Turner College Economist's Co-Author Earns Television Fame via the Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Syracuse University economist Shane Sanders, an occasional collaborator on research with Turner College economist Frank Mixon, earned late-night television fame earlier this week when his study on shot selection in the NBA was profiled, and parodied, by Stephen Colbert in a new segment for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The first entry of Colbert's self-described "highly profitable, hastily assembled segment" called Talkin' Sportz, covered results of Sanders' new research indicating that "NBA teams are taking too many 3-point shots." Colbert jokingly stated that the study was published in the "prestigious New England Journal of Can You Even Dunk, Bro?" Colbert then explained to his audience that the study indicates that players score more points by attempting 2-pointers rather than 3-pointers, after which he pointed out that the title of the study is "Estimating NBA Team Shot Selection Efficiency from Aggregations of True, Continuous Shot Charts." Colbert concluded by roasting the study via an edited video clip of an actual game wherein NBA legend Tracy McGrady takes a game-winning shot that is described by the television announcer excitedly as "McGrady for the win and it is . . . [as ball is flying through the air] . . . an aggregation of efficient shot selections!" Of course, the last part of the announcement occurs as the game-winning attempt falls through the net.

Mixon describes Sanders (shown at right) as "a really good economist" whose research interests include sports economics, public choice, defense and peace economics, and behavioral economics. Four months ago, Sanders launched a sports analytics blog via Substack called SportQuant that covers the quantitative side of sports and society. Sanders' sports economics research covers home court advantage, competitive balance, revenue sharing, alliance formation, team chemistry, ticket pricing, collective bargaining, and mortality risk. Sanders and Mixon have each worked separately of social choice violations in NCAA cross country's rank sum scoring. With regard to collaboration between the two, Mixon and Sanders, along with Andrew Luccasen, a behavioral economist at the Mississippi University for Women, are currently preparing a study on how the economics of civil liability, as it relates to law and economics, is depicted in various episodes and scenes from the iconic television sitcom Seinfeld. Stay connected to Turner Business for more on that paper in a future blog.

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Grant Hits Ground Running as New Turner College Marketing Intern

The Turner College's new marketing intern Lizzy Grant , a senior marketing major from Newnan who previously attended Gordon State College, where she played varsity soccer, and is scheduled to graduate from the Turner College in May of 2024, has hit the ground running in her new position. She recently played a large role in the creation of a video tour of the Synovus Center, the main campus home of the Turner College. The video helps to guide new students on where to go in the building and who they can talk to if they help. The video showcases the Student Services Center, the main lobby, and more. The video is played as part of a loop on video screens placed throughout the Synovus Center. Lizzy's list of activities at CSU is impressive. She is the Treasurer of the Turner College's Marketing Club, the President of Marketing for the Turner College's chapter of the Financial Management Association, and an Ambassador for the Turner College. She is also the Treasurer of her s

Jung Exploring Influence of Confucianism on Luxury Brand Performance in China, Japan and South Korea

In a recent chat with Turner Business , Turner College professor of marketing Sungwoo Jung made the point that luxury brands are gaining the degree of influence in many developing countries that they enjoy now in developed countries. He has been pondering this issue as part of his international marketing research program, which typically focuses on advertising, pioneering advantages and multi-cultural analysis. Currently, Jung is concentrating his energies on a cross-cultural analysis of brand equity that highlights luxury brands’ performance. His research finds that China, Japan and South Korea have each seen an increase in market share for luxury brands in recent years. As Jung explained to Turner Business , “These three countries share a common philosophical background – Confucianism.” With that point in mind, Jung and his coauthors are currently engaged in an investigation of how Confucianism influences consumer behavior in these three Asian countries, and how that behavior im

Turner College Grad Publishes Academic Study on Corporate Culture and Strategy

Former Turner College student Tamara Todorova , now an associate professor of economics at American University in Bulgaria (AUB), recently published a study on corporate culture and strategy. Todorova earned an MBA from the Turner College in 1996 and then went on to earn a doctorate in international economics from the University of Economics - Varna in 2001. She has been on the faculty at AUB since August of 2000. Todorova's study, which appears in the current issue of the International Journal of Business Performance Management , investigates how corporate culture helps to economize on the transaction costs of internal organization. As she explains, the dimensions of corporate culture that assist in this task include increasing trust and reducing intrafirm opportunism. Todorova's study demonstrates that setting common goals and a common direction reduces the sizeable costs of internal organization. Tamara's prior research appears in Economics of Transition , International

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