Inaugural Wellbeing Research & Policy Conference
Oxford - July 2022
The inaugural Wellbeing Research & Policy Conference is a symposium which brings together scholars and policymakers to discuss the latest research, insights, and developments in the field of wellbeing science.
On July 7th, 2022, Prof. Dr. Lauren Howe presented a piece of research entitled: “The Human Cost of COVID-19: CEO Acknowledgment of the Costs of Crisis and its Effect on Company Financial Value During Economic Turbulence,” conducted jointly with Prof. Dr. Laura M. Giurge, Prof. Dr. Alexander Wagner and Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges. In her address, Prof. Dr. Howe explored what CEOs might do to maintain company value in times of crisis, based on an analysis of transcripts of earnings conference calls.
She shared three core discoveries:
CEOs focus primarily on economic costs of crisis in earnings conference calls with analysts, but
there is a link between acknowledgment of human costs of crisis and company financial value during an economic crisis, which may occur because,
acknowledgement of human costs increases perceived CEO benevolence, which fosters more positive analyst evaluations of company value in a crisis.
Watch Prof. Dr. Howe’s full address by clicking on the picture above (starting at 2:38).