Investing in People and Behavioral Economics

How might a behavioral economist explain why leaders too often under-invest in their people and organizations?

Serendipity is wonderful. When the Purdue University Daniels School of Business recently published an article mentioning me, it prompted my friend John Howe to reconnect. It had been over 40 years since we first met as graduate students, sharing a library carrell, both completing our Ph.D.s.

John spent 41 years as Professor of Finance, his most recent 28 years at the University of Missouri – Columbia; retiring in May 2022. He is fascinated by both the quantitative (the numbers) and the qualitative (the story/feelings) and how there is not one without the other.

John writes a great newsletter about common biases in financial and other economic decisions. He and I got to talking about how such biases might affect leaders' decisions about investments in people, and John summarized some of our initial thinking in his recent newsletter. I urge you to take a look here.

Thanks, John Howe , for your friendship and colleagueship.