Past conferences and events

7 October 2020
Webinar live via Zoom from 11am to 12:15 pm

While governments around the world continue to work out how best to tackle the health crisis brought about by COVID-19, research has also started to investigate what psychological reactions people may have to the pandemic. A number of questionnaires have been developed to assess pandemic-related aspects of anxiety and fear. Gradually, a clearer picture is emerging about the role of these variables in motivating relevant health-promoting behaviours. Specific challenges to mental health will also need to be addressed in future research.

Chris Krägeloh, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Auckland University of Technology. His current research interests are psychometrics, quality of life research, outcome measurement, language planning, terminology, mindfulness, and investigating psychosocial factors in social robotics.

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30 September 2020
Webinar live via Zoom from 11am to 12:15 pm

As of August 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 22 million people and caused over 700,000 confirmed deaths in more than 200 countries and territories (Coronavirus Resource Center, Johns Hopkins University). While virtually all countries have been affected by the pandemic, the responses to the crisis have differed markedly. We study how national culture impacts the way investors, firm managers, and other financial market participants react to this situation. Our findings suggest that cultural traits such as uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and past-disease experience contribute to how countries respond to the pandemic.

Ivan is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Finance at Auckland University of Technology. His research focuses on financial markets, market quality, news announcements, applied econometrics.

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23 September 2020
WH125 from 11 am to 12:15 pm

With cases surging worldwide and the uncertainty around the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments, policymakers, and businesses are trying to address the numerous complications related to this health crisis. The current research offers a timely view by examining how several factors (e.g., communication messages, presentation of information) can alter the level of perceived threat. Furthermore, our studies examine the crucial influence of perceived threat on various consumption behaviours. Our research offers a deeper understanding of how organizations and policymakers can manage the level of perceived threat depending on the desired outcomes and behaviours (e.g., respecting authorities’ recommendations or avoiding stockpiling).

Marilyn Giroux and Jungkeun Kim are Senior Lecturers in the Department of Marketing at Auckland University of Technology.

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9 September 2020
Webinar live via Zoom from 11am to 12:15 pm

Basic outline:

1. What is Happiness Economics?
2. Why is it important to measure happiness?
3. Big Data
4. Twitter
5. Gross National Happiness Index
6. Descriptive analysis
7. Results of Covid-19 and lockdown on happiness
8. Policy implications
9. Conclusions and acknowledgements

Stephanié Rossouw is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Economics at Auckland University of Technology. She is a well-being economist at heart and the co-creator of the Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) for 11 countries, including New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Using ‘Big Data’ extracted from the Twitter Application Programming Interface, the GNH determines the evaluative mood of a nation.

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Arvid Hoffmann

4 November 2019
AUT City Campus, WG404

Arvid Hoffmann, a Professor of Marketing, is also a research fellow at the Behavioral Finance Working Group (Queen Mary University of London) and a senior associate at the Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services (Nottingham University). Arvid regularly advises industry and policy makers regarding consumer financial decision-making and (individual) investor behaviour. His research informs public policy makers and practitioners about effective ways to help improve individuals’ financial decision-making.

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Peter Bossaerts

14 October 2019
AUT City Campus, WA224

Professor Peter Bossaerts is Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor and Professor of Experimental Finance and Decision Neuroscience at The University of Melbourne. He pioneered the use of controlled experimentation (with human participants) in the study of financial markets.

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Culture and Finance

8 October 2019
AUT City Campus, WG308

Culture, as a set of deeply-rooted norms and values, shapes the behaviour of economic agents and is shown to affect financial decision making in many respects. While the role of culture has received considerable attention in other fields of business research, the impact of culture on finance has only recently received attention.

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