Fox School of Business PhD students, faculty and staff gathered for the third annual Doctoral Programs Research Competition on Oct. 8.

Five award categories — first-year papers, second- year papers, third- and fourth-year pre-dissertation proposal papers, dissertation proposals and completed dissertations — were featured across all PhD-granting concentrations in Business Administration. This was also the first year that the Statistics doctoral program was featured.

Temple University Provost Hai-Lung Dai noticed the enthusiasm in Alter Hall before the competition kicked off.

“The most important thing is this isfun… it’salsoalotofhard work on the students to do research and write these papers. I’d like to thank the advisors for helping because I know that this is long and hard work. I’m looking forward to our fourth competition next year” (Dr. Paul Pavlou, Senior Research Officer)

“I can easily sense the excitement of the research in
the school,” he said. “To see so many young faces reminds me of my graduate days.”

First- and second-year students had their work displayed as part of a poster presentation at the start of the event. Third- and fourth-year competitors gave a three-minute oral presentation, and dissertation proposal competitors gave four-minute oral presentations. Completed dissertations were evaluated based on the completed dissertation itself.

“Your research is much more immediate and has much more of an immediate impact,” Dai told students. “I want to congratulate you all for being able to generate excitement about research.”

Students competed for monetary compensation ranging from $500 for first place, $250 for second place and $100 for third place. The award winners will also be honored during the Fox School’s Research Roundtable and Teaching Awards on Oct. 25.

Associate Dean of Research, Doctoral Programs and Strategic Initiatives Paul A. Pavlou closed the event offering kind words not only to the students who competed but also the faculty who mentored them.

First-place winners of the third annual Doctoral Programs Research Competition:

First-year paper

Chi Zhang, Finance, Managerial Risk-Taking Incentive and Firm Innovation: Evidence from FAS 123R

Second-year paper

Gyu Dong Kim, Risk and Insurance, Insured, Uninsured, or Underinsured: Factors Affecting Auto Insurance Purchases in the U.S.

Third- and fourth-year paper

Serkan Akguc, Finance, Does Private Firms Perform Better than Public Firms? Dissertation Proposal

Yili (Kevin) Hong, MIS, Three Essays on Global Online Labor Markets for IT Services

Dissertation

Gordon Burtch, MIS, An Empirical Examination of Factors Influencing Participant Behavior in Crowdfunded Markets

—Alexis Wright-Whitley