the root causes of business failure.
March 15, 2023A George Mason University professor is working on ways to measure one of the great intangibles of today’s companies: employee talent.-
March 8, 2023An explosion of digital technology made today’s hybrid workplace possible, but it couldn’t upgrade the analog infrastructure that is the human brain.
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February 28, 2023Negotiation is a critical skillset in business and in society. Negotiation is a complicated, joint decision problem where parties can, potentially, make each other better off—but also have some competing interests. Einav Hart, assistant professor of management at George Mason University, suggests that our relationships and context influence how we should negotiate—and even whether it is a good idea to negotiate at all.
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December 13, 2022Managers often struggle to motivate their teams, but that could be because they’re looking in the wrong place. Mason School of Business professor Shora Moteabbed believes that how employees relate to one another on a one-to-one basis is key to understanding—and influencing—workplace behavior.
November 10, 2022On the morning of Wednesday, October 26th, George Mason University professor Suzanne C. de Janasz conducted her first-ever negotiations workshop for female high school students at McLean High School in Northern Virginia. An enthusiastic audience of about 100 young women came to hear de Janasz explain why negotiation is important for women of all ages and walks of life, and how to build negotiating skills for the future. De Janasz, an organizational researcher who holds a joint appointment in the School of Business and the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, says there is a pervasive cultural bias against women who ask for what they deserve. The negative labelling begins in childhood, with terms such as “bossy” being applied to more assertive girls.
November 2, 2022It’s 9 am. Do you know where your team members are? Before Covid, the answer was simple: They were – or were expected to be – in the office. The pandemic erased that certainty and accelerated the pace toward work-place flexibility. As we move forward in our post-covid work environment, employees are strongly indicating their preference for flexibility and self-determination regarding their working environment. A portion of the workforce will desire to stay at home with high flexibility, whereas others will return to the office by choice.
September 20, 2022Selling is inseparable from relationship management. In the past, the one-to-one "human touch" of a salesperson compensated for the standardized nature of their wares. However, today's sales environment tends towards customized solutions and co-creation with the client, especially in the B2B space. In many cases, these trends have greatly increased the network of stakeholders whom salespeople are obliged to keep happy. Research shows that B2B customers benefit from being more involved in the process, but what about the sales force? Does their increased interpersonal burden translate to higher risk of burnout? George Mason University School of Business Marketing Area Chair Jessica Hoppner's recently published paper in Industrial Marketing Management, co-authored by Paul Mills of Cleveland State University and David A. Griffith of Texas A&M University, finds some surprising answers.
September 14, 2022Today's workforce might best be described in terms of tumult: Great Resignation, Great Retirement, Great Reshuffle, etc. In this "new normal," managers must learn to navigate a state of continual transition in their teams and organizations, while keeping up with day-to-day demands. Likewise, George Mason University School of Business Management Professors Sarah Wittman and Kevin Rockmann believe that it is time for scholars to change the way they think about role transitions to better align their theories with our increasingly uncertain world.
September 8, 2022We’ve all become familiar with the pandemic-related reasons behind the upheaval in the labor market, as well as the standard-issue solutions like trying to infuse work with purpose or offering employees remote working. While these are practical suggestions, they have not restored stability to the workforce. It is our contention that any broad-brush advice for retaining employees in the current environment will be insufficient. Whether managers like it or not, employees will demand sensitivity and adjustment to their psychological needs as individuals.-
August 30, 2022In her 2021 PhD dissertation, Ashley Yuckenberg, a trained journalist and assistant professor of business communications at Mason, plumbs the ethical quandaries of crisis coverage—and provides a framework for guiding journalists through them.
September 28, 2022As Jenelle Conaway, assistant professor of accounting at George Mason University School of Business, says, “Being able to compare companies more easily makes for more efficient investment choices. And that scales from the individual level up to banks choosing who they lend to, and companies choosing who they want to merge with and acquire.” Her recent research finds that comparability trends have grown complicated.
September 23, 2022Bret Johnson, an associate professor within the Accounting Area, recently had accepted for publication an article entitled "Protecting Wall Street or Main Street: SEC Monitoring and Enforcement of Retail-Owned Firms" in Review of Accounting Studies.
June 7, 2022In business, a specialist strategy can sometimes be riskier than a generalist one. Competing in only one industry leaves firms highly vulnerable to heightened income volatility, with extreme gains and losses, often alternating in quick succession. Innovative firms, whose business models are based on heavy R&D investments with uncertain returns, are especially affected by these fluctuations. Kelly Wentland, assistant professor of accounting, discusses this issue.
June 2, 2022Government corruption has universally corrosive effects on U.S. society. Yet there is little uniformity to the structure of state-level corruption oversight agencies. Syrena Shirley, an assistant professor of accounting at Mason, recently published a research paper in Current Issues in Auditing suggesting that in the fight against corruption, these structural inconsistencies are impactful.
April 28, 2022According to a recent working paper co-authored by Mason finance professors Lei Gao and Bo Hu, more than 80 percent of U.S. public firms use graphics in their annual reports. Further, visual presentation has market benefits as well as aesthetic ones.
April 27, 2022Bret Johnson, assistant professor of accounting at Mason, recently co-authored a paper in Management Science finding that SEC comment letters are leaking out among investors close to the company concerned, who then use it to their advantage. Technically, such information-sharing violates Regulation Fair Disclosure (FD), which prohibits companies from sharing secrets with network partners such as institutional investors and analysts.- February 25, 2022Colin Koutney, an assistant professor in the accounting area, recently published the article Nonrecurring Income Taxes in Review of Accounting Studies.
February 8, 2022Managerial overconfidence is a serious risk that has drawn increasing attention from executives, investors, and researchers in recent years. Mindy (Hyo Jung) Kim, an assistant professor of accounting at Mason, has not only found that it’s possible to incorporate ability-adjusted overconfidence into real-world business assessments, but that it happens routinely.- January 14, 2022This paper aims to explore the current environment of business education, the role of liberal education and the school’s programs and their benefits.
November 16, 2021Kelly Wentland, an accounting professor at the George Mason University School of Business, recently published a paper in Management Science that further specifies and quantifies firm response to tax uncertainty.
September 16, 2021Jenelle K. Conaway, assistant professor of accounting, has conducted research to determine the impact of female directors on boards’ commitment to socially responsible business practices.
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June 7, 2022In business, a specialist strategy can sometimes be riskier than a generalist one. Competing in only one industry leaves firms highly vulnerable to heightened income volatility, with extreme gains and losses, often alternating in quick succession. Innovative firms, whose business models are based on heavy R&D investments with uncertain returns, are especially affected by these fluctuations. Kelly Wentland, assistant professor of accounting, discusses this issue.
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April 28, 2022According to a recent working paper co-authored by Mason finance professors Lei Gao and Bo Hu, more than 80 percent of U.S. public firms use graphics in their annual reports. Further, visual presentation has market benefits as well as aesthetic ones.
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February 2, 2022The combination of two unlikely bedfellows—cryptography, a subfield of computer science, and currency, a topic in economics—is at the heart of the transformative potential of its underlying blockchain technology. But the uniqueness of the pairing can make it very difficult for research professionals in either field to predict, let alone positively influence, blockchain’s future development. Jiasun Li, an assistant professor of finance at Mason, is among an elite group of academics who are bridging the divide by merging relevant concepts from computer science with game theory—a subfield of economics that studies the interactions of decisions made by interdependent economic actors.
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November 16, 2021Kelly Wentland, an accounting professor at the George Mason University School of Business, recently published a paper in Management Science that further specifies and quantifies firm response to tax uncertainty.
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November 12, 2021Lin Sun, an assistant professor of finance at the George Mason University School of Business, has uncovered that even top investors share a very human weakness– their professional acumen can be thrown off by inclement weather.
August 21, 2021New research by Serdar Aldatmaz, assistant professor of finance, benefits organizations that are seeking to move operations overseas.
May 26, 2020“Blockchain is a kind of distributed ledger that could change how business activities are organized,” says Jiasun Li, assistant professor of finance. “It essentially provides an alternative way for economic activities to be conducted.”